Trauma Effects On Child Abuse

Trauma comes in many shapes and forms across the board. Trauma, or a deep distressing or disturbing experience, is experienced by everyone at some point in their lives. Children coming from hard places sometimes experience more trauma in their few years of life than some adults experience throughout their entire lives. Examples of trauma can be anywhere from sexual abuse, to living in poverty, moving from place to place, and even the death of a loved one. These traumas mold and shape the child emotionally and sometimes physically if the child as suffered neglect or physical abuse. The foster system in the United States makes homes for many children. Children are placed in the foster system for many reasons including the inability to care for …show more content…
The term “abuse” covers many different subsets. Sexual abuse, verbal abuse, and physical abuse are all forms of abuse. Physical abuse is especially hard to confront because a child may not know they are being abused. The parent may tell the child they are being disciplined and the child will believe this is considered normal behavior (Deblinger, McLeer, Atkins, Ralphe, Foa.,1989). The child may not want to turn the parent in because that parent may be the only sense of security that child knows. Effects of abuse include, anxiety, bruises, broken bones, burns, constant state of high alert, and depression. According to the NIS-04 Report, 1 in 58 children experienced some type of abuse during the years 2005-2006 with upwards of 90% of the physical abuse visible to the naked eye (Hilton, …show more content…
Children can be neglected both emotionally and physically. If a child is given the proper amount of food and shelter, but is lacking in forming secure attachment and relationships, the child is said to be emotionally neglected. A child is said to be physically neglected if the child is given emotional care, but poverty or other means do not allow the parent or caregiver to fully provide for the child, it is considered physical neglect. According to Wentzel and Asher (2008), neglect can have long term effects on the individual such as impaired brain development, depression, lack of social skills, developmental delays, food insecurity, increased anxiety, and difficulty forming relationships. Forming relationships is tricky with neglected children because children are sometimes so neglected, they want to attach to anyone and anything (Kazdin, Moser, Colbus, Bell.,1985). This can be unsafe if the child attaches to someone who may potentially harm them. However, it is important for the child to form healthy attached relationships to continue down the right