Page 1 of 11 HD 497 Lecture 6 – Physical Abuse Slide 1 [Slide title] HD 300 Child Abuse & Neglect [Slide content] Unit 6 Physical Abuse [Audio] For this unit, we are going to discuss physical abuse of a child. Slide 2 [Slide title] Definition of Physical Abuse [Slide content] • Injury that is non-accidentally inflicted by a person more powerful than the child • Consists of willful acts resulting in physical injury [Audio] Defining physical abuse, it is defined as an injury that is non-accidentally inflicted by a person more powerful than child. It consists of willful acts resulting in physical injury. Slide 3 [Slide title] Overview [Slide content] • Physical abuse is the “classic” example of child abuse. • Physical abuse is generally accepted as a clear form of maltreatment. • Physical abuse is the most visible form of maltreatment. [Audio] An overview of physical abuse shows that this is the classic example of child abuse. When we talk about physical abuse, this is what most people think of as child abuse - the child being battered. Physical abuse is generally accepted as a clear form of maltreatment. Some of the other types of abuse that we will be talking about are a little fuzzier when it comes to defining them and recognizing them as abuse. Physical abuse is the most visible form of maltreatment. Slide 4 [Slide title]Page 2 of 11 Physical Abuse Continuum Slide content] • Level of Severity - No Abuse - Corporal Punishment - Physical Abuse - Catastrophic Abuse - Homicide [Audio] If we just look at a physical abuse continuum ranging from no abuse, corporal punishment of the child, to physical abuse that is recognized as abusiveness, to catastrophic abuse and we are going to be discussing that more in depth and it can range to homicide. So, physical abuse can range then from a child who is not being abused at all to a child who is killed by the abuser. Slide 5 [Slide title] Types of Physical Abuse [Slide content] • Spanking/Slapping/Whipping • Beating • Twisting (arms, legs, ears, nose, etc.) • Choking or smothering • Burning • Throwing child [Audio] So, some of the types of physical abuse are spanking, slapping and whipping the child; beating the child, twisting arms, legs, ears or nose; and life threatening abuse that might consist of choking or smothering the child; burning the child; throwing the child or you could even include stabbing or shooting the child. Slide 6 [Slide title] Types of Physical Abuse [Slide content] • Biting • Hair pulling • Pinching • Cutting, stabbing, shooting • Physically confining the child • ShakingPage 3 of 11 [Audio] Other types of physical abuse include biting, hair pulling. Hair pulling has some real implications for the child, that is, it can pull hair right of the scalp and it doesn’t grow back again and that is referred to as traumatic alopecia. Pinching the child, cutting, stabbing, or shooting; physically confining the child and shaking the child and we are going to discuss Shaken Baby Syndrome in a moment. It also causes injuries. Hair pulling, if you go back and look at that again, can also cause whiplash injury, can cause bruising of the scalp. It can cause bleeding and trauma to the scalp as well. Slide 7 [Slide title] Catastrophic Abuse [Slide content] • Catastrophic Child Maltreatment (CCM) - Consists of purposeful acts inflicted on a child that are of the most severe nature. - These acts are so abhorrent that no one would argue that they are within the realm of permissible behaviors. - These acts are so brutal that there is a high probability that they will have long-lasting permanent negative effects on the child. [Audio] Catastrophic abuse also referred to as Catastrophic Maltreatment or CCM. A group of experts met several years ago to define and discuss research on catastrophic abuse and to try and put forth legislation that might help these children, but catastrophic abuse consist of purposeful acts inflicted on a child that are of the most severe nature and they are so abhorrent that no one would argue that they are within the realm of permissible behaviors and they are so brutal that there is a high probability that they will have permanent negative effects on the child. Slide 8 [Slide title] Categories of CCM [Slide content] • Attempted murder • Torture • Mutilation • Violent rape • Enforced prostitution • Denying necessities required for minimal development (profound neglect) [Audio] So, categories of CCM include attempted murder of the child, torture of the child. If you go back and look at the book list that I have provided for you and read Dave Pelzer’s book A Child Called It, that is a good example of child torture. Mutilation of the child, violent rape. Just as anPage 4 of 11 aside here, in our hospital, a girl was brought into the hospital – a six year old girl brought in by her mother. The mother had gone shopping and left the girl in the care of a live in boyfriend. When the mom got home, the girl was sitting in a tub of water that was filled with blood and the boyfriend said, “Oh, she really isn’t hurt, you can just saw her up with a needle and thread.” Well, this young lady ended up in surgery being repaired for tears not only on the outside, but he had penetrated through the vaginal vault into the abdominal cavity and she had extremely serious injuries. That guy was put in jail thank goodness. That is an example of what we are talking about when we say violent rape of a child. Enforced prostitution and denying the necessities that are required for minimal development or profound neglect. That is also described in Dave Pelzer’s book A Child Called It. Slide 9 [Slide title] Proposed Legislation [Slide content] • Speedy assessment by DSHS - File with court within 24 hours of investigation • Speedy judicial review - Disposition within 48 hours • “Fast tracking” cases for clinical services - Within 48 hours [Audio] This group talked about proposed legislation then to deal with the children that are in such great danger. The first item that they said was speedy assessment by the Department of Social Services or Child Protective Services or whatever services are available in the community. That this should not be put on someone’s desk to deal with a week down the road and in fact, the report should be filed with a court within 24 hours of