PREVIOUS: Abuse of Children (#3)

SITEs : “What is Child Abuse & Neglect ?”
• “When Parents are too Toxic to Tolerate”

• Child Abuse in Hong Kong
• Child abuse is a global epidemic

ABUSE STYLES (cont.)
7. INCONSISTENCY
8. HARASSMENT
9. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

10. EXPLOITING – EXPs:
• expect child to be ‘caregiver’ to the parent, & young child expected to take care of even younger siblings
• give unreasonable responsibilities for jobs around the house
• give a child / youth responsibilities that are far greater than their age can handle, or using a child for profit
• hold responsible for or blame them for misbehavior of siblings
• require or encourage participation in sexual exploitation, such as pornography
• require / demand the youth supports family financially
• sexually abuse child or youth, revealing private parts
CHILD SELLING
Buying, selling or trading for legal or physical custody of a child.  Does not apply to legitimate adoption or domestic relations planning.
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11. CORRUPTING
DEF:  To morally contaminate, to ruin utterly in character or quality, change the original form of, destroy or subvert the integrity of…
✶ From Canadian Criminal Code:  (S.C. 1953-54, c. 51, s. 157)
“In the home of a child, everyone who participates in sexual immortality, or indulges in habitual drunkenness or any other form of vice – thereby endangering the morals of the child, or renders the home an unfit place for the child to be in – is guilty of an indictable offense & is liable to imprisonment for 2 years.”

Children will grow up unfit for normal, healthy social interaction – when parents model, teach or force children to engage in antisocial behavior that’s harmful to themselves & others, such as:
• encourage & reward child for lying, cheating, stealing
• encourage or allow criminal activities
• ignore or reward child for substance abuse
• reinforce inappropriate sexual activity; force or promote child prostitution
• reward child for bullying & harassing behavior
• supply child with any form of illegal substance
• teach hatred, racism, ethnic or religious bias
• teach “Win at all costs”; encourage violence in sporting activities

12. CRUELTY
DEF: To cause the suffering of another, indifference to the pain caused, even feeling pleasure in inflicting it.
Can be direct (cruel comments, physical torture….)
or indirect (any form of withholding). MORE….)

1st degree : intentionally causing a child under 18 “cruel or excessive physical or mental pain.”
2nd ° : this is when someone causes physical or mental pain by “criminal negligence” instead of a specific intent to cause harm
3rd ° : when an adult is fighting or doing some other violent behavior – in the presence of a child

• Results are similar to ‘coldness’, but more severe.
Children need to feel safe & loved in order to explore the world around them, & to form healthy relationships. Treated cruelly by caretakers prevents their world from making sense – so the child’s social, emotional, & mental development are hindered or prolonged
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13. TERRORIZING
DEF: continually terrify a child/teen by threats & other intimidation, including any form of exposure to violence in the home, threatening to walk out forever…. locking child in closet, in their room, in basement…(for long periods),  OR lock child out of the house, especially when quite young…..

The end result is that the child experiences profound fear & is left to her/his own psychological imaginings – assuming only the worst outcomes in life
In strict-religion families (fundamentalist….), children can be terrorized by parents putting “the fear of God” in them, or threaten with the devil’s wrath, they don’t behave NUT more likely for just being a “sinful, evil child”

ALSO:  make extreme verbal threats to / or actually :
• abandon them (send them away or leave them behind)
• harm or destroy a favorite object or pet
• kick teen permanently out, disown them
• ‘promise’ to give a beating – later (but then forget)
• reveal intensely embarrassing traits to peers or other adults

INFO:  A 1995 phone survey, re. types of emotional abuse, showed that in the previous year 90% of families had used one or more forms of psychological aggression – toward a child by age 2. (Straus, Vol. 15)

NEXT: Victimizing ourselves (# 1)