Childhood Denied The Effects Of Adversity, Trauma, and Violence On Children, And How Those Effects Are Addressed Through Therapeutic Support

By Jim Colajuta

Throughout history, violence against children has taken every possible form (physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, neglect, and child labor), at times adopting quite strange shapes. He went on to say that in ancient times, even the right to life had to be conferred by a rite; before that, a kid with no rights might be disposed of as casually as an aborted fetus.

Throughout much of history, adult-adolescent sexual interaction was not only permitted but often the standard; adult-child sexual interaction was somewhat less common but still reasonably prevalent. Many famous historical characters demonstrate that adult/adolescent, and to a lesser extent adult-child, sexual behavior was widespread and generally tolerated. The man-boy partnerships that were frequent in ancient Greece and Rome are one of the most well-known examples. Individual examples include St. Augustine, Mahatma Gandhi.

Child abuse and neglect do not often have visible warning signals. However, by learning to spot the indicators of a problem, you can make a significant impact on a child's life. Child abuse is more than simply black eyes. While physical abuse is horrifying because of its scars, not all indications of child abuse are as visible. Ignoring a child's needs, leaving them unsupervised in risky settings, exposing them to sexual situations, or making them feel worthless or foolish are all forms of child abuse and neglect that can leave profound, lasting scars on children.

Abuse and neglect of any kind leave permanent scars. Some of these scars may be physical, but emotional scarring has long-term consequences, affecting a child's sense of self, future relationships, and capacity to perform at home, work, and school.

Individuals who have been traumatized as children face unique issues that can be addressed via various healing techniques. The approach used and its efficacy differ from person to person and frequently change over time as the nature of trauma and healing shifts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: vincenzo nappi
• Release date: Aug 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201351342

Book preview

Chapter One

Introduction

Despite its prevalence throughout history, child abuse has only lately been identified as a social issue. Concerns about children's welfare initially concentrated on physical abuse and neglect. The early child abuse laws were almost entirely focused on physical abuse, and only later, as awareness grew, were the rules revised to cover sexual abuse.

Throughout history, violence against children has taken every possible form (physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, neglect, and child labor), at times adopting quite strange shapes. He went on to say that in ancient times, even the right to life had to be conferred by a rite; before that, a kid with no rights might be disposed of as casually as an aborted fetus. Until recently, infanticide was practiced regularly, and in some cultures, it was mandatory for weak, preterm, or malformed kids. Infanticide was practiced in some parts of Europe well into the nineteenth century. One standard method of disposing of undesirable children (particularly girls) was to place an accidental lying on top of a child in bed overnight, suffocating it, which was practiced in England until the 1920s. However, if a child was allowed to live, the danger of mistreatment persisted. The young youngster might potentially be sold for a profit.

Furthermore, child labor can be exceptionally cruel to children; for example, they may be sold as apprentices and forced to work in factories that are continually overworked and frequently brutalized. Students recounted a machine known as Sherrington's Daughter, used to discipline children in the business by bending their heads down between their knees, causing blood to flow from their nose and ears. Even when the youngster lived with their parents, they were subjected to harsh treatment. Various elements contribute to child abuse. First, because of the high death rate, mothers frequently did not develop attachments to their children. Second, children were regarded as little adults whose sole function was to increase the family's economic base (i.e., the workforce). Third, they were regarded as inferiors who required harsh treatment, and physical punishment was neither unusual nor opposed. Severe physical punishment had been justified on a variety of grounds, including the following:

Children are rebellious animals whose desires for independence or answers to their questions must be suppressed.

Children can only learn to obey when they are subjected to solid and consistent physical discipline.

Children are wrong and must be abused until they are no longer evil.

By being beaten, children learn to respect authority.

Children are the father's property; his authority is absolute, and any challenge to his power is punishable.

Sexual Exploitation of Children

The pervasive disrespect for childhood and children's perception as property also paved the way for child sexual exploitation. Throughout much of history, adult-adolescent sexual interaction was not only permitted but often the standard; adult-child sexual interaction was somewhat less common but still reasonably prevalent. Many famous historical characters demonstrate that adult/adolescent, and to a lesser extent adult-child, sexual behavior was widespread and generally tolerated. The man-boy partnerships that were frequent in ancient Greece and Rome are one of the most well-known examples. Individual examples include St. Augustine, Muhammad, Mahatma Gandhi, Will Durant, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Lord Byron, and Lewis Carroll, who may be considered abusive today. St. Augustine was betrothed to a prepubescent girl. Still, he couldn't legally marry her until she had reached menarche (the marriage was broken off when he converted to Christianity). After his first wife died, the prophet Muhammad married a 7-year-old girl. However, the wedding was probably not completed until she reached puberty. Mahatma Gandhi married when he was 13 years old. Gandhi had young ladies, certified virgins, both adolescent and prepubescent, lie naked with him in his later years, following his vow of celibacy, to warm him and cure him of his shivering fits at night; during the night, he would rub them. Will Durant, an American author, married a 15-year-old in 1931 when he was 28 years old. In 1884, Goethe wrote about having sexual connections with young boys and females. Lord George Gordon Byron had a string of young male lovers. Lewis Carroll was sexually drawn to prepubescent girls and took naked photos of them.

Over the decades, children and adolescents have been sexually exploited in various ways and for a variety of purposes. Savanarola mentioned a 9-year-old girl's pregnancy in 1497. Mandelson described girls as young as six years old as pregnant, with the frequency increasing with age. Adults marrying teenagers or youngsters was widespread. According to traditional Jewish law, a female child over three could be betrothed by sexual intercourse with her father agreement. Intercourse with a child under the age of three was deemed invalid but not unlawful. In Christianity, a sixth-century papal edict stated that, while consent was preferable, the dominating and validating factor for marriage was intercourse, with marriage ruled invalid if one participant was under the age of seven. Adult-child sexual activity was not limited to the setting of the wedding. As indicated by folk stories and literature, daughters and wives were leased to guests as a form of hospitality in several societies. Concerns developed in the 1800s about nurses touching a child's genitals. Child prostitution was widespread in the 18th and 19th centuries, owing to the idea of children as marketable property.

As civilizations got more industrialized and urbanized, there was a greater dread of sexually transmitted diseases, which raised the desire for virginal sexual partners. Furthermore, a tragic myth held that sexual encounters with virginal youngsters might heal venereal disease. Moreover, child labor rules, intended to help protect youngsters in the workplace, had the unintended consequence of leaving few paid alternatives other than sex. At the time, both girls and boys as young as three to five years old were raped and occasionally tortured. These investigations focused on the exploitation of females, leaving the abuse of boys primarily unmentioned. Although most of this was first revealed in England, it is thought that much of the same activities occurred in the United States. The statutes of most states, which recently defined the legal age for marriage to be 14, exemplify the positive attitude toward, or at least toleration, adult-adolescent sexual conduct in the United States. Until the 1980s, the legal drinking age in New Mexico was 13. Although these regulations encouraged young couples to marry, they also encouraged adult-adolescent marriages. Finally, much of what has been written thus far has focused on extra-familial sexual conduct. Incestuous couplings were also standard, though they were often despised and punished if they were discovered.

Chapter two

Victims of Child Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse typically proceeds from comparatively lighter to more severe acts of abuse. The abuse usually progresses from surveillance, kissing, undressing, and caressing to fondling, masturbation, oral sex, and penetration. This hierarchy also corresponds to the victim's age, with older children/adolescents typically being abused more severely. Poor connections with parents, particularly with the mother, are consistently identified risk factors for female sexual abuse. This distant relationship is frequently characterized by a lack of overt parental warmth and parental sexual punitiveness. The conflict between parents is another of the most commonly discovered risk factors. The social risk factors associated with female sexual abuse can be summarized as follows:

preadolescent age of the girl;

social isolation from peers;

absence of