Reflection Paper on film (2-3 pages MAX)

Nydia Y. Monagas, Psy.D.

 In 2011, an estimate of 3.4 million child abuse referrals made involving over 6 million children

 681,000 children found to be maltreated  78.5% neglect

 17.6% physical abuse

 9.1% sexual abuse

 10.3% “other,” including psychological maltreatment,abandonment and congenital drug addiction

 Estimated that less than one-third of cases reported

 In 2011, it was reported that 1,545 children died from abuse/neglect

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/cm11.pdf

 “Neglect is the failure, whether intentional or not, of the person responsible for the child's care to provide and maintain adequate food, clothing, medical care, supervision, and/or education.

 A child may be found neglected who:

1. has been abandoned

2. is being denied proper care and attention physically educationally, emotionally, or morally

3. is being permitted to live under conditions, circumstances or associations injurious to his well- being

4. is being abused.”

 (Retrieved from http://www.ct.gov/dcf/cwp/view.asp?Q=316956&a=2556)

 Food, nutrition

 Clothing

 Shelter

 Inadequate hygiene

 Abandonment  Not picked up within two days

 Kicking child out of the home; leaving child with various caregivers due to disinterest in caring for child

 Is it neglect if parents cannot provide for their child’s basic needs? If neglect is not intentional?

 Physical Neglect

 Medical Neglect

 Educational Neglect

 Emotional Neglect

 Supervisory

 Environmental

 Emotional

 Often occur together, and with other types of abuse

 Immunizations and preventive care (e.g., dental)

 Failure to seek timely medical/mental health care

 Failure to comply with medical/mental health care

 Is it neglect if recommended treatment is refused because of religious beliefs?

 Truancy

 Failure to enroll a child in school

 Refusing or not seeking needed special education services

 Is homeschooling a form of neglect?

 Lack of supervision

 Inappropriate caregivers

 Exposure to hazards

 Guns, poisons, drug paraphernalia, second-hand smoke, unsanitary household conditions, car seats

 Is it neglect if cultural values support early responsibilities for children (e.g., leaving a toddler in the care of a 10-year-old

 Neighborhood factors

 Do you consider this neglect? Who is responsible?

 Lack of safety

 Part of psychological maltreatment

 Inadequate nurturing or affection

 Psychological unavailability can lead to deficits in multiple areas (e.g., attachment, language and cognitive development, motor skills)

 Exposure to extreme/chronic domestic violence

 Permitted drug or alcohol use

 How bad does this have to be to be considered neglectful?

 <5% in weight and height

 Baby was once of normal weight and height

 Delay in psychomotor development

 Flat affect; passivity

 Poor ability to suck

 Lack of interest in food; vomiting

 Unwilling to be held

 Lack of eye contact

 Delay in language

 Affects children 18 months to 16 years of age  Often associated with emotional deprivation  <5%ile in weight and height  Retarded skeletal maturation  Bizarre eating patterns (e.g., overeating, stealing,

hoarding)  Sleep problems and night wanderings  Hyperactivity  Extreme fatigue  Enuresis and encopresis  Delayed development (e.g., speech, social skills)

 Self-stimulating and self-calming (e.g., rocking, thumb sucking)

 Delays in motor skills

 Delayed cognitive development, including expressive and receptive language

 Delayed social skills

 Lack of prosocial behavior

 Lack of delayed gratification due to unpredictability

 Others?

 Wears dirty or inappropriate clothing

 Shows poor hygiene; dirty or decaying teeth

 Always seems hungry; hoards, steals or begs for food; comes to school with little food

 Often appears listless and tired

 Frequently reports caring for younger siblings

 Unaddressed medical or dental problems

 Homeless families are approximately 1/3rd of homeless population

 More than one million children are homeless

 On any given day, an estimated 200,000 children have no place to live

 Among all homeless women, 60% have children, but only 65% live with at least one of their children

 Should parents be charged with neglect if their children are homeless?

http://www.familyhomelessness.org/media/306.pdf

 http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rock- center/50020452#50020452

 What are some of the causes of family homelessness?

 What is the impact on children?

 What can we do?

http://www.familyhomelessness.org/media/306.pdf

 Critical to psychological and interpersonal health

 Characteristics of securely attached children:  Explore freely while primary attachment figure is

present

 Respond differently to strangers (may exhibit fear of strangers

 Upset at departure of attachment figure

 Comforted by reappearance of attachment figure

 www.youtube.com/watch?v=36GI_1PBQpM& NR=1

 Ensures survival of the individual and humans

 Infant is biologically programmed to seek proximity to a caregiver

 Critical period: developmental phase during which there is a heightened sensitivity for a stimulus to occur

 Critical period: 6 months – 3 years

 Behaviors subside, but reappear in crisis situations throughout life

 Styles are developed in first few years of life

 Parent engaged, but in response to own needs

 Child is anxious about exploring, even when mother is present

 Child is highly distressed when mom leaves

 Child is ambivalent upon mom’s return (stays close , but is resentful and resistant to being reengaged)

 Mom is more engaged

 Child avoids or ignores mom

 Child does not explore much

 Child does not respond differently to strangers

 Child shows little emotional response when parent departs or returns

 Caregivers are either frightened or frightening

 Caregiver is source of alarm to child, but also source of safe haven

 Creates an approach-avoidance conflict for the child: child freezes

 No coherent pattern for coping

 Often associated with abuse

 Changes in brain structures are due to experience

 In critical period, energy is high in infant and parent for receptivity to each other’s cues

 Secure and insecure attachment patterns result in differences in brain development