SAFETY AND

ENVIRONMENTAL
MANAGEMENT FOR
YOUNG CHILDREN
CSZD2313
CHAPTER 9
ABUSE AND NEGLECT OF CHILDREN
Defining Child Maltreatment

Encompassing all aspects of harmful or injurious behaviors toward children,

including abuse and neglect
• Child abuse: harmful acts toward children
• Child neglect: failure to protect a child from harm

Types of child maltreatment:

• Physical abuse
• Neglect / Emotional and psychological neglect
• Sexual abuse and exploitation
• Emotional or verbal abuse
Physical Abuse

Any injury caused by physical force:

• Battered/abused child syndrome
– Physical sign that pattern of abuse has occurred over period of
time.
• Shaken baby syndrome
– Type of traumatic brain injury caused by intentional and violent
shaking.
• Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy
– Adult inducing symptoms of disease in a child
Physical Abuse

• Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSP) is a psychological

disorder marked by attention-seeking behavior by a caregiver
through those who are in their care.
Munchausen Syndrome - Tipukan dekat anak anak perasaan dia mcm yemanthu poguthal.

• MSP affects primary caregiver, often the mother.

• The person with MSP gains attention by seeking medical help
for exaggerated or made-up symptoms of a child in his/her
care.
Neglect Diabaikan / Ignore

Failure to meet the child’s basic needs:

• Physical neglect: depriving child of basic necessities of food,
clothing and shelter.
• Medical neglect: failure to provide medical and health care
needs of a child.
• Educational neglect: failure to provide basic education or special
educational needs of a child.
• Emotional neglect: failure to act on behalf of child’s needs.
Sexual Abuse and Exploitation minor - under 21 y/o

Engagement of a child in any sexual act:

• Fondling/touching/patting, raping or exposing child to sexual
activities.
• Indecently/rudely exposing one’s self to a child – harassment.
• Showing a child pornographic materials.
• Taking advantage of a child in a sexual manner – sexual
grooming.
 Children feel like a lonely.
Emotional Abuse Kita marah dia dia cepat emotionally.

Acts that cause injury to a child’s self-worth, emotional,

psychological or mental stability
• Making demands beyond child’s ability
• Making threats of harm
• Selling a child for sexual purposes
• Deserting or abandoning a child
Risk Factors Associated with Maltreatment

• Age – higher risk for younger children

• Gender – higher possibility for girls
• Race and culture
• Disability and special developmental needs
Understanding the Risk Factors for Maltreatment
• Three major risk factors:
 characteristics of adults who have a potential for committing maltreatment
 vulnerable children
 family and environmental stressors

9
Adult Risk Factors for Maltreating Children

1) Personal risk factors

• Personal history of adult’s own abuse as child
• Lack of parenting knowledge
• Depression, substance abuse
2) Situational risk factors
• Socially isolated, single parenting, victim of domestic abuse
3) Triggering factors
• Series of events leading to risk of abuse
Adult Risk Factors for Maltreating Children

a history of repeated fear, anger, and rejection

low self-esteem
difficulty in forming long-term relationships (e.g., friendships, marriage) that leads to social
isolation and loneliness; depending on a child for love
lack of trust
early marriage and pregnancy
maternal depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other mental health
conditions
belief in, and use of, harsh punishment to “discipline” children (Afifi et al., 2017) impulsive;
poor anger control
low stress tolerance
drug and alcohol addictions
poor problem-solving abilities
Vulnerable Children

• additional factors can include:

difficult temperament (e.g., fussy, defiant, overly active)
living in a single parent family (especially with father absent)
poverty
gender (sexual abuse)
frequent or chronic illness
gender nonconformity

12
Family and Environmental Stresses

• Adults who mistreat children often have difficulty discrimi-nating

between events that are significantly stressful and those that are not.
Instead, they tend to find all crises equally threaten-ing, overwhelming,
and difficult to manage.
• unemployment or underemployment
• illness, injury, or death
• poverty, financial pressures, home foreclosure
• Marriage problem
• partner violence, divorce, or marital conflict
• moving
• birth of another child
• single parenting
13
Identifying Child Maltreatment

• Physical signs
• Observing marks, movements or other visible signs
• Child behavior signs
• Observing child at play, the changes in child’s mood and
activity level
• Parent behaviors
• Observing negative interactions between parent and child
Effects of Maltreatment

Impact on Children
1) Short term effects: temporary and brief (bruises).
2) Long term effects - dependent on child’s age and type, frequency
and duration of abuse.
– Toxic stress:
▪ Caused by frequent and continual exposure to abuse and
violence.
▪ Negatively impacted in brain development, learning,
behavior and health.
Reporting Suspected Abuse and Neglect

• Making a report
• Summarizing observation or child’s statement for possible
reporting.
Steps in protective service:
• Including reporter’s name and contact information, child’s
information and reporter’s observation, assessment determination
of reasonable cause
• Confirmation of Maltreatment
• Moving to protect child, creating a service plan with family
Creating Safe Environment for Children and Teachers

• Being aware of a teacher’s potential for abuse.

• Improving child and teacher safety through appropriate
arrangement of environment.
• Following safety guidelines.
• Touching children appropriately.
Protective Measures for Programs and Teachers
• Special attention should be given to careful hiring practices, policy
development, and ongoing personnel training, including:
 conducting background checks on potential employees for any prior record of child abuse or
felony convictions (These are mandated in most states and performed by state law
enforcement agencies.)
 hiring individuals who have completed formal training in early education, child development,
and positive behavior guidance
 contacting an applicant’s references (nonrelative) and requesting information about the appli-
cant’s prior work performance
 reviewing an employee’s past employment record, including reasons for leaving previous jobs
 establishing a code of conduct regarding appropriate child-teacher behavior
 providing continued in service training, especially on topics related to identification of abuse or
neglect, effective behavior management strategies, and teaching children self-protection skills
 establishing a program policy of nontolerance regarding any form of abusive behavior, includ-
ing harassment, bullying, or harsh discipline

18
Inservice Training
• relevant state laws
• teachers’ rights and responsibilities
• physical and behavioral signs of maltreatment
• development of school policies and procedures for handling
suspected cases
• teacher and staff management of abuse and neglect
• community resources and services
• classroom strategies for helping children who have been
maltreated
• stress reduction and time management skills.
19
Supportive Strategies for Children

• Focusing on individual child needs

• Reducing the child’s sense of isolation
• Creating opportunities for appropriate problem solving
• Addressing violence in children’s play themes
• Building conflict resolution skills
Supporting Families

• Arranging time to talk with families

• Guiding families to identify their needs
• Linking parents to available resources
• Modeling and offering guidance techniques
• Encouraging families to be involved in community service projects

EXAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Summary

- Summarize the content for this topic.

- You may do it with your teammates.
- Discuss with the class the points that have been summarized.

22