Essay On Child Neglect

There are so many cases of child abuse and neglect throughout the world that it is being called an epidemic. Neglect is defined as “a type of maltreatment that refers to the failure by the caregiver to provide needed, age-appropriate care although financially able to do so or offered financial or other means to do so” (Child Neglect). The two main categories of neglect are physical and emotional (psychological). Out of the two types of neglect, emotional (psychological) neglect has a greater impact on children. Emotional neglect hinders the social and mental development of children. It is one of the most difficult types of neglect to define because the occasional loss of control or negative attitudes are not considered neglect. Only when the action becomes persistent and chronic is it called neglect. Emotional abuse includes ignoring, rejecting, isolating, exploiting, verbally assaulting, terrorizing, and neglecting done by the parents. Some reasons parents inflict emotional abuse upon their children are “stress, poor parenting skills, social isolation, [and] lack of available resources or inappropriate expectations of their children” (Child Neglect). Without proper care and protection, children will struggle to form
With physical abuse, the most damaging part is the fear of getting hurt. Emotional or psychological abuse can create the same fear with repeated threats, even if actions are not actually taken. Emotional abuse can inflict the same mental effects that physical abuse inflicts, but they are typically longer lasting. Emotional abuse is harder to detect and report because there is no physical evidence, but out of a study of 5,616 children who have experienced some type of abuse, “the majority (62 percent) had a history of psychological maltreatment, and nearly a quarter (24 percent) of all the cases were exclusively psychological maltreatment”