assignment assihnmne

Psychological

Maltreatment

Psychological Maltreatment

at a Societal Level

 There are cultural messages based on race,

gender, ability/disability, etc that are damaging

to children that have not been examined in the

context of psychological maltreatment

 There are larger environments that children live

in that produce a constant level of fear

(community violence, wars)

 As with neglect, the focus has been on the

activities of caregivers

Lack of Attention

 Presumed to be very widespread; studies suggest 10-15% of population have experienced severe and chronic forms

 Use of term ―abuse‖ carries assumption of imperative to intervene, perhaps punitively

 Difficulties with definition—e.g., what is a threat

 Least frequently reported as separate category, but seen most commonly by workers in treatment programs for child abuse and neglect; most commonly reported among children 7-17

Definitional Problems

 Psychological maltreatment is probably on a continuum—at what point should it become actionable

 However, studies indicate that both professionals and lay people recognize when psychological abuse has occurred

 Parent-child interactions vary greatly by culture; does the meaning of the same act change by cultural context

 Debate whether focus should be on  Acts by caregivers-APSAC definition

 Harm-observable impact on child (often not seen immediately)

 Endangerment-risk of harm in future (established in the literature) – Glaser definition

Significance of

Psychological Abuse

 psychological abuse is the core issue in other identified forms of abuse (physical, sexual)

 Psychological abuse can stand on its own as well, although frequency may be associated with other forms of abuse (Morimoto & Sharma, 2004)

 Increasing evidence that acts of psychological abuse on its own has negative impact (psychological abuse is more predictive of poor outcome than severity of physical abuse, when it co-occurs with physical abuse)

Unique Properties of

Psychological Abuse

 Acts of omission and commission

 The abuser is always the primary caretaker and attachment figure

 Commonly, in two-parent families, both contribute, or one knows and does not protect; easily observable

 Typically chronic rather than episodic— can be unrelenting and pervasive

APSAC Definition

 A repeated pattern or extreme incident(s) of caregiver behavior that convey the message that the child is worthless, flawed, unloved, endangered, or only valuable in meeting someone else's needs. (As opposed to ―growth-inducing‖ challenges.) Describes the relationship.

 The caregiver-child relationship should be considered within a developmental framework that takes into account the primary developmental tasks of the child and the related tasks placed upon the caregiver.

Hart, SN., Brassard, M.R., Binggeli, N.J., & Davidson, H.A. (2002). Psychological maltreatment. In J.E.B. Myers, L. Berliner, J. Briere, C.T. Hendrix, C. Jenny, & T.A.Reid (Eds.), The APSAC handbook on child maltreatment (pp. 79-103). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications

Consider for each…

 Developmental level

 Cultural issues

 How each might be manifested in the

context of physical or sexual abuse

Spurning

Verbal and nonverbal caregiver acts that reject and degrade a child.

Spurning includes the following:

 Belittling, degrading, and other nonphysical forms of overtly hostile or rejecting treatment

 Shaming and/or ridiculing the child for showing normal emotions such as affections, grief, or sorrow

 Consistently singling out one child to criticize and punish, to perform most of the household chores, or to receive fewer rewards

 Public humiliation

Terrorizing

Caregiver behavior that threatens or is likely to physically hurt, kill, abandon, or place the child or child's loved ones or objects in recognizably dangerous situations.

Terrorizing includes the following:

 Placing a child in unpredictable or chaotic circumstances

 Placing a child in recognizably dangerous situations

 Setting rigid or unrealistic expectations with the threat of loss, harm, or danger if they are not met

 Threatening or perpetrating violence against the child

 Threatening or perpetrating violence against a child's loved ones or objects

Isolating

Caregiver acts that consistently deny the child opportunities to meet needs for interacting or communicating with peers or adults inside or outside the home.

Isolating includes the following:

 Confining the child or placing unreasonable limitations on the child's freedom of movement within his or her environment.

 Placing unreasonable limitations or restrictions on social interactions with peers or adults in the community.

Exploiting/Corrupting

Caregiver acts that encourage the child to develop inappropriate behaviors (self-destructive, antisocial, criminal, deviant, or other maladaptive behaviors).

Exploiting/corrupting includes the following:

 Modeling, permitting, or encouraging antisocial behavior (e.g., prostitution, performance in pornographic media, initiation of criminal activities, substance abuse, violence to or corruption of others).

 Modeling, permitting, or encouraging developmentally inappropriate behavior (e.g., parentification, infantilization, living the parent's unfulfilled dreams).

 Encouraging or coercing abandonment of developmentally appropriate autonomy through extreme overinvolvement, intrusiveness, and/or dominance (e.g., allowing little or no opportunity or support for child's views, feelings, and wishes; micromanaging child's life.)

 Restricting or interfering with cognitive development.

Denying Emotional

Responsiveness (Ignoring)

Caregiver acts that ignore the child's attempts and needs to interact (failing to express affection, caring, and love for the child) and show no emotion in interactions with the child.

Denying emotional responsiveness includes the following:

 Being detached and uninvolved through either incapacity or lack of motivation.

 Interacting only when absolutely necessary.

 Failing to express affection, caring, and love for the child.

Glaser (2002) Definition

Focuses on failure to address basic elements of child’s psychosocial being; same behavior may fall under more than one category, depending on motivation/meaning:

 A person who exists

 A person with his/he own attributes

 A person who is vulnerable, dependent, rapidly developing

 A person possessing his/her own feelings, thoughts, perceptions

 A social being who will interact and communicate within his/her own social context

A person who exists

 Emotional unavailability,

unresponsiveness-preoccupied with own

difficulties and cannot respond to child’s

emotional needs

 Similar to ―Denying Emotional

Responsiveness‖

A person with his/her own

attributes

 Negative attributions and misattributions

to the child

 May include behaviors that fall under

several of the APSAC categories

A person who is

vulnerable, dependent,

rapidly developing

 Developmentally inappropriate or

inconsistent interactions with the child

(inappropriate expectations,

overprotection or limitation on

exploration, exposure to traumatic

events)

 May include behaviors that fall under

several of the APSAC categories

A person possessing

his/her own feelings,

thoughts, perceptions

 Failure to recognize or acknowledge the

child’s individuality or psychological

boundary (using child for own fulfillment,

inability to distinguish between child’s

reality and adult’s beliefs/wishes)

 May include behaviors that fall under

several of the APSAC categories

A social being who will

interact and communicate

within his/her own social

context

 Failing to promote child’s social

adaptation (promoting mis-socialization,

including corrupting; psychological

neglect)

 May include behaviors that fall under

several of the APSAC categories

Consider

 Rejection of youth who are ―coming out‖

 Spiritual healing of physical conditions

 Youth who commit violent acts

Phenomenology

(DeRobertis, 2004)

 Central role of shame

 Themes  Being cast aside: lonely, isolated, need the very

person who was rejecting them—trapped

 Self-blame/guilt for being unlovable

 Feeling sub-human, with little purpose in life

 Negative comparisons to other homes

 Refusal by mothers to communicate about relationship

 Self-destructive behaviors, including drugs

 Avoiding memories and interpersonal contact

 Misplaced aggression and need to control

 Inadequate self-definition, indecisiveness

Variables

 Existence of shame as major moderating

variable; if experience shame, outcome is

worse

 Family cohesion is protective factor

 Domestic violence makes outcome

worse: maternal insults by mothers in dv

homes produces bad outcomes in

children

Effects of Psychological

Abuse

 Failure to thrive

 Poor self-esteem

 Externalizing problems: Anger/aggression- delinquency

 Internalizing problems: Depression and anxiety

 Dissociation

 Interpersonal problems

 Learning problems

Causes

 Lack of support for parents in parenting

role

 Parental difficulties: substance abuse,

mental illness, personality disorders,

significance of this pregnancy or this

child, marital stress

 Child difficulties: temperamental issues,

developmental delays