Advocacy is defined as the act of speaking on the behalf of or in support of another person or a particular cause. Children and adolescents who have encountered physical, emotional, or sexual abuse do not often have the ability to defend or protect themselves. Particularly in educational settings, victims tend to display social, cognitive, and emotional deficits that stem from internalizing trauma. In more severe cases, individuals who have endured repeated cycles of abuse develop fragmented relationships, dissociated alters, and forms of personality loss. Since the “detection of abuse often relies on disclosure, which the current review has argued is a complex and multifaceted process” (Lemaigrea, Taylor, and Gittoes, 2017), teachers must …show more content…
Performed at the University of Denver, a study published in Development and Psychopathology focused on the cognitive-developmental psychology behind fragmented personalities and the emergence of alters during abuse. As an educator, it is crucial to understand this phenomenon from a highly developmental perspective. Multiple identities are often displayed in the most literal sense, created through abuse, trauma, and dissociation in childhood. The integration of these damaged and disembodied alters is typically a complex process, requiring further analysis into the psyche. From a psychological perspective, trauma is often exploited and used so the individual will not be able to truly conceive or remember what happened to them. The more fragmented their identity is, the less able the child is to reach out for an advocate, which points to a very deliberate agenda. However, whether or not it is “possible and/or desirable to integrate the multiple selves that are inevitably constructed”, it is important to note that these identities are created to "compartmentalize traumatic memories and affects” and function “as separate entities capable of independent volitional activities” (Hartner, Bresnick, Bouchey, and Whitesell, 1997, p. 849). The research concluded that as the fragmented self becomes integrated through narrative construction and
To date in HN370: Child Welfare and Family, we have discussed family dynamics and culture. We have dug deeper into the social problem of poverty by defining it and discussing characteristics of poor children, why children live in poverty, the consequences of growing up in poverty and the correlation between homelessness and being poor. We have delved into substance abuse, paying special attention to both addicted parents and children. We have examined the affects of violence in the home, by peers and in schools, as well as the epidemic of bullying.
Dissociative identity disorder, a condition that has plagued and altered the minds of those who were diagnosed for many years, represents the condition in which an individual displays multiple personalities that overpower his or her behavior around others and even alone. Such personalities or identities can have staggering differences between them even being characterized by a disparate gender, race, or age. One of the sides of them can even be animal-like and display feral qualities. Also, the disorder severs the connection between the victim’s sense of identity, emotions, actions, and even memories from their own consciousness. The cause for this is known to be a very traumatic experience that the person had gone through previously and fails to cope with it, thus they dissociate themselves from the memory in order to keep their mental state in one piece. All these results from the disorder do not begin to tell of the rest of the horrors that gnaw away at the affected human.
Childhood maltreatment is defined as emotional or physical maltreatment and sexual abuse that has the potential to cause harm to a child (The relation) while childhood adversity refers to physical or emotional acts that may be potentially harmful to a child’s development (Relationship). Both have similar effects in that they have been found to increase the risk of the development of a psychotic disorder and psychotic symptoms in adults. Childhood maltreatment has been proven to increase the risk of developing depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia in adults. The studies observed in this paper will help to understand if childhood maltreatment and adversity has any effect on the social functioning of people diagnosed with psychotic disorders,
This colossal dissociation of identity from a conventional cognizance embodies those with dissociative identity disorder, (DID; previously known as multiple personality disorder) in which two more diverse characteristics are said to interchangeably switch the person’s demeanor. Dissociative identity disorder is thought to stem from severe trauma mostly in the person’s early childhood (usually around the age 9), due to extreme cyclical sexual, physical and/or emotional abuse. The dissociative aspect is assumed to be a managing method, because literally each personality has its own mannerisms, voice, age, sex, and even race; by dissociating their selves from a situation or experience that are too painful violent to assimilate with their conscious self. Typically, the original personality denies any awareness of the other identities.
Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID, is defined as: “The result of a marvelously creative defense mechanism that a young child uses to cope with extremely overwhelming trauma” (Hawkins, 2003, p. 3). Ross describes DID in this way: “In its childhood onset forms, the disorder is an effective strategy for coping with a traumatic environment: It becomes dysfunctional because environmental circumstances have changed by adulthood” (1997, p, 62). What types of traumatic environments are we talking about here? Often children who form DID are involved in some sort of abuse. These types of abuses can be physical, sexual and even ritual. Such abuses are not meant for children to have to endure, however, the mind is able to deal in effective ways to allow the child to bear such intolerable environments. As one examines this subject, one finds that there are varied opinions on DID, however, it is important to understand the nature of DID, types of DID as well as DID symptoms and healing in adults.
The growing recognition of psychiatric conditions resulting from traumatic influences is a significant mental health issue of the 1990s. Until recently considered rare and mysterious psychiatric curiosities, Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) (until very recently known as Multiple Personality Disorder - MPD) and other Dissociative Disorders (DD) are now understood to be fairly common effects of severe trauma in early childhood, most typically extreme, repeated physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse.
...o be the cause of chronic posttraumatic psychopathology. There are several factories that contribute to this complex splitting of personalities. Over whelming stress coinciding with the ability to separate ones memories, identity, and perception from our conscious awareness, abnormal psychological development, and insufficient protection and love as a child ( Pais, 2009 p 1). It is still not clear how these lead to DID. Dissociative identity disorder tends to manifest in early childhood and arises during adolescences due to the protective reaction to server childhood trauma usually sexual abuse. There have been numerous studies on the early severe abuse and dissociative disorder. It is believed that these identities are invented due to a unified self-identity failed to form due to the trauma especially if the trauma occurred before the age of five ( Pais, 2009 p2).
I am a 15 year old student from Waukon High School in Iowa, and I wanted to talk to you about child abuse. I think that child abuse is a terrible thing, and the people that do it should be sent away for a long time. The people that do it are terrible people because they abuse children that did not do anything to them. They should never gain their right to see their children, or be able to go near any children, and be with them by themselves, or with anybody else that wants to hurt children. The people that hurt the innocent children should be questioned and accounted guilty for child abuse. They could not be ruder and treat the children with more disrespect than they already do.
Abuse in child can differ from physical, emotional, mental, sexual and neglect. The effects of child abuse vary between children these effects can be long lasting. Some of these problems can be psychological such as anxiety, depression, academic problems in school, withdrawn and difficulty connecting with others, and can even experience flashbacks and post-traumatic stress. They also have physical effects such as bruises, sprains, fractures, poor hygiene and inappropriate dress. Children living in an environment that is full of fear and violence develop poor coping skill some of these coping skills can be eating disorders, drug use risky sexual decision and self-harm. Some children fall into a cycle of abuse and become abusers themselves. Each child can experience one or more
When a child has been physically abused, there are noticeable bruises, or other effects on the person. On the other hand, most people do not recognize or even know the effects of emotional abuse. Emotional abuse can deeply wound a child, and as the child grows, the scars will remain; the scars that people do not see that can cause a lifetime of suffering. These invisible scars can affect a person’s development as they struggle to accept themselves from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. Emotional abuse negatively impacts an individual’s self-esteem, which can in turn, cause depression and substance abuse later in adulthood.
When the topic of abuse comes up, many different forms of abuse pop into individuals heads. Whether its Physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse or even drug abuse, the list just keeps going. Now take all those different forms abuse and imagine them happening in a family. A father physically abusing his children, a mother verbally berating her daughter about her body image, a child growing up in fear. According to the research by David Wolfe in the Journal of Consulting and clinical Psychology, that the number of children that have suffered a physical injury due to physical abuse is between 1.4 and 1.9 million annually. With such a high number of physical abuse happening to children, one can imagine how high the number of all the
Trauma relates to a type of damage to the mind that comes from a severely distressing event. A traumatic event relates to an experience or repeating events that overwhelmingly precipitated in weeks, months, or decades as one tries to cope with the current situations that can cause negative consequences. People’s general reaction to these events includes intense fear, helplessness or horror. When children experience trauma, they show disorganized or agitative behavior. In addition, the trigger of traumas includes some of the following, harassment, embarrassment, abandonment, abusive relationships, rejection, co-dependence, and many others. Long-term exposure to these events, homelessness, and mild abuse general psychological
In life, many things are taken for granted on a customary basis. For example, we wake up in the morning and routinely expect to see and hear from certain people. Most people live daily life with the unsighted notion that every important individual in their lives at the moment, will exist there tomorrow. However, in actuality, such is not the case. I too fell victim to the routine familiarity of expectation, until the day reality taught me otherwise.
To understand how to prevent child sexual abuse, one must begin by understanding what child sex abuse is. When a perpetrator intentionally harms a child physically, psychologically, sexually, or by acts of neglect, this crime is known as child abuse. Child sex abuse consists of any sexual activity that includes a minor. A child cannot consent to any form of sexual activity. More importantly, when a perpetrator engages with a child this way, they are committing a crime that can have lasting effects on the victim for years. Moreover, child sexual abuse does not need to include physical contact between a perpetrator and child, some forms include but not limited to; fondling, intercourse, sex trafficking, exposing oneself to a minor, masturbation
Child abuse is a very serious problem that continues to happen all over the world. The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, defines child abuse as a failure to act as a parent or caregiver which results in physical/emotional harm, sexual abuse, and in some cases death. There are many different types of child abuse such as emotional, physical, neglect, and sexual. With each type of abuse there are warning signs you can spot before it is too late. When a child is abused there is a huge possibility that it can cause them to have many long term effects.