Recognizing Child Abuse and Neglect: Signs and Symptoms

We have just been talking about child abuse in class lately... and it makes be so sad to think about all of the millions of children who unknowingly go abused each day. This article was taken from the childwelfare website written by Child Welfare Information Gateway, published 2007. (http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/signs.com)

This posting lists all of the signs and symptoms of abuse that everyone should be on the out look for. By law, we are required to report any signs of abuse to athorities... but we need to remember we do this for the children. If we don't know the signs, how will they ever be able to lead a normal life being stuck in the abuse they have been living in.

Recognizing Child Abuse and Neglect: Signs and Symptoms

The first step in helping abused or neglected children is learning to recognize the signs of child abuse and neglect. The presence of a single sign does not prove child abuse is occurring in a family, but a closer look at the situation may be warranted when these signs appear repeatedly or in combination.

If you do suspect a child is being harmed, reporting your suspicions may protect the child and get help for the family. Any concerned person can report suspicions of child abuse and neglect. Some people (typically certain types of professionals) are required by law to make a report of child maltreatment under specific circumstances—these are called mandatory reporters. For more information, see the Child Welfare Information Gateway publication, Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect.

For more information about where and how to file a report, contact your local child protective services agency or police department. An additional resource for information and referral is the Childhelp® National Child Abuse Hotline (800.4.A.CHILD).

Recognizing Child Abuse

The following signs may signal the presence of child abuse or neglect.

The Child:

• Shows sudden changes in behavior or school performance
• Has not received help for physical or medical problems brought to the parents' attention
• Has learning problems (or difficulty concentrating) that cannot be attributed to specific physical or psychological causes
• Is always watchful, as though preparing for something bad to happen
• Lacks adult supervision
• Is overly compliant, passive, or withdrawn
• Comes to school or other activities early, stays late, and does not want to go home

The Parent:

• Shows little concern for the child
• Denies the existence of—or blames the child for—the child's problems in school or at home
• Asks teachers or other caregivers to use harsh physical discipline if the child misbehaves
• Sees the child as entirely bad, worthless, or burdensome
• Demands a level of physical or academic performance the child cannot achieve
• Looks primarily to the child for care, attention, and satisfaction of emotional needs

The Parent and Child:

• Rarely touch or look at each other
• Consider their relationship entirely negative
• State that they do not like each other

Types of Abuse

The following are some signs often associated with particular types of child abuse and neglect: physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. It is important to note, however, that these types of abuse are more typically found in combination than alone. A physically abused child, for example, is often emotionally abused as well, and a sexually abused child also may be neglected.

Signs of Physical Abuse

Consider the possibility of physical abuse when the child:

• Has unexplained burns, bites, bruises, broken bones, or black eyes
• Has fading bruises or other marks noticeable after an absence from school
• Seems frightened of the parents and protests or cries when it is time to go home
• Shrinks at the approach of adults
• Reports injury by a parent or another adult caregiver

Consider the possibility of physical abuse when the parent or other adult caregiver:

• Offers conflicting, unconvincing, or no explanation for the child's injury
• Describes the child as "evil," or in some other very negative way
• Uses harsh physical discipline with the child
• Has a history of abuse as a child

Signs of Neglect

Consider the possibility of neglect when the child:

• Is frequently absent from school
• Begs or steals food or money
• Lacks needed medical or dental care, immunizations, or glasses
• Is consistently dirty and has severe body odor
• Lacks sufficient clothing for the weather
• Abuses alcohol or other drugs
• States that there is no one at home to provide care

Consider the possibility of neglect when the parent or other adult caregiver:

• Appears to be indifferent to the child
• Seems apathetic or depressed
• Behaves irrationally or in a bizarre manner
• Is abusing alcohol or other drugs

Signs of Sexual Abuse

Consider the possibility of sexual abuse when the child:

• Has difficulty walking or sitting
• Suddenly refuses to change for gym or to participate in physical activities
• Reports nightmares or bedwetting
• Experiences a sudden change in appetite
• Demonstrates bizarre, sophisticated, or unusual sexual knowledge or behavior
• Becomes pregnant or contracts a venereal disease, particularly if under age 14
• Runs away
• Reports sexual abuse by a parent or another adult caregiver

Consider the possibility of sexual abuse when the parent or other adult caregiver:

• Is unduly protective of the child or severely limits the child's contact with other children, especially of the opposite sex
• Is secretive and isolated
• Is jealous or controlling with family members

Signs of Emotional Maltreatment

Consider the possibility of emotional maltreatment when the child:

• Shows extremes in behavior, such as overly compliant or demanding behavior, extreme passivity, or aggression
• Is either inappropriately adult (parenting other children, for example) or inappropriately infantile (frequently rocking or head-banging, for example)
• Is delayed in physical or emotional development
• Has attempted suicide
• Reports a lack of attachment to the parent

Consider the possibility of emotional maltreatment when the parent or other adult caregiver:

• Constantly blames, belittles, or berates the child
• Is unconcerned about the child and refuses to consider offers of help for the child's problems
• Overtly rejects the child

Resources on the Child Welfare Information Gateway Website

Child Abuse and Neglect

www.childwelfare.gov/can/

Defining Child Abuse and Neglect

www.childwelfare.gov/can/defining/

Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect

www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/

Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect

www.childwelfare.gov/responding/reporting.cfm

Pirate Eliot

For my other class, Childhood Development, I wrote about a young boy in our class. Here is the observation I made about him.

Working at the Children’s Center has been a great experience while being in this class. I get to see most of the subjects we have learned about appear in most of the children I work with. Lately we have been talking about social interactions and theory of mind. In observing the children and connecting the dots to the lessons we have had, I have been able to make some assumptions and label children’s behaviors.

In the class I work with there are now 9 boys, all around the age of 5. And they are full of energy… let me tell you. Most of the boys have behavioral and/or emotional problems. At first I would label most of them as either Rejected-aggressive or Controversial, but knowing about the way it is seen as a whole group decision changes things. But, even though certain children in the group would most likely be considered popular, in any other setting right now they would be in a very different situation. One child in particular I am thinking about, we’ll call him Eliot, is they type of boy who stokes the fire under another kid to get them to do naughty things. He never is the leader but the provoker. Eliot is a popular kid in the class; he makes the other kids laugh with his crazy ideas and his ability to manipulate kids. Eliot is very aggressive though, physically especially. So it’s interesting to me that in this situation he is seen as popular amongst this crowd of kids.

Another observation about this same boy Eliot is his ongoing pretend friend, or in this case, pretend pirate. While reading the supplementary readings about how children take on the pretend character as themselves I immediately thought of this boy! This pretend character originated about 2 months ago at the Children’s Center. We had a day where one of the TPS’s had designed a treasure map that the kids could all follow to find some buried treasure. We all dressed up and practice making pirate sounds. At this point this boy decided that his name was “Pirate Eliot”. And even after the game, all day long as a matter of fact he was not “real name” he was Pirate Eliot. As the weeks went on there would be times when he still insisted on being this character. As time went on the character became more elaborate as well, he had certain villains that always appeared, and monsters that always lingered around when Pirate Eliot was present. He would also at times when he was in trouble and we would be asking him things or addressing him with his real name he would tell us he didn’t do that because he wasn’t that person, he was Pirate Eliot. Often he would have a hard time when the TPS’s for certain reasons had to tell him that they wouldn’t call him Pirate Eliot for certain reasons that day.

In connecting the dots it’s easy to see that this boy has a rich imagination, and I believe it has given him a better theory of mind. I believe that because he does have a better theory of mind it has given him the ability to be popular amongst his friends, understanding more of what they are feeling and how he can sometimes manipulate them as well.

Marshmallow Test

Take a look at this! This has been a very basic study, but has become widely known.

Piaget Conservation Task

If you haven't ever heard of Piaget Conservations task, you will love this video and then, like I did, test it out on all of your little nephews and nieces. 

Piaget Conservation Task is a procedure that is used to test the theory that children between the ages of 3-5 thinking ability is limited by what is known as centration. Centration is the tendency to focus on a single, perceptually striking feature of an object or event. This test is not to trick the child, but to merely show that there thinking ability at this age literally doesn't process the fact that even though the glass is taller, it is also skinnier. These children can only focus on that one aspect even though they just watched everything that happened. In this video they also have an example of an older child doing the task to show that she has indeed over come the lack of knowledge of conservation. FACINATING! Watch and see for yourself.