Child abuse is a very serious problem worldwide and it is necessary to work together to stop it. According to Soriano Faura, we can define child abuse as a negligent, non-accidental action, omission or treatment that deprives the child of his or her rights and her well-being and that threatens or interferes with her physical, mental or social development. Physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect and sexual abuse are the main types of child abuse, in addition to prenatal abuse, which can have consequences for the fetus.
In this Psychology-Online article we will talk about how to prevent child abuse, we will explain what are the characteristics of an abused child that can make us raise the alarm and act to help them. In this article you will find the causes and solutions of child abuse. How to prevent it is everyone’s responsibility.
Visible characteristics of child abuse
The characteristics or clinical expressions of an abused child are classified into two large blocks:
Visible signs of child abuse
Visible expressions can be found in any type of child abuse, they usually correspond to lesions affecting the skin or mucous membranes, such as: scratches, burns, traces of aggression on the skin with a blunt object such as wire, cord, belt or a sharp object and human bites… They are usually located mainly on the skull, on the face, extremities and/or genito-anal mucosa. These are usually traumas and in most cases, in addition to the skin involvement, we can find injuries to the bones in the area and/or the organs.
An added characteristic in these patients is that the fracture line is usually not explained by the mechanism proposed by the family member or the person in charge of the minor. Thus, the doctor not only locates the injury, but must also understand and explain its probable mechanism.
On the other hand, the pregnancies in younger girls twelve or years old or around that age are also one of the visible signs since they respond to sexual abuse, as well as the existence of a sexually transmitted disease.
Consequences on the nervous system
The nervous system of children also suffers, especially in those under 2 years of age, in whom a consequence of severe shaking of the skull or whipping of the body is observed. This circumstance is known as “shaken baby syndrome” of which there are two modalities:
- No visible physical symptoms despite the severity of the syndrome. In this modality, the infant presents acute suffering of the central nervous system expressed by seizures of sudden onset or loss of alertness, as well as sudden cardio-respiratory failure. It is usually the most common way in which the syndrome presents.
- Has injuries in the cranial vault or one or more long bones.
Invisible characteristics of child abuse
Four different pathological conditions are considered to detect the invisible signs of child abuse:
- Severe malnutrition: it is important that both the doctor and the social professional work together in this area, since if a minor is in a serious state of malnutrition, the origin would have to be investigated to find out if it is really child abuse or perhaps it responds to other causes. causes such as poverty in the family.
- Low size: Any other pathology that could cause the child to have short stature must be ruled out before being associated with the consequences of psychological child abuse or neglect.
- Childhood and adolescent overweight or obesity: This fact can often be explained by incorrect diet and sedentary habits. On other occasions, however, it may be due to other circumstances such as, for example, depression caused by sexual abuse that manifests itself through compulsive eating.
- emotional disturbances: problems with sleep, appetite, sphincter control and school performance, mainly. The appearance of these symptoms is usually sudden and difficult to control and resolve. Again, we must find out if these symptoms are related to child abuse or respond to another origin.
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How to avoid child abuse
What can be done to prevent child abuse? The best form of prevention of child abuse is a open communication between children and all members of their families as well as educators, in this way, as soon as they feel bad, they will be aware that something bad has happened and that it should not be like that to express it.
Inform and educate for the prevention of child abuse
It is not easy to talk about this to children, but it is necessary to overcome the reluctance that families often exhibit with these issues and inform them in order to prevent them and that they are capable of acting carefully and paying attention to any stranger.
It is about providing protection tools to children so that they themselves can identify misbehavior and communicate about it. As adults, we must avoid overprotection, uncontrolled reactions and alarmist attitudes, as well as the denial of the existence of child and child abuse; we must talk about the issues to prevent them.
Measures against child abuse
It is important that children are clear about the following questions:
- What you can do to protect yourself: adults are responsible for protecting them, but without their help and collaboration they will not be able to do it and that they themselves can do and learn things to protect themselves.
- The existence of sexual abuse: When a person wants to hurt you, he not only does it by hitting, yelling or insulting, sometimes he can try to do it by caressing without consent.
- Basic security measures: They have to be careful with people they don’t know and reject situations in which they try to encourage or pressure them to do something, for example, through a gift, inviting them to do some activities that they like, etc.
- Consent in displays of affection: kisses, caresses (especially intimate) and hugs are part of emotional relationships, they are given to people they know and love and whenever they want. That is, physical contact should never be forced. Neither should they force someone who does not want to kiss or hug them, nor should they let another person kiss, caress and hug them if they do not want to. They have the right to .
How to work on child abuse in the classroom
The school is a very important instrument to provide children with adequate information if they are not acquiring it at home, so work on child abuse through education It is key to help detect the problem, as well as prevent it.
Some of the strategies to work on child abuse in the classroom in general terms are:
- Develop the tutorial function so that students know that they can trust the tutor and tell him their problems.
- Promote successful experiences to schoolchildren, valuing efforts and achievements, which will encourage children and adolescents who are more independent, confident and persistent in their efforts.
- Be sensitive to the social environmentflexible in its educational operation and open to new solutions.
- Educate in valuesespecially in democratic values and diversity.
Other more specific strategies to prevent child abuse at school can be:
- Increase teachers’ skills to deal with conflicts.
- Raise awareness in the educational community about what child abuse is and what it entails.
- Train to have the appropriate knowledge and resources to detect risk situations
- Develop dissemination and awareness actions between children, families and the community about the special rights that assist children.
- Stimulate the confidence and self-esteem of boys and girls by all means.
- Provide students with the space and opportunities to experiment with non-violent forms of conflict resolution. Assemblies, classroom councils and any means that stimulate democratic participation in school life can be good resources.
- It is also important that the educational center teaches children and adolescents to develop a series of knowledge and skills that allow them distinguish situations of mistreatment and abuse and deal with them.
To successfully develop the preventive function, the educational center as an institution must be able to review your own attitudes towards controlling the behaviors of infants and adolescents and developing lines of teamwork with students and families.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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References
- Soriano, FJ(2015). Promotion of good treatment and prevention of abuse in children in the field of primary health care. Recovered from: http://previnfad.aepap.org/sites/default/files/2017-04/previnfad_maltrato.pdf
Bibliography
- CEAPA. Guide for parents: prevention and addressing child abuse and sexual abuse from the family and the AMPAS. Retrieved from: https://www.observatoriodelainfancia.es/ficherosoia/documentos/4831_d_prevencion_y_abordaje_del_maltrato_infantil_y_abuso_sexual_ desde_la_familia_y_las_ampas_0.pdf
- Ombudsman for Minors of the Community of Madrid. Detection and prevention of child abuse from the educational center. Guide for teachers. Retrieved from: http://www.madrid.org/dat_norte/WEBDATMARCOS/supe/convivencia/materiales/guia_protocolo_maltrato.pdf
- Loredo, A. & Casas, A. & Monroy, DA(2014). Child abuse: usual clinical characteristics. Journal of the Faculty of Medicine of UNAM,57(1), 1-9.