Childhood physical abuse is a reality in the world of today. Millions of children have undergone childhood physical abuse. Children are raised in the family for the sole purposes of being protected, loved, provided for, and given the guidance as they mature into adulthood. However, this has not been the case for all children by the fact that millions of children across the world have become victims to physical abuse from the same people who were to provide care and love. Various studies have come to conclude that childhood physical abuse has devastating psychological effects on children as they mature into adulthood. It has been said that some of the individual characteristics of people such as high intelligence, temperament issues, poor relationships with significant persons, and personality disorders are consequences of childhood physical abuse. An increased number of scholars have come to conclusion that physical abuse during childhood greatly affects the behaviors and lives that many of those children come to live many years after the experiences they went through. The focus of this research is to delve deeper into the psychological affects that childhood physical abuse has on individuals. The findings of this study would be significant in expanding the knowledge on the psychological impacts of childhood physical abuse on life and wellbeing.
2.0 Analysis and Discussion
Physical abuse on children has far-reaching impacts on the life of the child and later as an adult. It is so devastating for a child who expects a parent or guardian to provide safety and care becomes a danger. However, this reality exists today as millions of children across the world continue to go through physical abuse under the watch of people who had the responsibility to protect and take care of them. Children are so vulnerable to harm and injury for they are defenseless and naïve to the world. When physical abuse is subjected on them, they have a high likelihood to be defenseless and may go through confusion on what surrounds their life. In a cruel world, subjecting the children to physical abuse becomes a challenge that affects the way the children act and react. The act of physical abusing the children is one that has devastating and lasting impacts on the children. This is especially in the case where a child who depends on adults for protection and safety is endangered by persons he least expected.
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Physically abused children who went through the pain during their childhood may have psychological issues that may affect the way they develop their friendships and associations. Alastalo et al (2013) explains that many of the children who have gone through physical abuse have been found to find difficulties in building and keeping good friendships with others. This comes amidst the fact that they do not trust authority figures that are placed around them. Moreso, physical abused children have issues with themselves in light of their worth in the world. They have challenges in feeling good about themselves or find difficult in seeing the worth that is in their being and its values. Owing to these attitudes and feelings, most of the people who have gone through physical abuse have a tendency to blame self for the abuse that has been subjected on them (Alastalo et al., 2013, p. 33). They may also feel the need to keep experiences they have gone through or went through within the walls of their families. The efforts to keep the physical abuse experiences secret may deepen the pain as the child or adult goes through the mental turmoil of processing what they went through and why the abuse was subjected on them.
The other notable psychological effect of childhood physical abuse is increased aggression. According to Goldman-Mellor and Steptoe (2012), children who have been raised through physical abuse have a tendency to pick on aggressive behaviors as they grow up. These children also have a higher tendency to develop other behavioral problems because of aggression that makes it difficult for them to lead a responsible life. Through the physical abuse, the child’s mind is distorted to see the world in a different way and perceive the world as violent and one where aggression is the tool for survival (Goldman-Mellor and Steptoe, 2012, p. 42). The childhood abuse subject’s stress in the minds of its victims and when this pressure builds up, it leads to aggressiveness of the person. Aggression and anger have been largely associated with childhood physical abuse as a way by which these persons express their emotions out. Most of these children because of the mental stress that they would have gone through have a high likelihood to be careless in the way they react to situations (Hovens et al. 42). They may get to care less if they are hit, many times, they lose the normal fight or flight reactions that is in-built on all humans to keep one safety.
Childhood physical abuse also leads to increased fear and anxiety. Sachs-Ericsson, et al (2010) explains that many of the childhood victims of abuse often would end up developing anxiety and fear problems as they connect with their world. This becomes an internal response to the continued thought and stress of imagining getting through another experience of physical abuse. Fear and anxiety is heightened in the case where the perpetuator of the abuse is unpredictable and is one who is close to the child. For instance, a child would become mentally disturbed and develop fear and anxiety when she/he does not know when the parent or caregiver would turn and become physical violent, as well as, how far the abuser would go out of control and cause harm (Sachs-Ericsson et al., 2010, p.60). When there is a situation where the abuser is unpredictable and the child is in a situation where he/she cannot run away from the abuser, this leads to mental stress that increases anxiety on the child (Ames, 2008, p. 58). Increased fear and anxiety on the child may have other far-reaching implications on the perceptions that the child would develop with about the world and other people around them. This experience is one that may adversely affect the way the child would lead life in the later adulthood phase.
Samson (2016) explains that physical abuse through unnecessary and painful punishments would go beyond just causing physical harm. When a child is subjected to physical abuse through painful punishment and torture as he/she grows up, the child would develop psychological problems that may be characterized by post-traumatic stress reactions. Indeed, various studies have linked physical abuse of children to a number of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) reactions such as depression, withdrawal, and aggression (Samson, 2016, p.36). Some of these reactions come to manifest in the individual many years ahead after the child has entered into adulthood. Some of the adult members of the society who face challenges in reacting to situations and issues often would have undergone some of these experiences. Some people may demonstrate depression and high level of aggression many years after their childhood because of the experiences they went through as children that affected the way they see things (Czaja, 2007, p.47). This issue demonstrates that the effects of childhood physical abuse are far reaching beyond the childhood years of the child.
In addition, childhood physical abuse is also linked to brain damage, mental disability, as well as, severe emotional intelligence problems. According to Hughes et al (2017), the injuries subjected on a child’s growing brain could have far-reaching implications on the child’s growth and development. This is by the fact that such injuries may lead to cognitive delays, as well as, severe emotional issues in the life of a child. Some of the adult members of the society suffering from emotional issues are victims of childhood physical abuse. In essence, physically abusing children is an act that would get to affect the quality of life of the child as a child and as an adult for life (Hughes et al., 2017, p.47). On this basis, the parents and guardians handling the children have to be careful in the way they handle a child. Children are vulnerable to physical attacks through the actions and words, as well as, the experiences that are subjected on them. In fact, children’s growth and development depends on the care and support they are provided for by those they look up to. Subjecting physical abuse may lead to a child’s proper mental development and affect his/her life forever (Pinheiro, 2006, p. 56)
As Lochner, et al (2010) explains, physical abuse on a child may have psychological impacts on the choices of life that the children would choose to live as they mature. In this regard, physically abused children have high chances of having mental problems that may affect the choices they make on the lifestyles they would want to lead as they grow up. Many of these children have a tendency to react to the pain of childhood abuse through taking on high-risk behavioral patterns. Some of these children would become vulnerable to risky behaviors such as engaging in excessive promiscuity and drug abuse (Lochner et al., 2010, p.48). The mental stress resulting from their unaddressed childhood abuse may lead these persons to embrace depression and anxiety related activities such as smoking, illicit drug use, and alcohol abuse. They may also take on dangerous behaviors as a way to react and cope with the emotional and psychological diseases such as liver damage, cancer, and other infections including the sexually transmitted diseases.
Essentially, childhood physical abuse affects the behavioral patterns that the children would develop in their adulthood years. As the children mature up, they get to experience key challenges of coping and relating well with other adult colleagues at the workplace, homes or other social setting. Most of these children would have problems in their adulthood in regards to becoming antisocial when it comes to associating with others. They may also develop problems when it comes taking on irresponsible behaviors in their adult years. The irresponsible behavior may range from poor mannerisms when associating with others to abuse of alcohol and drugs. Some of these victims end up becoming victims to excessive alcohol consumption, as well as, addictive tendencies on drugs. These would increase their vulnerability to criminal behaviors and offending.
Conclusion
Conclusively, this study makes it clear that physically abusing children has devastating psychological and behavioral impacts on the child as he/she matures into adulthood. Subjecting children through physical abuse primarily would inflict pain, suffering, and medical problems to the child. It may also lead to the development of emotional problems such as anxiety, low self-esteem, hostility, and anger. These experiences come as a result of the fact that the child is unable to express the feelings to the abuser, and when this piles up, it gets to explode as the child grow into adulthood and is free to make his/her choices. It is also clear that physical abuse on children leads to long-term effects such as brain damage, and mental problems. Other key items include difficulty in creating and working interpersonal relationships, depression tendencies, and emotional disturbance.
References
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