Child Neglect

Introduction

Background

Child neglect also called abuse refers to violation of children freedom to exercise their rights and support (Macmillan, 2009). Neglect in children as well incudes omission by their parents, guardians and the society to provide them with a conducive growing and developing environment. Such neglect includes physical, emotional and psychological abuse, mistreatment and victimization. Neglect includes limitation of children movements such as accompanying fellow age mates and peers in play, limiting room access and play areas in the house. Such attributes allow the development of fear and create social anxiety leading to children’s emotional and psychological disorders (Theron & Ungar, 2018). Furthermore, failing to show positive emotions to children yields to neglect and significantly contributes to lowering their self-esteem. 

 In the year 2016, 4.1 million child abuse cases were reported to children neglect authorities (Theron & Ungar, 2018). The abused children ranged from less than three years old. The study as well reported that more than forty percent of death-related child deaths were due to neglect among less than a year old babies. The study also revealed that most abuse perpetrators include parents, especially mothers, partners to unmarried parents, foster parents, family members, and even parents. From the various child abuse categories, neglect and which limits children access to basic needs such as security, medical care, and housing had the highest reporting across various care and protection agencies. 

Child neglect impacts in the short and long run have significant impacts on the individuals affected and to society. Short term impacts include high levels of agitation and anger among children which push them to have antisocial behaviors and lead to mistreating fellow children and peers (Mikolajczak, Brianda, Avalosse & Roskam, 2018). Such neglect as such contributes to their behavioral challenges. In the long run, such social behaviors lead to antisocial aggressiveness and behavioral disorders among children who experienced neglect and abuse (Macmillan, 2009). Again, the neglect victims tend to experience mental disorders and which in the long run in the children’s adult they might turn to drug use and abuse such as alcoholism, family and criminal violence and depression. Additionally, the neglect could contribute towards delinquency.

The adverse individual and societal impacts of neglect, it is important for the study to be carried out to determine the root causes of neglect and propose potential options to minimize the cases of child neglect not only in America but across the globe (Theron & Ungar, 2018). The study would provide relevant scientific information relating to the present social behavioral disorders and as such assist suggest interventions effective in addressing child neglect. The study would as well assist compare findings on child neglect impacts treatment such as assistance to recover from behavioral and mental disorders.

The research as well would assist in creating a pool of knowledge and information relevant in interacting and assisting individuals and children who have experienced neglect, abuse, and mistreatment (Mikolajczak et al., 2018). Ideally, different abuse experiences lead to various complexities and behavioral needs (Macmillan, 2009). Typically, the study would assist in collecting additional information on neglect information and collectively contributing to enhancing the efficacy of existing and new interventions aimed at assisting children and adolescents with neglect experiences. Notably, child neglect victims tend to have a minimal affiliation with protection agencies and consequently end up speechless, helpless and generally overlooked. The study assist gets information on challenges affecting the victims in society and proposes remedial interventions. 

Importantly, the study could assist reduce economic challenges in addressing child neglect long term impacts. The government supports intensely child protection agencies, foster care homes, mental correctional institutions, and juvenile and family violence impacts (Mikolajczak et al., 2018). The study would assist create social remedies which reduce the impact in both the short run and long run and consequently reduce the extensive expensive impacts. Early corrective interventions, especially for children and adolescents, assist prevent adulthood impacts. Social studies strongly advocate for early correctional intervention due to the economic implication in the long run. 

Moreover, the study could assist support the legal framework under which child neglect victims seek justice. Understanding the primary basis of neglect assist administer justice among families suffering from neglect in society. Importantly, child neglect victims ought not to be left unattended and hence the need to ensure justifiable provision(s) is established in the legal domain. Again, the study assist provides primary child neglect by focusing on etiological factors (Mikolajczak et al., 2018). Typically, a primary prevention intervention mechanism attracts various benefits and the solution provided has huge reliability by both current and future generations. Collectively, the study is relevant and critically important in addressing current and long term impacts of child neglect. 

Theories and Perspectives

Various theories elaborate on child abuse in various dimensions. For instance, the Social Learning Theory asserts that behavior is learned either through instrumental learning or modeling (Sciarrino, Hernandez & Davidtz, 2018). Instrumental learning suggests that children learn behaviors through rewards and they embrace the encouraged and rewarded behaviors. The theory as such asserts that, if aggressive and violent behaviors, the children grow with social aggressive behaviors and at their adulthood ten to be violent to their children and as such subjecting them to mistreatment an abuse. The theory as well purports that behaviors are acquired by coping behaviors exhibited by their elders. Typically, children raise violently acquire violent behaviors and practice them both in their childhood and parenthood. 

On the other hand, the attachment theory asserts that children acquire behaviors base on their relationship with their parent and or caregivers. It asserts that in relationships where the children experience secure attachments, the children ten to exhibit interactive positive behavior (Sciarrino, Hernandez & Davidtz, 2018). In scenarios where the children experience neglect and abuse, they develop insecure attachments which pushes them to develop adverse antisocial behaviors. Exposure to dismissive and fear as well acquire undesirable behaviors such as confusion in distinguishing desirable and undesirable behaviors. The theory shares the same ideation with the Ecological theory which relates children behavior with interactions with individual, families and even the society. The norm in which society perceives behavior plays a key role in molding the behavior of neglected children (Theron & Ungar, 2018). A dissociative social culture increases possibilities of distorting the children social and mental development and subjecting to future child neglect in their adulthood.

Ina different perspective, various social studies professional articulate child neglect to parents who experienced similar neglect in their childhood (Sciarrino, Hernandez & Davidtz, 2018). Ideally, the theory asserts that individuals who failed to benefit from a supporting family lack experience and benefits of care. As such, they tend to have limited experience of its necessity and correspondingly might not understand the benefits of optimal care hence likely to expose their children to neglect. The theory as well holds that such causes of children neglect transition from generation to the other if not addressed. Regretfully, such child neglect remains unaddressed since the families involved fail to communicate on it as they protect social status and reputation. 

Furthermore, various studies have associated child neglect with parental and caregivers psychological distress. A stressed parent was found to likely express neglect to the children especially through shouting and unnecessary punishments. Such parents as well have a high likelihood of failing to provide children with required emotional and psychological support and safety assurance. Collectively, stressed parents have high potentials to turn abusive and expose children to abuse and neglect growing environment. Additionally, stressed parents have a high likelihood of falling into drug abuse. Studies reveal that parents with physiological distress tend to engage in drug use and abuse as a way of ‘drowning’ stress. Consequently, children in such families suffer from neglect due to drug abuse and violence associated with drug use (Theron & Ungar, 2018). Drug use and abuse clutters reasonable thinking and consequently subjecting their families and children to significant violence and abuse. Sadly, stressed and alcoholic parents provide an adverse growing environment characterized by abuse and neglect.

Child neglect as well has been associated with increasing poverty in society (Sciarrino, Hernandez & Davidtz, 2018). Poverty limits the financial ability of parents and caregivers to provide for basic needs such as food, housing, and medication. However, various factors in society contribute to poverty. Key examples include economic downturns, poor political drive, poor infrastructure and limited access to quality education. Collectively, various dimensions contributing towards poverty have limited short-run interventions and as such may take a long time before solving them. Such situations limit the efficacy of poverty-based causes of child neglect. Moreover, elements such as educational infrastructure, economic downturns, and poor political management could as well take infinity period to resolve them and particularly where social discrimination such racism is extreme in the society (Theron & Ungar, 2018). In a similar manner, cultural issues such as apartheid and discrimination of color require a long duration of time to correct the gap in society.

Again, studies report early signs and symptoms of child neglect as silent and as such making them unnoticeable in their early childhood (Theron & Ungar, 2018). Lack of abusive signs and particularly for psychological and emotional abuse limit the ability to identify and consequently address the abuse at early stages. Most of the child abuse and neglect victims demonstrate social behaviors at their adulthood which makes correctional interventions less efficient and expensive. 

Conclusion

Child neglect leads to extreme impacts on the health and overall wellbeing of the victims. Affected children tend to have low self-esteem, dissociating from other children and peers and consequently putting them in a cocoon of fear depression (Theron & Ungar, 2018). The experience leads to depression, self-harm, and destruction, emotional disorder and to the extreme leading to deaths through suicide and mental disorders. Moreover, child neglect contributes significantly to children acquisition of behavioral maladjustments, personality and conduct disorder. Such impacts take time and financial resources to correct and consequently to generational social disorders. Consequently, it is important for early interventions to be encouraged through progressive studies in understanding the norm and motivators of child neglect and try to resolve it as early as possible.

References

Fraser, J. (2013). Responsible use of child welfare and administrative datasets to build the capacity of child abuse and neglect prevention research internationally. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37(2-3), 87-89. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.12.010

Horwath, J. (2013). Impact of Neglect on Children and Young People. Child Neglect, 41-52. doi:10.1007/978-1-137-32906-6_4

Macmillan, R. (2009). The life course consequences of abuse, neglect, and victimization: Challenges for theory, data collection, and methodology. Child Abuse & Neglect, 33(10), 661-665. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2009.09.002

Mikolajczak, M., Brianda, M. E., Avalosse, H., & Roskam, I. (2018). Consequences of parental burnout: Its specific effect on child neglect and violence. Child Abuse & Neglect, 80, 134-145. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.03.025

Sciarrino, N. A., Hernandez, T. E., & Davidtz, J. (2018). Neglect and Attachment Insecurity. SpringerBriefs in Psychology Understanding Child Neglect, 19-24. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-74811-5_3

Theron, L., & Ungar, M. (2018). Limiting the impacts of child abuse and neglect by understanding which supports matter most: A differential impact approach. Child Abuse & Neglect, 78, 1-3. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.01.018