NEGLECT
Scenario 6 Liza is a faculty member at a New York State university. As part of her curriculum, she is teaching a unit on child abuse. Today’s topic is neglect. Her students assume that neglect refers to failure to provide such items as food or shelter. Today, Liza needs to explain that neglect takes various forms, not only physical but also medical, educational, and emotional.
Neglect is defined as the failure of a parent, guardian, or other caregiver to meet a child’s basic needs. The following are the various forms of neglect (New York State, Office of Children and Family Services, n.d.d): ● Physical : Physical neglect involves the failure to provide necessary food or shelter, or a lack of adequate supervision. ● Medical : Medical neglect is the failure to provide necessary medical and mental health treatment. ● Educational : Educational neglect refers to the failure to educate a child or provide for special education needs. ● Emotional : Emotional neglect refers to the failure to provide for a child’s emotional needs and psychological care or permitting the child to use alcohol or other drugs. ● Abandonment : Abandonment may be considered a form of neglect. Abandonment occurs when the parent or caregiver’s whereabouts are unknown, the child has been left alone under conditions that lead to serious harm, or the parent or caregiver has not made contact with the child or provided adequate support for a specific period. Signs of neglect can often be linked to the specific type of neglect the child is experiencing. For example, physical neglect may manifest itself as a child who is dirty and hungry. Children may experience more than one type of neglect, Factitious disorder imposed on another Factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA), previously known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSP), is a form of child abuse that involves fabrication of illness or injury or exaggeration of illness or symptoms by a parent or caregiver, even if there is little or nothing tangible to gain from the behavior (American Academy of Family Physicians, 2018; APA, 2013).
however. Here are some general signs of child neglect (Morin, 2019): ● The child is hungry and malnourished. They may steal or beg for food. They may steal money to buy food. ● The child is developmentally delayed. ● The child is dirty and has body odor. ● The child lacks weather-appropriate clothing. ● The child is depressed. ● The child has poor impulse control. ● The child displays self-destructive behavior. ● The child lacks trust. ● The child is often fatigued to the point that they fall asleep during class. ● The child abuses alcohol or other substances. ● The child demands constant attention or affection. Healthcare consideration: Substance abuse often contributes to abuse or neglect. The following are examples of abuse or neglect that can occur because of substance abuse (Levin, 2018): ● Prenatal exposure of a child to harm because of the mother’s use of an illegal drug or other substances. ● Accidental ingestion of opioids. ● Older siblings needing to care for younger siblings. ● Use of a controlled substance by a caregiver that interferes with their ability to adequately care for the child. FDIA is considered a mental disorder. Abusers engage in these practices for various reasons (American Academy of Family Physicians, 2018): ● To gain attention and sympathy. ● To gain satisfaction from deceiving persons that the abuser thinks are more important and powerful than they are. ● To gain a sense of control.
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