Annual of social work, Vol. 12 No. 1, 2005.
Review article
PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE AND NEGLECT OF CHILDREN IN THE FAMILY
Vedrana Ždero
Abstract
Mental abuse and neglect of children in the family as an “elusive” concept, which leaves no clear material evidence, represents a challenge, both in the research and in everyday practice. It is almost invariably accompanied by other forms of abuse and neglect, but it also appears independently. Only recently has the profession’s attention turned to the understanding of the nature and consequences of mental abuse and neglect of the children. This area is characterised by the difficulties in the determination, recognition and measurement. Therefore it is difficult to determine the scope of this problem in the general population, and the adequate intervention is missing. This paper presents basic features of the problem of mental abuse and neglect of children in the family: forms, various attributes, frequency, risk factors and possible effects. Some methodological difficulties and ethical dilemmas in the research of the child abuse are presented. Various research studies show that mental abuse and neglect of children is connected with a series of different emotional, behavioural and cognitive difficulties in the childhood, during the adolescence and in the adult age. In addition, the paper mentions the results of longitudinal, intercultural research studies, as well as the research studies that enable the comparison of the influence of different forms of abuse and neglect of children.
Keywords
psychological abuse and neglect; children; family
Hrčak ID:
2789
URI
Publication date:
13.12.2005.
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