Child maltreatment and delinquency
Child maltreatment and delinquency
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Juvenile delinquency is a reactionary behavior. The age which is supposed to the time for fun and enjoyment for youngsters, if they opt violent path in their life, is because of the atmosphere around them. Studies show that there are numerous factors that push youngsters towards criminals’ life but the major factors are broken families, lack of attention, economic abuse and lack of morale building. The detailed research indicates that genetic factors and the presence of mental health diseases in the family are also one of the major causes behind juvenile delinquency. All the prominent serial killer including Albert Fish had mental illness run in their family. The next important contributor towards delinquent behavior is that the emotional and physical abuse around them. If the children observe oppression around them in any form whether verbal or physical, it stays with them throughout their life. The next contributing factor is believed to be most important, the broken families leave huge impacts on the mind of young children (Schellenbach, 2016).
Association between child maltreatment and delinquency
Child maltreatment is physical or emotional harm or threat of physical and emotional harm to children. According to the psychologist, there are basically four categories of child maltreatment including emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and physical abuse. When children in any form are subjected to these forms of abuse they are higher chances of them opting for violent life in the future. When children observe aggression round them either directed towards them or anyone near them, it leaves an impact on them. Studies show that whether the aggression is verbal or physical and subject to any parent of a sibling, still it impacts the young mind of children. Similarly, when children are subjected to physical violence they believe that this is the only way to show one’s one emotion and they inflict physical violence in the future on others. The sexual abuse of children goes a long way, children hardly ever recover from it. The children who are sexually abused in their childhood develop the tendency to be involved in such rimes themselves when they grownup. Similarly neglect from parents and lack of attention and love from family and friends for children to opt for crimes because they do not care about the consequences anymore. The emotional abuse is deep and penetrates into human personality, children stay hurt throughout their lies especially if the emotional abusers are parents, siblings or someone else who is close to the children.
Role of resiliency in the development of delinquency in maltreated children
Resilience is a virtue, the ability to overcome the hut in one’s life and it is often believed to help individuals get over the dark phases of their life. The children who have resilient personalities often get over the abuse they faced in the past and try to develop a happy life for them which is free from violence, abuse or aggression. But it is easier said than done. The ability to overcome the physical, emotional or sexual abuse is very difficult especially for kids who do not have an actual understanding that what has happened to them and how to get out of it. But if they resilience in their personality they will try to overcome it and often times they succeeded in it. But there is another side of this story. There are children who have resilient personalities and yet they indulge in delinquency. When children are subjected to violence or abuse in any form in their childhood, they apparently heal it and move ahead with their life. Anyone seeing them will say that they have moved on and now living a successful happy life but they are unaware of deep penetration of childhood maltreatment and abuse. That abuse forces them to indulge in crimes and violent behavior and they do so by keeping their face intact of having a peaceful life. Such delinquent behavior if more dangerous for both the offender and the victims because they never suspect any such person. Deep aggression and hurt must be healed to avoid delinquent behavior in life (Salzinger, 2017).
Involvement of Child Protective Services potentially impacts the trajectory of delinquency
Child Protective Services also called CPS are a government initiative to provide protection to children who have no one else to care for them. These services exist in every state with different names but they have been dealing with children for long. These services have played an effective role in providing homes to such children who do not have their homes or family to care for them. Homeless children and children in the orphanage are the responsibility of the government. These services connect such families who are looking to adopt children and connect them with such hidden. Now there are both negative and positive impacts of these services. The CPS has been successful in providing many children with homes and families. Young children age 2 years to five or six years are easy to handle and because they have faced can be undone because they have little memory of it so when such children are adopted and handle by CPS they are saved form delinquent life. But when children exceed a certain age, then the chances of saving them become lower, even if they are adopted they run away and the CPS cannot help either do their new families can do anything. Hence CPS can play a crucial role for maltreated children.
Conclusion
Maltreatment of children rises their chances of involvement in violent activities. When children are subject to any form of abuse in their childhood whether it was emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse or neglect, they are hurt and this hurt stays with them for a long time. Their violent activities and delinquency is the result of these activities. Parents, family, and the environment are major contributors to the delinquent behavior of children. Having resilient personality traits help children get over their hurt and abuse and move towards a peaceful life but it happens for fewer people. The Children protective service (CPS) has been enacted by the government to facilitate children for protecting them but it has both positive and negative implications. In short, children can be saved form opting delinquent life if they treated well in their childhood (Smith, 2016).
References Salzinger, S. (2017). Physical Child Abuse and Adolescent Violent Delinquency: The Mediating and Moderating Roles of Personal Relationships. SAGE journals, 91-113. Schellenbach, C. (2016). Troubled Youth, Troubled Families. Understanding Families at Risk for Adolescent Maltreatment, 156-165. Smith, C. A. (2016). Rochester Youth Development Study. SAGE journals, 142-156.
