The different forms of child abuse

In the last decades the study of the subject of child abuse has experienced a considerable boom.

It has gone from being an issue traditionally assumed by society as a normal practice to being an area important research from the publication of the first investigations of the end of the century XX.

What is child abuse?

The concept of child abuse It can be defined as any action from the person responsible for the minor, whether by commission or omission, that puts (or may put) at risk the physical, emotional or cognitive integrity of the small.

One of the determining aspects that are analyzed to assess the existence or not of this phenomenon comes from the study of the environment in which the minor develops. It is usually spoken of maladaptive environment or harmful when there are various factors such as a breakdown at the family level in which aggressive interactions are frequently used, little affection, a marginal socio-economic level, a dysfunctional school environment at the psychopedagogical level, a social environment lacking in interests, insufficient cultural-urban resources, or the presence of a conflictive environment in the neighborhood.

A definition of child maltreatment similar to the one set out is the one collected byGeneral Assembly of the United Nations Organization 1989: “Child abuse is any form of violence, injury or physical or mental abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, mistreatment or exploitation, which occurs while the child is in the custody of her parents, a guardian or any other person who has him under his position".

1. Types of child abuse

The concept of child abuse has evolved from the Ancient Age to the present day, going from being a A practice that in no case was considered reportable, until it was defined as a crime from the last decades of the Last century. The initial denial of considering child maltreatment as a despicable phenomenon has traditionally been justified by obeying three main principles: the idea that the child is parental property, the belief that violence and assault are accepted as appropriate disciplinary methods, and the lack of consideration of the minor's rights as legitimate.

1.1. Physical abuse

Physical abuse has been defined by Arruabarrena and De Paúl as a type of voluntary behavior that causes either physical harm to the child or the development of a physical illness (or risk of suffering). Therefore, it has an intentional component with respect to actively infringing harm to the minor.

Different types of physical abuse can be distinguished depending on the end that the parents wish to achieve: as a way of imparting discipline, as an expression of rejection of the child, as expression of sadistic characteristics by the aggressor or as a consequence of lack of control in a conflictive family situation determined.

1.2. Emotional abuse

On the other hand, emotional abuse does not present the same objectivity and clarity regarding the possibility of delimiting it. The same authors conceptualize it as the set of behaviors related to an interaction more or less maintained over time and based on an attitude of verbal hostility (insults, contempt, threats) as well as in blocking any initiative of interaction by the child towards her parents or caregivers. Being able to narrow it down as a form of child abuse is complicated.

On the other hand, emotional neglect is understood as the absence of responses from parents who are permanently passive before the demands or signals that the minor emits about their interaction needs and affectionate behaviors with respect to said parental figures.

The main difference between both phenomena refers, once again, to the intentionality of the action; in the first case the action is committed and in the second, omitted.

1.3. Child neglect

Physical neglect or child neglect consists of the action of stopping caring for the minor for whom one has the obligation to care, either setting an objectively observable physical distance or not. Therefore, this practice is understood as an attitude of omission, although certain authors such as Polansky consider that this act is carried out voluntarily by the parents. The consequences derived from negligence can be physical, cognitive, emotional or social, according to Cantón and Cortés.

In addition, Martínez and De Paúl have differentiated between the concepts of neglect and physical abandonment. The first phenomenon can be both conscious and unconscious and can be due to aspects such as ignorance and lack of culture of the parents by not considering these acts as possible causes of psychological damage to the less. On the contrary, physical neglect is more oriented towards consequences of damage to the body (bodily harm) and is understood as a case of extreme negligence.

2. Causes of child abuse

Traditionally, and until the 1990s, the presence of psychopathological alterations in parents with the existence of child abuse practices in the nucleus family.

After the investigations of the last years, it seems that the explanatory causes point to factors closer to socioeconomic aspects and disadvantageous contextual circumstances that diminish the social support network of the minor and the family in general, ultimately generating tensions in the family system.

Thus, an explanatory model that has had important empirical support is the one proposed by Parke and Colimer in the 1970s and ratified by Wolfe in the 1980s. These authors found that the following list of characteristics maintain a significant correlation with the existence of child maltreatment behaviors in the family system:

• Poor parenting skills in stress management and in the care of the child.

• Lack of knowledge about the nature of the evolutionary development process in the human being.

• Distorted expectations about child behavior.

• Lack of knowledge and underestimation of the importance of affection and empathic understanding.

• Tendency to have high levels of physiological activation on the part of the parents and ignorance of adequate forms of discipline alternative to aggression.

From the psychological to the family, social and cultural

On the other hand, Belsky, at the same time presented an ecosystem approach to explain the causes that lead to the appearance of child abuse. The author defends in his theory that factors can operate at different ecological levels: in the microsystem, in the macrosystem and in the exosystem.

In the first, the specific behaviors of individuals and their psychological characteristics are distinguished as study variables; the second includes socioeconomic, structural and cultural variables (resources and access to them, values ​​and normative attitudes of society, mainly); and in the third level social relations and the professional sphere are evaluated.

Other authors such as Larrance and Twentyman point to the presence of cognitive distortions in mothers of abused minors, while Wolfe is more inclined to base causality on findings that show negligent avoidance and withdrawal behaviors. Tymchuc, for his part, has found a correlation between limited intellectual capacity and negligent attitude in the treatment of their own children, although this does not mean that all mothers with diagnosed mental retardation necessarily apply such dysfunctional behavior.

Finally, from the cognitive perspective, Crittenden and Milner proposed in the 1990s that there is a significant relationship between the type of processing of the information received from abroad (interactions with the child, for example) and the presence of abuse childish. It seems to have been proven that abusive parents present problems of interpretation of the meaning of the behaviors and demands expressed by the child.

Thus, faced with such a perceptual alteration, parents often emit responses of avoidance, withdrawal or ignorance to the child's request since they elaborate a belief of learned helplessness assuming that they will not be able to incorporate a new, more adaptive and adequate methodology. In addition, according to the study, these types of parents also tend to underestimate the satisfaction of their children's needs, prioritizing other types of obligations and activities ahead of the minor.

3. Indicators of child abuse

As we have seen, emotional abuse is more complex to demonstrate since the indicators are not so clearly observable as in the case of physical abuse. In any case, there are certain signals from both the minor and the abuser adult that can make alarm bells are raised and serve to provide a more solid basis for proof that these types of behaviors.

3.1. Indicators of child abuse in the victim

In a first set of variables to assess are the manifestations that the least as a victim he externalizes through his verbalizations and behaviors, for example: maintaining a withdrawn, helpful attitude, or expressing refusal to share fears and certain experiences with other close people; suffer alterations in academic performance and in relationships with peers; present dysfunction in sphincter control, feeding or sleep; show alterations in certain Personality traits and in the mood, or develop sexual disorders.

3.2. Indicators of child abuse in the aggressor

In a second group of factors are those that refer to parental behaviors that are linked to child maltreatment practices with relative frequency. These attitudes vary according to age, but in most cases actions of rejection, isolation are directed towards the child. and avoidance of contact, ignorance and indifference to the demands of the minor, use of threats and fears, exaggerated punishments, denial in the expression of affection, lack of communication, contempt, excessive demanding demands, or blockage of the development of autonomous functioning, among others.

3.3. Psychological indicators of child abuse

At a third level are the alterations produced in the basic cognitive learning abilities such as language, symbolic and abstract thinking, emotional self-control and the management of impulsivity in interpersonal relationships. Related to it, reference can be made to the educational consequences suffered by the minor exposed to emotional abandonment, such as spending most of the day alone without receiving any kind of care, frequent unexcused absences from school or poor participation and collaboration family-school.

3.4. Indicators of child abuse in the family environment

Ultimately in the convivial area of ​​the family nucleus the observable damages correspond to the presence of affective rejection, isolation, verbal hostility and threats, solitary confinement and under parental emotional control as examples of emotional abuse; and persistent lack of responses to the minor's demands and isolation regarding signs of emotional abandonment.

4. Child abuse prevention factors

According to the proposal of the Beavers Systems Theory and other later authors, A series of dimensions are distinguished that contribute decisively to the establishment of an adaptive family relationship environment and satisfactory as the following:

• A structure and organization where each of the subsystems is delimited (the relationship between the spouses, the fraternal relationship, etc.) while allowing a certain permeability between them.

• The presence of affective behaviors between members.

• A functioning circumscribed to the democratic educational style where the behavioral control of the progeny is clearly defined.

• Parental stable personality traits and a clear establishment of the roles they play in the family nucleus.

• A communicative dynamic based on correspondence, expressiveness, and clarity.

• A definite relationship with respect to systems outside the primary family nucleus (other relatives, friends, educational community, neighborhood, etc.).

• How the performance of the tasks assigned to each member occurs to promote the psychological development of the little ones in the main vital areas (relationships interpersonal skills, coping with difficulties, behavioral repertoire, emotional stability, etc.).

From all the dimensions set out, it follows that the family must provide the child with a stable space equipped with the resources that allow him to have her needs as a human being covered, both physical and emotional and educational.

More specifically, López points out that There are three main types of needs that the family must safeguard in relation to their offspring:

• Physiobiological: such as food, hygiene, clothing, health, protection against physical dangers, etc.
• The cognitive: an adequate and coherent education in values ​​and norms, the facilitation and exposure to a level of stimulation that speeds up their learning.
• The emotional and social: the feeling of knowing oneself valued, accepted and esteemed; the offer of support to favor the development of relationships with equals; consideration of their involvement in family decisions and actions, among others.

In conclusion

Definitely, there are many different manifestations of child abuse, far from being considered exclusively physical abuse as the only valid and recognizable typology. All of them can lead to the appearance of extremely serious psychological consequences in the minor, regardless of the type of practice in question.

On the other hand, the assumption that this problem has a multicausal origin seems to be clear, although the factors contextual and socio-economic are shown to be central in the causal determination of the phenomenon of abuse childish.

Ultimately, it should be noted the relevance of analyzing in depth how the indications that explain what kind of prevention and protection practices are useful can be applied and effective in order to avoid falling into the appearance of this serious behavioral deviation.

Bibliographic references:

• Arruabarrena, Mª I. and de Paúl, J. Child abuse in the family. Evaluation and treatment, Ediciones Pirámide, Madrid, 2005.

• Beavers, W.R. and Hampson, R. B. (1995). Successful families (Evaluation, treatment and intervention), Barcelona, ​​Paidós.

• Belsky, J. (1993). Etiology of child maltreatment: a developmental-ecological analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 413-434.

• Cantón, J. and Cortés, M.A. (1997). Child sexual abuse and mistreatment. Madrid: XXI century.

• Crittenden, P. (1988). Family and dyadic patterns of functioning in maltreating families. In K. Browne, C.

• Larrance, D.T. and Twentyman, C.T. (1983). Maternal attributions and child abuse. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 92, 449-457.

• López, F. (1995): Children's needs. Theoretical foundation, classification and educational criteria of children's needs (volume I and II). Madrid, Ministry of Social Affairs.

• Milner, J.S. (nineteen ninety five). The application of the theory of social information processing to the problem of physical abuse of children. Childhood and Learning, 71, 125-134.

• Parke, R.D. & Collmer, C. W. (1975). Child abuse: An interdisciplinary analysis. In E.M. Hetherington (Ed.). Review of child development research (vol 5). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

• Polansky, N.A., De Saix, C. and Sharlin, S.A. (1972). Child neglect. Understanding and reaching the parent. Washington: Child Welfare League of America.

• Tymchuc, A. J. and Andron, L. (1990). Mothers with mental retardation who do or do not abuse or neglect their children. Child Abuse and Neglect, 14, 313-324.

• Wolfe, D. (1985). Child abusive parents: an empirical review and analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 97, 462-482.