Childhood Neglect 2-6 Years old Neglect. An act of omission by a parent or care-giver that involves refusal or delay in providing health care, education, or basic needs such as food, clothes, shelter, affection, and attention. Neglect also includes inadequate supervision and abandonment. Child neglect is the most frequently reported form of child abuse (63% of all cases) and the most lethal.

Types of Neglect Physical neglect: includes the refusal or delay in seeking health care, abandonment, inadequate supervision, expulsion from the home, or refusal to allow a runaway to return home. Educational neglect: includes the allowance of chronic truancy, failure to enroll a child of mandatory school age in school, and failure to attend to a special educational need. Emotional neglect: involves a marked inattention to the child's needs for affection, refusal of or failure to provide needed psychological care, spousal abuse or parental substance abuse in the child's presence, and permission of drug or alcohol abuse by the child. Medical neglect: is the failure to provide for appropriate health care for a child. The child may exhibit signs of poor health, such as fatigue, infected cuts, and constant itching or scratching of skin.

Neglect Symptoms You know a neglected child when you see her, she may be malnourished, always sick, or never at school. Neglect comes in different forms such as physical and emotional, and more girls suffer than boys, with younger children neglected most. Consider the possibilities of neglect when a child is: Is frequently absent from school Steals or begs for food or money Lacks needed medical or dental care, immunizations or glasses Is consistently dirty and has severe body odor Lacks sufficient clothing for the weather Abuses alcohol or other drugs States that there is no one at home to provide care

Causes of Neglect According to the Child Welfare League of America, children whose parents abuse drugs and alcohol are almost three times more likely to be abused and four times more likely to be neglected than children of parents who are not substance abusers. 85% of states that report statistics for child neglect cite parental substance abuse and poverty as the top two issues related to abuse and neglect. Additionally, studies have shown that the most consistent finding in child abuse cases is that the abusive parents often report having been physically, sexually, or emotionally abused or neglected as children.

Effects of Neglect Child abuse is threatening and disruptive to normal childhood development. Children learn to distrust adults when the very person they turn to for food, love, and safety can cause child pain and injury. Children who are abused and neglected exhibit a wide array of characteristics such as, schizophrenia, amnesia, and personality disorder. Children most often also have attachment difficulties, cognitive deficits, emotional/ behavioral problems, and physical consequences as a result of neglect. Early neglect has the potential to modify the body’s stress response, specifically cortisol levels (stress hormones) which can cause abnormalities and alter the body’s overall health.

Intervention Programs F ortunately, there are early intervention programs and treatments for child neglect. In addition to individual, family, group counseling and social support services, behavioral skills training programs exist to eliminate problematic behavior and teach parents “appropriate” parenting behavior Neglectful families often experience multiple problems and deficits, lack of knowledge, skills and resources. If parents are educated on “proper” parenting and given the appropriate resources, it could help decrease the amount of child neglect cases.

References Education Encyclopedia - StateUniversity.com » Education Encyclopedia: AACSB International - Program to Septima Poinsette Clark (1898–1987) Child Abuse and Neglect - Causes of Abuse and Neglect, Effects of Abuse on Children, Prevention of Child Abuse - StateUniversity.com Child Neglect l Psychology Today Administration for Children and Families and Office of Child Abuse and Neglect