Neglect Child neglect is one form of child abuse. As we have learned in class, it is a failure of parents or caretakers to provide needed, age appropriate care including food, clothing, shelter, protection from harm, and supervision appropriate to the child’s development, hygiene, and medical care. Neglect accounts for about 69% of all abuse cases. It is hard to prove, because neglect usually happens at home and it varies from culture to culture (Crosson-Tower, 2012). Research shows that it does not affect one gender more than the other (Trickett, Negriff, Ji, & Peckins, 2011).
However, it does tend to happen more frequently in a low income home (Trickett, Negriff, Ji, & Peckins, 2011). It is important to note that usually mothers are the ones neglecting their children because they are usaually providing direct care to the child (Crosson-Tower, 2012). Types of Neglect and the Affect Childhood neglect comes in seven different forms. Educational, supervisory, abandonment, nutrition, physical, medical, and emotional. Each one can negatively impact a child in a different way. However, a child does not usually only experience one form of neglect or abuse (Clarkson Freeman, 2014).
For example, if a child is experiencing supervisory neglect, they are probably experiencing emotional and educational neglect, according to Shannon Browne, Social Work Professor (March 26th, 2016). Different types of neglect can harm a child in different ways. As we know, growing children need proper nutrition. However, if they are being nutritionally neglected, they are not receiving the food they need to grow. That is why a symptom of neglect is a child stealing food (Crosson-Tower, 2012). If a child is not properly fed, they face serious physical delays.
Medical neglect can kill a child if a child is left without medicine or medical intervention. A child can also have failure to thrive if their primary care giver is not getting them to school for an education (Crosson-Tower, 2012). This form of neglect can be damaging to a child in middle childhood. Because during school, they learn how to interact with their fellow peers. Without that social interaction, a child’s social development can be negatively affected and they may have a higher risk of dropping out of school (Crosson-Tower, 2012). Neglect and infancy
The younger a child is, the more at risk he/she is for child maltreatment, (Casanueva, Goldman-Fraser, Lederman, Katz, & Osofsky, 2010). Which is troubling because of the important role human connect has at this early stage of development. Erik Erikson states that an infant is in the stage Trust vs Mistrust. Trust vs Mistrust is an important stage in life, failure during this stage can hinder social development. It can do so because during this stage, an infant is in care of their care giver and is learning whether or not they can trust individuals.
It is important for an infant to learn how to trust their primary caregiver, because without that trust it may cause an infant to have attachment disorders (Crosson-Tower, 2012). The article, Maternal Perceptions of Temperament Among Infants and Toddlers Investigated for Maltreatment, discusses a study about low income mothers, her infant, and the risk of neglect and abuse. It goes on to explain that these mothers were more likely to neglect their children if the infant had a ‘difficult temperament.
In class, we learned that an infancy temperament can influences their caregiver’s response, which is reassured in this article. When a child has a more ‘difficult to handle temper,’ they are at a higher risk of neglect and maltreatment (Casanueva, Goldman-Fraser, Lederman, Katz, & Osofsky, 2010). The ‘difficult to handle’ temper, influences how the primary caregiver perceives the child, and this has a link to future neglect (Casanueva, Goldman-Fraser, Lederman, Katz, & Osofsky, 2010).
This could negatively influence an infant’s development because an infant needs that physical love and touch to help his/her brain develop. We learned in class that every time a baby is held and touched, it helps the neurons transmitters in her/his developing brain. If a child does not have a positive infant-caregiver relationship, they are not going to get that loving touch that they need to grow. Which can be detrimental to an infant because they are in the sensitive period of language development, as we discussed in class.
According to this article, mothers who have been abused may transfer their adverse childhood onto their infants (Casanueva, GoldmanFraser, Lederman, Katz, & Osofsky, 2010). Interaction is the best way a baby learns and grows, according to our guest speaker. Therefore, the infant-mother interaction will not be a positive one. This could negatively affect the infants’ development and cause the infant to have future behavioral problems (Casanueva, Goldman-Fraser, Lederman, Katz, & Osofsky, 2010). Neglect and early childhood Early childhood occurs between ages 3-5 years old.
Neglect is the most common form of abuse for children under the age of six (Clarkson Freeman, 2014). During this time a child is growing larger, developing more muscle, developing skills such as walking up and down stairs, hopping on one foot, and using writing utensils. When it comes to early childhood development, experience plays an important factor. A child who is exposed to scissors at an earlier age is going to master it quicker than a child who did not. When a child reaches early childhood, there is about a 70% change he/she has be exposed to some for a childhood maltreatment (Clarkson Freeman, 2014).
Because experience is crucial during this point in time, it’s no surprise that neglect can hinder development. Without a role of a primary caregiver, a child will not be exposed to different obstacles to help enhance experience. A child who experiences neglect will not have the same experiences as a child who is not a victim of neglect. However, not only do young children who are victims of early neglect face developmental delays, but future behavioral problems as well (Clarkson Freeman, 2014).
Clarkson Freeman’s article, Prevalence and Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Child behavior Among Young Children, continues to explain and children suffering from neglect or abuse “... were significantly more likely to score in the borderline or clinical-level range on standardized psychological measures. ” (p. 546). The most crucial point of Clarkson Freeman’s study was to prove that if a child was experiencing one form of abuse, they are more than likely experiencing other forms of abuse. It is important to note that Clarkson Freeman’s study found a direct link to child sexual abuse and childhood neglect.
This study went on to prove that there is correlation between early childhood neglect and developmental problems. Many parents who are neglectful do not know about developmental milestones of children, Shannon Browne, Social Work Professor (March 26th, 2016). The child who experiencing neglect may not receive the experiences to help them reach those milestones. Most neglectful caregivers do not hold education to be important (Crosson-Tower, 2012). They may not feel that introducing their children to growing activities to hold value.
We discussed in class activities that help development; using toys with zippers, buttons, and buckles, stringing pasta on yarn, and carving designs into clay. If a parent does not know milestones, or they do not care about them, they won’t know how to help them reach them. A few factors that we mentioned in class that can affect physical development are medical care, nutrition, sleep, and environment. As previously mentioned, medical neglect is when the primary care giver does not provide proper medical attention to an injured child (Crosson-Tower, 2012)
