We Are Adult Survivors of Child Abuse and Neglect

A combination of individual, relational, community, and societal factors contribute to the risk of child maltreatment.[1] Risk factors are contributing factors – not direct causes. As I list these factors below, think about your own experiences as an adult survivor of child abuse or know of someone who has been abused.

Children who experience maltreatment are at an increased risk of adverse health effects and behaviors as adults – including smoking, alcoholism, drug abuse, eating disorders, severe obesity, depression, suicide, sexual promiscuity, and certain chronic diseases. See my posts titled National Scope of Child Abuse – Parts 1, 2, and 3.

To better understand what happens to young children, it helps if the types of abuse and its consequences are spelled out. We all think we know how to define abuse and what happens as a result of that behavior, but it is also useful to read specific characteristics of each.

There has long been a need to work with families to deter child abuse. One avenue the government is endorsing is with home visitations. There is a shared belief that appropriate, early intervention is critical in preventing health, social, and economic problems before they become a family

One of the most pervasive forms of abuse at home is husbands and intimate partners beating up their wives and female partners. The vast majority of partner abuse is perpetrated by men. What makes it even worse is that these male bashers include in their repertoire

It has been substantiated over and over again in research that child abuse interrupts the normal healthy development of children. It is no surprise then that young girls searching for the love and affection they are not getting at home are reaching out in inappropriate ways. Since their world is so chaotic,

Just as childhood incest is underreported, so is sibling incest. It occurs far more frequently than many want to believe although many of the same reasons for father-daughter incest (the most prominent) are the same. In fact, sibling incest is estimated to occur 3-5 times as often as

Child prostitution is another difficult result of child abuse, but it needs to be discussed. General psychological and emotional problems, housing instability, substance abuse, educational and vocational failure, and major problems at home have all been cited as common precipitating factors in the lives of prostituted children.

There is always a discussion about men who offend but very little about women offenders. Between the early 1970’s and the year 2000, the number of women in prison doubled from about 3% of the prison population to about 6.3% of the total. Women, in this study,[1] accounted for

During the 1970s and 1980s, child prevention programs were developed for school systems. They were primarily aimed at teaching children how to possibly avoid abuse not realizing they were attempting to pit small children against powerful, manipulative child molesters. Has any of this worked over the last 30 years? No.