Children and Crisis

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Children and Crisis

• Human Development
• Ms. Carey
• Room 606

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What is a Crisis?

• A turning point - A crucial or decisive point or
  situation.
• Stressful
• Is likely to be life altering
• Can be caused by our own actions, actions of
  family members or other people, or natural
  occurrences.

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Sources of Crises
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Natural forces

• Earthquakes
• Flood
• Tornadoes
• Hurricanes
• Tsunamis
• Car crashes
• Fires
• Mudslides

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Relationship and Familial Crises

• Unplanned pregnancy
• Mental or nervous breakdown
• Alcoholism
• Sudden illness/ hospitalization
• Loss or gain of a loved one

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Unexpected Changes in the Family

• Marriage/divorce
• Birth/death
• Loss of a family member
• Desertion
• Running away
• Institutionalization
• Incarceration
• suicide

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Abuse
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There are 4 Major Types of Abuse

• Physical Abuse
• Occurs in about ¼ of confirmed cases
• Sexual Abuse
• Involved in more than 10 of substantiated cases
• Neglect
• Child neglect is the most common form of abuse
• Emotional Abuse
• This is the hardest to prove

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Who are Child Abusers?

• Usually ordinary people- Very often parents,
  relatives, or close family friends.
• People who feel lonely and cant cope with own
  problems
• Typically have low self esteem
• In many cases were abused
• Come from all income levels, ethnic groups, and
  religions
• They may not realize its abuse but an acceptable
  way to parent and discipline its the way they
  may have been raised

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Parenting Styles

• Authoritarian
• Controlling
• Strict rules
• My way or the highway
• Authoritative
• Firm
• Give and take
• communication
• Permissive
• Laxed
• Befriends the child
• Nonpunitive few, if any, consequences

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Physical abuse/child maltreatment

• Discipline is not always handled properly
• An estimated 1,000,000 children are victims of
  maltreatment each year (Turner, 1995).
• Broken bones, bruises, lacerations, concussions,
  limb dislocations, and abrasions are most common

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Why do they abuse children?

• Pressures from work and/or home
• Financial difficulties
• History of maltreatment in the parents
  background
• Low self-esteem
• Lonely
• Frequently depressed
• Never learned how to contain their aggression
• An attempt to enforce discipline

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Sexual Abuse

• Sexual abuse can occur both within the family and
  outside of it.
• Incest means sexual contact between close blood
  relatives
• Child Sexual Abuse means sexual contact between
  an adult and a child who are in no way related

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Incest

• Considered a crime in the US
• Close blood relatives father, mother,
  grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, aunt,
  uncle, niece, nephew, and sometimes first
  cousins.
• Many states also include stepparent-stepchildren,
  stepsiblings, and in-law relationships

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Incest

• About 1 in 10 Americans have been a victim of
  incest
• The average age of a child encountering incest is
  11, sexual activity usually begins between 5 and
  8
• Incestuous families are found in every
  socioeconomic and educational group

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Ruth Henry Kempe Study(1984)

• Father-daughter stepfather-daughter incest
  represent approx. ¾ or 75 of reported cases
• Girls involved with fathers or stepfathers during
  preadolescence or very early adolescence are
  often the oldest daughters
• Mother-son, mother-daughter, brother-sister
  constitute most of the remaining ¼

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Most cases go unreported

• Upper socioeconomic families
• In-law incest
• Victims feel they are holding the family together
• Fear the offender will go to jail
• Desperate for any type of attention/affection
• Feel there is no one who can help
• Coerced or threatened by offender

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Child Sexual Abuse

• Punishable crime in the US
• Incidents are hard to calculate even with
  reported cases!!!
• Females are abused more often than males
• Abuse of males is less likely to be reported, but
  is more prevalent today than in past year

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Effects of Incest and Sexual Abuse

• Traumatic Sexualization
• Sexuality is shaped in developmentally
  inappropriate and interpersonally dysfunctional
  ways
• Betrayal
• The child realizes that a person they trusted has
  or wishes to cause them harm
• Stigmatization
• Negative messages about the behavior, may lead to
  self destruction
• Powerlessness
• Occurs when a childs will and wishes are
  repeatedly overruled and frustrated, and when the
  child is threatened with injury

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How to help a child who has been sexually
assaulted

• The child needs support, comfort, love
• Reassure the child that you
• Believe what she or he has told you
• Know it is not her or his fault
• Are glad she or he has told you about it
• Are sorry about what happened
• Will do your best to support and protect him or
  her

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Neglect

• Failure to provide basic needs

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Types of neglect

• Physical Neglect
• Refusal or delay of health care
• Abandonment
• Expulsion other custody issues
• Other physical neglect
• Inadequate nutrition, clothing, hygiene
• Recklessness/endangering a childs wellbeing
  (DUI)
• Supervision
• Inadequate supervision for extended periods of
  time
• Allowing the child to remain away from home
  without knowing the childs whereabouts

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Types of neglect

• Emotional neglect
• Inadequate Nurturance/Affection
• Chronic/ Extreme Abuse or Domestic Violence
• Permitted Drug/Alcohol Abuse or other Maladaptive
  Behavior
• Refusal or delay of Psychological Care
• Educational Neglect
• Permitted Chronic Truancy
• Failure to Enroll/Other Truancy
• Inattention to Special Education Need

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Why do parents/caregivers neglect

• Most neglectful parents want to be good parents,
  but lack the personal, financial, and/or
  supportive resources
• Neglectful parents are typically psychologically
  immature, usually as a result of their own lack
  of nurturing as children.
• They may have negative perceptions of themselves
  as parents
• Neglectful families are typically poor and lack
  access to resources

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Emotional Abuse

• Just what is emotional abuse?
• It is the ongoing emotional environment created
  by your abuser for the purposes of control

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Here are just a few of the "lessons" an
emotionally abusive person can teach

• You are always wrong.
• Everything is your fault.
• You are of no value in the relationship.
• You are intrusive when you ask how your partner's
  day was.
• You are so stupid you cannot even
  _________________ (fill in the blanks).
• You are fat, you are stupid, you are ugly, no one
  wants you, no one likes you.
• You cannot handle life without your partner.
• You would not be anyone if you did not have your
  partner.
• You are nagging or stupid if you disagree.
• The affair he/she is having is your fault.

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Consequences of abuse and neglect

• Abused or neglected children often experience
• frequent injuries
• learning problems
• fear or shyness
• bad dreams
• behavior problems
• depression
• fear of certain adults or places

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Long term effects of abuse neglect

• The effects don't end when the abuse or neglect
  stops. When abused or neglected children grow up,
  they are more likely to
• abuse their own families
• use violence to solve their problems
• have trouble learning
• have emotional difficulties
• attempt suicide
• use alcohol or other drugs

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Who Must Report Abuse?

• Mandated reporters
• In every state, the following people are required
  by law to report suspected abuse
• doctors
• nurses
• dentists
• mental health professionals
• social workers
• teachers
• day care workers
• law enforcement personnel

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Children and Stress
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3 Phases of Divorce

• Pre-divorce
• Divorce
• Post-divorce

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Divorce

• Be truthful to child
• Do not place blame on one another, in front of
  child
• Reassure child will be loved
• Do not encourage false hope

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Death

• Age determines reaction
• 1-3 dont understand like a vacation
• 3-5 not permanent like sleep
• 5-9 accept its permanent but doesnt happen to
  everyone
• 9-10 begin to fear death they will eventually
  die
• Coping
• Disbelief anger, hostility, defiance
• Despair withdrawn and depressed
• Reorganization adjust to life without deceased