Introduction
Child abuse and maltreatment is a broad term that refers to different types of abuses that children may experience in their environment. Abuses and maltreatment may come in the form of neglect, exposure to violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse and emotional abuse. Children are the most vulnerable segment of society when it comes to abuse and neglect. Being unable to protect and care for themselves, some children are subjected to abuses and maltreatment, most often, by family members themselves. The perpetrators of abuse and maltreatment of children may also vary. Aside from parents and siblings, children can also be victimized by strangers and family acquaintances. Today, with the advent of modern media technology, children can also be exploited and abused online. Online abuses may take the form of cyber bullying, sexting, or online pornography (Feinberg & Robey, 2010; Salter, Crofts, & Lee, 2013). Children have become a common target of online perpetrators because they can be easily enticed. Most often, children become willing participants of online abuses as they are unaware that they are being lured into pornography. Using friendly, but sexually provocative conversations, perpetrators prime their victims through seduction until they willingly cooperate and participate in indecent acts. In Canada, the reported incidence of child abuse as reported by the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect has reached almost 16,000 cases. This number does not include the number of children that are being exploited and abused online. According to this data, the majority or 34% of the abuses experienced by children in Canada are exposed to intimate partner violence. Neglect is also a major problem at 34%, followed by physical abuse at 20% and emotional abuse at 9%. Sexual abuse cases among children are also significant at 3%, which accounts for 2,600 substantiated cases of child abuse. The prevalence of abuse and maltreatment among children and its impact to their social and emotional development is a social problem with broad implications. In this context, this paper will examine the role of parents of victimized children and the importance of their participation in the treatment and recovery of the child from the stresses and trauma of being abused or maltreated.
Domestic Factors that Increases the Risk of Child Abuse and Maltreatment
Child abuse and maltreatment is a universal public health concern that can happen to any child. These abuses and maltreatment can happen within or outside the child’s family. Factors such as the community, culture, peers and other social factors may influence the prevalence of an abusive environment towards children. It should be noted, however, that among these factors, the major factor that contributes significantly to the victimization of children are domestic in nature. One of these domestic factors that increase the risk of child abuse is the breakdown of the marital relationship. Consistent with the theory of social disorganization, the breakdown of the family as a social institution increases the exposure of children to abuse. According to this theory, delinquency thrives in communities where social institutions are dysfunctional (Wood, & Alleyne, 2010, p.102). Under this theory, the family is considered as one of the most important social institution. It is, thereby, important that it is kept intact and functional. The theory of social organization can be used to explain why broken families create favorable conditions for child abuse. Apparently, it is the children that are the most disadvantage party in a breakdown of the family because they are very much dependent on the family for nurturing and care. When a family breaks down, particularly during a divorce, the children may be forced to live with foster parents, which may subject them to abuse and neglect. Some may be forced to live on the streets and live a life of delinquency and criminality (Wood, & Alleyne, 2010, p.102). The number of broken families has significantly increased in countries where divorce is legal. One of the divorce’s major implications is personality and psychological disorders among affected children. Studies found that children of divorced parents exhibit anti-social and aggressive behavior (Demo & Acock, 1988). Confusion towards desirable values is also observed among children of broken families. According to experts, most children that come from broken families tend to approve and engage in” premarital sex, cohabitation, and divorce rises dramatically, while their endorsement of marriage and childbearing falls” (Fagan & Churchill, 2012).
Parental Factors in the Abuse and Maltreatment on Children
Child abuse and maltreatment can also occur even in intact families. As guardians of their children, the role of parents in the protection of children from abuse and maltreatment is very much extensive. Most often, the lack of supervision and poor judgment on the part of the parent is the reason why their children become victimized by abuse within and outside the family (Crosson-Tower, 2005, p.181). Apart from parents who abuse their children, some parents may unknowingly expose their children to abuse and maltreatment because they fail to perceive the potential threat in their child’s environment. Parents can allow access to their children under different reasons and circumstances. Most often, the perpetrators are close acquaintances of parents. Among the most common examples are family friends, coaches, pastors, priests or baby sitters who have gained the trust of the parents. Some parents may not realize that the individuals they trust can be a potential perpetrator of abuse. It is also possible that the parents are just too lax or too busy to entertain thoughts about the possibility of their children being abused. As observed by one expert, “abuse is not within the parents’ frame of reference” primarily because the parents may have no experience with abuse or “have blocked the memory of their own experiences” that they become too complacent to the point that they do not expect other adults to abuse their children (Crosson-Tower, 2005, p.181). Complacency and failure to recognize potential threats is also one of the reasons why parents unwittingly allow their children to become victims of abuse. Some parents, for instance, may not recognize the potential harm of the internet and other online media towards their children and so they fail to monitor their children from such activities. Financial constraints are also one of the reasons why some parents abuse their children or allow their children to become victims of abuse. Financial constraints can be considered as a major life stressor. For parents with low self-control, these stressors will most likely be the cause of child abuse and neglect (Emery, Nguyen, & Kim, 2013, p.1228). Some parents are forced to leave their children in the care of foster parents or relatives because they are unable to provide financial support. In a worst case scenario, some parents, particularly in dysfunctional families, tolerates and even push their children towards prostitution and delinquency for financial gain .
The Importance of Parents’ Participation in Child Treatment and Recovery
Victims of abuse have a tendency to conceal the abuses because of shame and because of fear of being stigmatized. As a result, the victims suffer silently and are reluctant to report to other family members and authorities about the abuses and maltreatment that they encounter. Similarly, parents who discover the abuse and maltreatment of their children also have reservations and exhibit a tendency to conceal the problem. As observed by the experts, the victims and their families “does not want to deal with the consequences of the ugly truth and are eager to avoid the shame and inconvenience of dealing with agencies and professionals”. Child abuse and maltreatment, however, is not only a social problem, but also a criminal problem. In most countries, the abuse and neglect of children have legal consequences, which make parents accountable for their action or inaction. As much as possible, the major objective of intervention efforts of the government is to preserve the family. Authorities that investigate possible child abuse cases initially determine whether the parents can still be rehabilitated or whether it is necessary for the child to be removed from their parents’ custody. It is, therefore, important to note that intervention and treatment include not only victimized children, but also their parents. It is highly recommended by experts that parents should seek professional support in order to help their victimized children cope with their stressful and traumatic experience.
Role of Parents in an Abused Child’s Therapy
The importance of parents’ participation in child therapy is not a new concept. In fact, as early as the 20th century, psychotherapist and social scientists have already recognized the importance of parental influence towards the development of children. Albert Bandura’s social learning theory provided a strong empirical evidence that a child’s behavioral development is highly influenced by their parents. In his famous ‘bobo doll’ experiment, Bandura showed that children learn their behavior from observing role models, primary of which are the parents. If behavior can be learned, it can also be unlearned or modified as suggested by behavioral scientists, such as Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, B.F. Skinner and many others. According to Skinner’s book, ‘The Behavior of Organism,’ human behavior can be modified through positive or negative reinforcement. These concepts and theories of human behavior have been consolidated and has formed as the basis of modern psychotherapy. It should be noted that when child behavior is concerned, there is no other person with the strongest influence as the child’s parents. It is, thereby, logical to think that these basic theories on child behavioral development point out to parents as the child’s primary role model and initiator of behavioral reinforcement.
In treating abused children, there are three broad categories of psychotherapy that a child may undergo. Depending on the advise of the attending professional therapist, a child can either be enrolled in individual therapy, group therapy or family therapy (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2013, p.13). Of particular interest in this paper is the dynamics behind family-based therapy. Family-based therapies are among of the most common types of psychotherapy that involves the participation of non-offending family members in child’s recovery process. These family therapies recognize the important role of parents in the recovery of their children from their stressful and traumatic experience. Family therapies teaches non-offending and foster parents the skills that they need in order to deal with their children’s emotional problem resulting from the abuse and maltreatment that they experienced. Most survivors of abuse and maltreatment, for instance, may experience maladaptive feelings, which makes them difficult to deal with. Among the most common of these feelings are anger towards their parents as they feel that they were somehow neglected or abandoned; a feeling of guilt for taking a concious role in the abuse; fear for being stigmatized; and a sense of helplessness and powerlessness to change the past (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2012, p.2). These maladaptive feelings leads to maladaptive behaviors, such as depression, irritability, and other problematic psychosocial behaviors that could strain the parent-child relationship (Aydin, Akbas, Turla, & Dundar, 2016, p.418). During sessions, parents are given advice by mental health professionals on how to deal with their victimized children and are taught about responsible parenting including child behavior management and communication skills (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2012, p.3).
Theoretical Framework of Parental Participation in Family-Based Therapies
Two of the most common family-based therapy are the Structural Family Therapy and the Bowen Family Therapy. The ‘Structural Family Therapy’ is one of the contemporary family therapy that support the proposition that parents are accountable for their child’s well-being. One of the major tenets of the ‘Structural Family Therapy’ is to understand the family’s structure. Under the ‘Structural Family Therapy,’ every family is considered as unique . Structural Family Therapists believe that every family has their own set of unwritten rules that govern the interaction between family members. Aside from internal influences, a family is also understood to be influenced by its environment through the interaction of its members with their surroundings. The combination of these factors makes up for the structure of a family and determines how the members of the family interact with each other as well as with other social systems such as the school, church, work, etc. (Walsh, 2003). In other words, each family follows a unique culture, which is a product of the interaction between family members and their surroundings. Applying the concept of Structural Family Therapy, it can be deduced that in order to break the cycle of abuse and neglect within the family, its structure or culture should be overhauled. Apparently, the biggest influence to a family’s culture are the parents because they are the ones that set the rules and boundaries within the family (Walsh, 2003). A functional family has clear boundaries and members know their particular roles. However, in a dysfunctional family, these boundaries could either be too diffused or too rigid. Families that do not have a clear boundary will experience overlapping roles while a family whose boundaries that are too rigid may discourage communication and interaction between family members. The ‘Structural Family Therapy,’ thereby, promotes the idea that parents should maintain their authoritative figure, but should also allow the close interpersonal relationship with their children.
The Bowen family therapy is also another intervention approach that emphasizes the importance of parent participation. Developed by the American psychiatrist, Murray Bowen in the late 1950s up to the 1980s, the Bowen Therapy suggests the importance of the involvement of family members in treating behavioral and psychological disorders. Bowen describes the relationship between parent and child as a dyad. Under normal circumstance, the dyad is adequate in providing emotional stability between two related individuals. However, when an individual experiences stress or anxiety, they tend to form triangles. Bowen describes the triangle as “the smallest stable relationship unit” . According to Bowen, individuals does not necessarily triangulate with other persons. They can also triangulate with an activity or anything that they can use as a deviation. Applying Bowen’s theory, it is desirable that parents are included in their children’s triangulation. But this is not always the case so. Parents who do not maintain a close relationship with their children may not be included in their children’s triangle and their child’s tendency is to include outsiders or other deviation that may cause more harm than good. As most scholars would agree, a healthy relationship between parents is necessary to help children cope with their traumatic experience. As observed, “when parents have more cooperative and less conflictual coparenting relationships and stronger parenting alliances, children experience more positive adjustment and development” (Sheftall, Schoppe-Sullivan, & Futris, 2010, p.886).
Conclusion
The role of parents in the treatment of abused and victimized children has long been a subject of social and psychological studies. But even if there is a widespread agreement among scholars that parents play a crucial role in the recovery of victimized children, the relationship on how parents’ participation impacts a child’s recovery is not fully understood. Being the head of their families, parents are expected to nurture and meet the economic, social and emotional needs of their children. However, there are times when children become exposed to abuse and maltreatment from strangers, family members and even from the parents, themselves. These abuses can cause stress and trauma to victimized children, which could result to physical, mental and behavioral issues. Depending on the severity and nature of the abuses, the intervention and treatment of victimized children may vary. In a worst case scenario, the government intervenes through its child protection services and the child and the offending parent is separated from each other to avoid further abuse or injury. In most cases, however, the abuse is extrafamilial as it is perpetrated by strangers and acquaintances outside of the child’s immediate family. In cases wherein it is determined that parents is not directly at fault or in cases wherein the abuse is extra familial, it is often necessary to rehabilitate not only the victimized child, but the family as a whole. Based on social theories and overwhelming studies, it could not be ignored that parents have an extensive role in the prevention of abuse as well as in the recovery of their children that has been victimized by abuse and maltreatment. In conclusion, it can be deduced that the treatment and rehabilitation of children that have been victimized by abuse should include the extensive participation of parents. Parents should serve as the core support group of their abused child in order to help the child cope with the stress and trauma of his or her experience.
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