Child abuse in its many forms is a major social issue in current society. Child abuse is defined as the non-accidental behaviour by parents, caregivers, other adults or older adolescents that is outside the norms of conduct and entails a substantial risk of causing physical or emotional harm to a child or young person. There are five types of child abuse, physical, emotional, sexual, neglect and the witnessing of family violence. It has the potential to impact on the development and wellbeing of the individual throughout the lifespan. This paper will examine the impact child abuse has on the physical development, emotion development, social development and wellbeing of the infant. This paper will also examine the signs of child abuse in relation
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Abuse in in this period has detrimental negative effects that can be present into adulthood. Physical development can be impacted in the infant if abuse is occurring. Failure to thrive (FTT) is common in infants experiencing abuse (Cole & Lanham, 2011). FTT is the inadequate growth in children or the inability to maintain growth. FTT is four times likelier to occur in children that are or have experienced abuse (Cole & Lanham, 2011). Shields, Wacogne and Wright (2012) note that the failure reverse FTT can cause long term stunting and developmental delay. It is also noted that infants may fail to achieve average childhood development milestones such as crawling, sitting up and walking. In a study conducted by Enlow et al. (2012) it show that impacts of abuse in infancy can have a negative impact on cognition. It has also been demonstrated in () that when experiencing abuse development can regress, and goals achieved previously can be lost. The study showed that experiencing abuse in the first two years of life can have effects on cognition into late childhood with a majority of those tested scoring lower than the average child in cognition (Enlow et al. …show more content…
The brains development is directly linked to the quality and quantity of these experiences. When the infants’ needs are met during this stage it creates an emotional stability and security that is required for healthy brain development. When the infant is exposed to stress from abusive events it can affect the brain’s responses to stress, this makes it more reactive and less able to be adaptive. When exposed over prolonged periods of time it can lead to changes in the child’s behavior, making the child to perceive every environment as dangerous. During later infancy, seven to twelve months, children are beginning to become more expressive. At this stage of development infants in a healthy environment are beginning to show fear, disgust and anger. Infants experiencing abuse can be developmentally delayed, with symptoms such as not responding to sound, avoiding physical contact and the inability to self-sooth and calm.
Da silva et al. (2014) explains that children need ongoing nurturing relationships, physical protection, safety and regulation; experiences that respect the individual characteristics of the child; experiences appropriate to their development for healthy
Abuse in in this period has detrimental negative effects that can be present into adulthood. Physical development can be impacted in the infant if abuse is occurring. Failure to thrive (FTT) is common in infants experiencing abuse (Cole & Lanham, 2011). FTT is the inadequate growth in children or the inability to maintain growth. FTT is four times likelier to occur in children that are or have experienced abuse (Cole & Lanham, 2011). Shields, Wacogne and Wright (2012) note that the failure reverse FTT can cause long term stunting and developmental delay. It is also noted that infants may fail to achieve average childhood development milestones such as crawling, sitting up and walking. In a study conducted by Enlow et al. (2012) it show that impacts of abuse in infancy can have a negative impact on cognition. It has also been demonstrated in () that when experiencing abuse development can regress, and goals achieved previously can be lost. The study showed that experiencing abuse in the first two years of life can have effects on cognition into late childhood with a majority of those tested scoring lower than the average child in cognition (Enlow et al. …show more content…
The brains development is directly linked to the quality and quantity of these experiences. When the infants’ needs are met during this stage it creates an emotional stability and security that is required for healthy brain development. When the infant is exposed to stress from abusive events it can affect the brain’s responses to stress, this makes it more reactive and less able to be adaptive. When exposed over prolonged periods of time it can lead to changes in the child’s behavior, making the child to perceive every environment as dangerous. During later infancy, seven to twelve months, children are beginning to become more expressive. At this stage of development infants in a healthy environment are beginning to show fear, disgust and anger. Infants experiencing abuse can be developmentally delayed, with symptoms such as not responding to sound, avoiding physical contact and the inability to self-sooth and calm.
Da silva et al. (2014) explains that children need ongoing nurturing relationships, physical protection, safety and regulation; experiences that respect the individual characteristics of the child; experiences appropriate to their development for healthy