PSY 3173 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Psychological Abuse, Physical Abuse, Stool Test
13 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Class 9
Child Maltreatment
●There are 4 main categories of child maltreatment
o *only the first three lead to criminal charged
o Physical abuse:
● The deliberate application of force to any part of a child’s body that results in or
may result in a non-accidental injury
· Injury does not need to be present
· Doesn’t have to be parent who causes harm (ex. can get strangers to
cause harm)
· Shaking, hitting, ect.
● Shaken baby syndrome = When parent shakes a baby so hard that it
causes serious head injury
· Over 50% of deaths in children under 5 is from head injury
(especially shaking)
· Perpetrators are mostly male 70-80%
· Both male and female babies victimized
· Although many die, some result in blindness, deafness, seizures, etc.
o Sexual abuse: when an adult or youth uses a child for sexual purposes
o Neglect/ failure to provide
● When a child’s caregivers do not provide the requisite attention to the
child’s emotional, psychological or physical development
· Ex. Malnourishment, being stuck in a room, not allowed to have
friends, being left in hot cat
● Most frequent form of abuse in Canada
o Emotional maltreatment
●Acts of omissions by caregivers that cause or could cause serious
behavioural, cognitive, emotional, or mental disorders
● Form of maltreatment that is very difficult to prove: intimidation, verbal
threats…
● No criminal charges for emotional abuse
●Other forms of abuse
○Abduction (difference between stranger/slight acquaintance vs. caregiver/parent)
■Stranger abduction: very rare
■Are called stereotypical abductions
■Often end in tragedy
■Traumatic effect on communities
■Considerable attention from media
■Estimated that 40%of these abductions result in the death of a child in
the first 24 hours
■⅔ of the victims are female between 6-14 years
○Munchausen by proxy
■Very rare but very serious
■Usually the adult suffers a mental issue (the mother is the one with Munchausen
98% of the time)
■Abuse where the parents constantly brought in their child for medical attention
with symptoms induced by the parents or falsified
■Cases can be found in all socioeconomic levels
■Children usually 2-8 years old
■Both male and female are affected equally
■Usually the dad is unaware of what is happening
■They either have a fascination with medical, most often a health professional,
often will have a history of falsification as well
■When you think you have a case, look at the symptoms of the child
■The mother will be unusually attached to the child during visits and even
the examination
■The child will have a series of recurring medical issues that either don't
respond to treatment or unusual patterns
■May choke their child, malnourished them, add blood to their urine
sample, fat to their stool sample
Child maltreatment
●Corporal punishment (R v. Poulin)
●Poulin
was a religious leader, she had the responsibility of looking after children. She believed
children needed discipline, she used wooden paddle on children. Children testified that she had
beat them to the point of passing out. She was ordered to 8 months in jail.
●Section 43: every parent or teacher can discipline a child with force if the force does not exceed
reasonable amount (which finally went to the court of Canada, they kept it but made a few
changes which are…)
○Corporal punishment is prohibited in schools-- physical force may be used to remove a
student or prevent immediate threats of harm to person or property
○Parents are not permitted to spank, slap, or otherwise use any corporal punishment on
children younger than age 2 or older than age 12
○Parents may use physical force on children between the ages of 3 and 12, but may not use
an object to hit them
○Parents are not permitted to strike children between the ages of 3 and 12 on the head or
the face, under any circumstances
●Risk factors (research mostly on physical + sexual abuse)
○Children factors
■Physical abuse more common with male children
■Sexual abuse more common with female children
○Parental factors
■Linked with physical abuse
■If they were abused as kids
■If the pregnancy was unplanned
■If the mom was young
■If the parent is a single parent
■Negative views about the pregnancy
■History of substance abuse
■Social isolation (ex. No babysitter to get day off)
■Sexual abuse:
■Family with no biological connection
■Weak relationship of the parents
■Presence of a stepfather
○Social factors
■Large family side = higher chance of physical abuse
■Low-socio-economic = higher chance of physical abuse
●Effects of physical abuse and neglect
○ Greater perceptual motor deficit
○Lower measured intellectual functioning
○Lower academic achievement
○Externalized behavior: aggression
○Mental health problems such as depression or hopelessness
○Long term:
■Violent in the future (familial and non-familial)
■About 30% of physically abused or neglected kids will physically abuse their
children
Sexual abuse:
1. As children: lowered self-esteem, inappropriate sexuality, symptoms consistent with ptsd, within
2 years of the sexual abuse they may report: eating disorders, stomach problems, headaches, sleep
disturbances
2. Adult: as an adult more likely to suffer from psychiatric disorder: major depression or
dysfunctional behaviors (alcohol and drug abuse, sexualized behavior: most common) Have an
increased risk of being sexually abused as an adult
3. Neurobiological disk regulation: reduced hippocampal volumein adults, very similar to war
victims experiencing ptsd
Children as witnesses
●The view of children witnesses was seen badly until recently, were seen as unreliable and unable
to distinguish reality from fiction
●Not much interest on studying the reliability of children (up until the late 70s)
●Factors that leads to a renewed interest in child witnesses (Ceci & Bruck. 1993)
○1. Expert psychological testimony was becoming more acceptable in the courtroom (ex.
Psychologist testifying on behalf of the child)
Document Summary
There are 4 main categories of child maltreatment o *only the first three lead to criminal charged o physical abuse: The deliberate application of force to any part of a child"s body that results in or may result in a non-accidental injury cause harm) Shaken baby syndrome = when parent shakes a baby so hard that it. Injury does not need to be present. Doesn"t have to be parent who causes harm (ex. can get strangers to. Shaking, hitting, ect. causes serious head injury. Over 50% of deaths in children under 5 is from head injury. Although many die, some result in blindness, deafness, seizures, etc. (especially shaking) o sexual abuse: when an adult or youth uses a child for sexual purposes o neglect/ failure to provide. When a child"s caregivers do not provide the requisite attention to the child"s emotional, psychological or physical development.
