Parenting in Times of Trauma

1
Chapter 15

• Parenting in Times of Trauma
• Pages 444-471

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VICTIMIZATION OF CHILDREN

• Victimize defined
• To trick or hurt someone
• Fig. 15.1, p. 445 rates per 1,000
• Forms of victimization
• Pandemic
• Frequent events affecting most children
• Sibling fights
• Acute
• Events that effect a small, but important of
  children
• Neglect, physical or sexual abuse
• Extraordinary
• Rare events
• Kidnapping or homicide

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VICTIMIZATION

• Children more at risk for victimization than
  adults
• More dependent on others for care
• Smaller and less intellectually mature
• Less able to protect themselves
• Less choice about their surroundings
• There are many paths to child abuse and neglect
• There are many effects triggered by abuse

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VICTIMIZATION

• Problems with establishing criteria for abuse
• Family Maltreatment
• Minimal physical, sexual, or psychological harm
• Often receives little notice or help
• Family Violence
• Serious physical injury, sexual exploitation, or
  psychological trauma

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ECOLOGICAL/TRANSACTION MODEL

• Interaction between 3 factors shapes childs
  development
• 1. Childs characteristics
• 2. Caregivers characteristics
• 3. The environment

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Bronfenbrenners System

• Violence and abuse children experience may be
  viewed on several levels
• Macrosystem cultural beliefs promote violence
  and abuse
• Belief in spanking
• Force is an acceptable way to settle problems
• Rights of adults to treat children as property

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Bronfenbrenners

• Exosystem agencies, institutions, and social
  structures
• Absence of supervised play areas or activities
• Families with children living in poverty
• Lack of support systems for parents/families

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Bronfenbrenners

• Microsystem daily interactions with siblings,
  parents, peers, and teachers
• Parenting practices can be influenced by parents
  own abuse
• Most parents who were abused DO NOT abuse their
  children
• Childrens own characteristics
• Gender boys more likely to be physically
  abused, girls sexually abused
• Age peaks between 3 and 8

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Bronfenbrenners

• Ontogenic how the child develops as an
  individual
• 5 Likely problem areas following abuse
• 1. Attachment relationship with parent(s)
• 2. Regulation of emotion
• 3. Self-concept
• 4. Peer relationships
• 5. Adaptation to school and learning

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Bronfenbrenners Interventions

• Microsystem
• Helping individual children and families
• Exosystem helping parents and children reach
  out to social agencies
• Service to and training for parents
• Identification and help to high-risk families

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Bronfenbrenners Interventions

• Macorosystem changing societys views of
  violence and sexuality
• Giving all parents training in childrearing
  strategies
• Providing parent training in middle and high
  school
• Research seems to indicate that all levels of
  intervention are necessary to help children and
  prevent recurrence

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COMMON THEMES IN ABUSE AND VIOLENCE p. 467

• No one set of circumstances always leads to abuse
  and violence
• Children respond in many ways to trauma
• Different kinds of trauma lead to similar
  problems
• All forms of abuse are associated with
  difficulties in
• Emotional control
• Relationships with adults and peers
• Self-concept
• School adjustment

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Common Themes

• Physical abuse
• Made a significant contribution to childrens
  behavior problems beyond that of low income or
  negative life events
• Is associated with problems with peer
  relationships
• May lead to distorted view of how people relate
  to each other
• Family is main source of support
• If not parents, then other adults can be the
  support

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PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE p. 469

• to solve the problem of violence, we need to
  transform our culture.
• One approach view violence (injury from
  firearms) as a public health problem not a
  criminal one
• Focus on preventing and reducing injuries and
  deaths from firearms

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Prevention

• Change content of media media violence
  contributes to
• Increased aggressive behavior and willingness to
  use violence
• Acceptance of violence as a normal part of life
• Belief that the world is mean so people are
  more fearful

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Prevention

• Families can
• Watch TV and discuss programs with children
• Ask for school courses on being a critical TV
  viewer
• Work to make childrens TV less violent

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THE CHALLENGE MODEL OF THERAPY

• View difficult situations as opportunities that
  promote development
• 7 Resiliencies that help people rebound from
  difficulties, p. 471
• 1.Insight asking yourself tough questions and
  giving honest answers
• 2.Independence drawing boundaries
• 3.Relationships building good ties to other
  people

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Challenge Model

• Resiliencies
• 4.Initiative taking charge of problems
• 5.Creativity imposing order, beauty, and
  purpose on the chaos
• 6.Humor finding the light side
• 7.Morality developing an informed conscience

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KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE

• Helping children to be aware of danger and use
  caution does not mean making children fearful
• Develop and discuss a set of instruction for
  dangerous situations
• Review them often
• Revise them when necessary

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Keeping Children Safe

• Have clear safety rules on
• 1.Behavior for fire in the home
• 2.Traffic behavior
• 3.Boundaries for where a child can go alone and
  where an adult needs to accompany them
• 4.Behavior in public with strangers
• 5.Behavior at home if strangers telephone or come
  to the home

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Keeping Children Safe

• 6.Behavior when the child is a victim or witness
  to muggings by peers or adults
• 7.Behavior when sexual misconduct happens
• 8.Not in text use of internet
• Parents reactions to children who are victims is
  important
• 1.Listen calmly
• 2.Use I messages and active listening
• 3.Help them take constructive action
• Work with others in the community on issues of
  childrens safety

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Exposure to Family Violence p. 449

• Exposure seeing or hearing violence, or seeing
  the effects of violence
• Legal definition acts of physical harm carried
  out against intimate partners
• Clinical definition broader, includes economic
  coercion and psychological attacks as well as
  physical harm
• Can also apply to exposure to parent-child abuse

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Family ViolencePrevalence

• No reliable national statistics
• Can begin prenatally
• Young children more likely than older children to
  live in homes with family violence
• Homes with family violence also include other
  risk factors

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Family ViolenceEffects

• Many reactions depending on several factors
• Listed on page 450
• Some evidence that young children who witness a
  lot of partner conflict are at risk for changes
  in brain structure
• Children have a variety of symptoms
• Listed on page 450

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Family Violence Interventions

• Help the nonviolent parent establish a safe and
  stable home
• Child needs an explanation of the violent events
  and an opportunity to express feelings
• Parents need to provide honest answers and give
  as much reassurance as realistic
• Educate teachers to help children cope with
  violence
• Educate the public that family violence is not
  just a private matter

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Sexual Abuse

• Definition page 451
• Abusive experiences
• Range from intercourse to viewing an
  exhibitionist (flasher)
• Can be within a family incest/intrafamilial
• Can be outside a family extrafamilial
• Can be committed by a person under 18
• See definition

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Sexual Abuse - Prevalence

• Determining prevalence is difficult
• Most cases not reported
• Estimate 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys have been
  sexually abused in some way by age 18
• Intrafamilial
• 38 of abusers members of nuclear family
• Others most frequently male relatives
• Extrafamilial
• 15 strangers
• 42 acquaintances
• 43 friends of victim or family
• Factors for families at risk for incest p. 452

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Sexual Abuse Effects on Children

• Impact on child depends on child and
  circumstances of the abuse
• Nature, duration, and frequency of abuse
• Identity of the perpetrator
• Greater number of symptoms produced by
• Close relationship with perpetrator
• Sexual acts involving penetration
• Frequent occurrences
• Long duration
• Lack of mothers support at time of disclosure

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Sexual Abuse - Effects

• No one symptom characterizes the majority of
  sexually abused children
• Between 1/3 and ½ of children report no symptoms
  at first
• Factors believed to account for variety of
  symptoms
• Traumatic sexualization
• Betrayal
• Stimatization
• Powerlessness

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Sexual Abuse Effects

• The family plays a powerful role in helping the
  child deal with the abuse
• Particularly the mother
• Court involvement may slow the childs recovery
• Quick resolution and video tape testimony is best
• Sexual abuse may create problems later

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Sexual Abuse - Interventions

• What should be done when abuse is reported
• Arrange for security of child immediately
• Child talk with therapist about feelings
• Group therapy for child may help
• Family therapy may be needed

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PHYSICAL ABUSE

• There is no commonly agreed-on definition of
  physical child abuse
• In Iowa, usually has to leave a mark for 24 hours
• Prevalence
• Because of different definitions, the statistics
  vary
• 1994, 3 million agency reports of suspected child
  abuse

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Physical AbusePrevalence

• Characteristics related to physical abuse
• Both males and females do physical abuse or
  severe violence
• Those more likely to be abusive
• Younger parents with more children
• Fathers who are unemployed or underemployed
• Families live below the poverty line
• Use of drugs
• View child rearing as a burden

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Physical AbusePrevalence

• Characteristics of the physically abused child
• Most are between 3 and 8
• More boys than girls
• Wolfner and Gelles believe that violence to
  children is the result of
• Parents predispositions to violence AND
• Stressful life conditions

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Physical AbuseEffects

• Children react in many ways
• Five main areas
• 1.Attachment relationships
• Abused infants often form disoriented attachment
• Abuse between age 8-13 seem to lessen the impact
  on attachment
• Children often develop a negative view of how
  others will treat them

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Physical AbuseEffects

• Five main areas
• 2.Regulation of emotion
• Feelings are very intense and therefore difficult
  to control
• Trouble expressing own feelings or identifying
  the feelings of others
• 3.Self-concept
• Unrealistic self-concept
• 4.Peer relationships
• 5.School adjustment

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Physical AbuseInterventions

• 2 forms of intervention
• 1.Providing security and safety for the child
• Giving them as much protection as if a stranger
  attacked them
• 2.Getting psychological services
• Opportunity to understand their feelings
• Express their feelings appropriately
• Control their intense feelings
• Establish trusting relationships with adults and
  peers
• Help for the abusing parent