Annual of social work, Vol. 23 No. 3, 2016.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.3935/ljsr.v23i3.143
TRAUMATIZATION OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
Bruna Profaca
; Child and Youth Protection Center of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Traumatic experiences in childhood have a formative impact on the development of children and adolescents. Exposure to traumatic experiences changes a child’s inner image of the world, shapes the understanding of self and others and forms expectations for the future that impact both the current behaviour of the child and his future experiences. This paper presents findings in the field of child trauma psychology, which refer to the historical overview of childhood
trauma research, research into the effects of trauma on development and the particularities of assessing children after exposure to abuse as the most common form of traumatization of children. As trauma caused by abuse is a complex sociopsychological phenomenon caused by various factors, it is important to adopt a multidisciplinary approach as a model of assessment, diagnostics and treatment planning after a traumatic experience, which would ensure support for both the child and family, as well as thorough assessment of all aspects of development and of the level of risk/protection of the child and family functioning. In order to efficiently define the need for intervention and action, exposure of children and adolescents to various forms of trauma needs to be better recognised. It is nowadays considered important to incorporate the knowledge of trauma and its effects and of interventions based on performance indicators into the system of social care where experts who work
with children and adolescents exposed to trauma on a daily basis would be qualified to address their needs and reduce
retraumatization.
Keywords
childhood trauma; child abuse; cridence hased interventions
Hrčak ID:
177426
URI
Publication date:
15.3.2017.
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