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CHLD 134

Cause & Abuser Profiles

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Objectives

List and explain the risk factors that may lead to maltreatment of children.

1

Describe the common characteristics of individuals who abuse.

2

Define and articulate facts surrounding Munchausen By Proxy.

3

Identify and explain typical profiles of individuals who commit sexual abuse & neglect.

4

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Child Welfare Information Gateway

Facts About Abusers

Daycare provider, foster parent, unknown

53.9% were women

83% between 18-44 years

91.4% were parents

12.9% non-parents

Males highest in non-parent

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How Does it Happen?

Child abuse is seldom the result of any single factor. Rather, a combination of circumstances and personality types may precipitate an act of abuse (Crosson-Tower, 2020)

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Risk Factors for Abuse
Predisposition: previous abuse, neglect of parent	Parent who witnessed domestic violence	Emotional stress
Marital/employment problems	Substance abuse	Lack of constructive outlets for tension
Anger/Aggression Problems	Poor impulse control	Personal beliefs about discipline
Child with special needs	Parent personality disorder/mental health	Lack of support or resources

Activity

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Common Characteristics

Low self-esteem is a universal trait among abusive parents; common feelings of being unloved or unworthy. �
Difficult childhoods or life experiences; frequent rejection and losses

Desire to control people and environment around them�
Inexperience and dependency on other people

Unsure how to handle responsibilities of being a parent
Symbiotic (interdependent; cannot function without) attachment to spouse or family
Frustration when needs are not getting met

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Five Unlearned Tasks

Helfer (1979) said there are five tasks abusive parents have not learned: �

Get needs met in appropriate ways
Separate feelings from actions
Determine they are responsible for their own actions and not for the actions of others
Make decisions
Delay gratification

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Getting Needs Met

In childhood, may have had to express needs in an extreme way to get them met.

Asking didn’t work, tantrum did.
Talking didn’t work, trying to commit suicide did.

As an adult, believes if you want to be heard you must exhibit a behavior that cannot be ignored.
No awareness of how to get needs met in an appropriate way as an adult; feelings of insignificance and nobody will listen.

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Feelings & Actions

Mentally, expression of anger is not just verbal but also includes an action.

Effective response for anger is with actions, not verbal expression.

Blame everybody else for their actions, especially their children.

You are responsible for what is happening to you, because you are making bad choices.
Overwhelmed by feelings, and in an effort to control, parent blames the child.

Child’s failure to meet expectations causes anger, which turns into blame, which could turn into child abuse.

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Making Decisions

Children need to be allowed to make decisions

Parents fear losing control and often don’t let the child make decisions

As adults, these children are unable to make decisions

Decisions are a big part of life; translates into an indecisive individual who feels powerless and out of control.

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Delaying Gratification

Unable to trust in the future and have difficulty putting off until tomorrow what they can get now

Desperation to feel good pushes them into a world geared toward instant results

Require instant solutions to their problems and instant obedience/results from their children

Reaction occurs when either of these things don’t happen and pushes parent again into the powerless reactive phase

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Unrealistic Expectations

Families need to learn how to communicate frustrations and resolve conflicts verbally

Parents demonstrate impulsivity and control issues

Perform household tasks

Do well in school

Role reversal with the child

Nurture parents/each other

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Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy

Also called Factitious Disorder by Proxy

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Munchausen By Proxy Facts

Adult seeks attention for their child for symptoms that are self induced.
Research has shown it is based on rage toward abandoning parents (in their perception)
Frequently there is a history of emotional abuse and abandonment
“By proxy” because it is manifested in them on to their child.

Usually seen in mothers who have had Munchausen syndrome themselves; rarely seen in fathers
Mother has developed a pathological way of getting her needs met and projects that on to the child

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Normal Occurrences

Smothering their child

Ipecac (induces vomiting)

Phenolphthalein (causes diarrhea)

Insulin/glucose (affects blood sugar)

Fecal matter

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Problems

Very difficult to identify and diagnose:

Parent appears very interested and involved in the child’s care
Present a caring/concerned parent who demands the appropriate care for their child and is involved in what is going on
Usually requires monitoring/evaluation for a length of time in order to determine what parent is doing

Most common way it’s noticed is failure of child to respond to medical treatment

Emotional impact on child who survives has not been determined yet due to lack of research

Could cause attachment disorders, difficulty with trust, other residual effects.

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Impacts of War

Parents serving in the military have added problems

Trained for combat; desensitizes them to violence
Deployment adds stress and strain to the daily living of the family members
Returning veterans face new stresses when they return

Realigned family roles
Difficulties with partner
Bills
Internal conflicts about leaving/returning to family life
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

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Comparison

Military Families

Rate of child maltreatment is increased by 30% with each 1% increase in proportion of soldiers with one child who experienced a deployment�
Deployment and return from impact the families functioning and possibility for child abuse

Nonmilitary Families

Rate of child maltreatment was static over three years�
Did not change over the period of time that the study was compiled (three years)

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Confronting Early Adversity

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Sexual Abuse

Abuser Profiles

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Profile of the Perpetrator

95-98% are males	May be higher percentage of females that have been unrecognized
50-70% of abusers were victimized themselves as a child/young adult	Poor attachment is a root contributor to sexual offending
Any education level, marital status, employment status, etc.	Sexual interest in children is a common similarity among abusers
Manipulative individuals with low self esteem	Poor social skills: feelings of lacking power and not being able to achieve it
Lack of intimacy with others – use denial and rationalization to deny responsibility for their behavior	Project blame on to their victims

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Research Explains…

“Sexual offense is caused by a complex interplay of a variety of biological, social, behavioral, cognitive and emotional factors” (Ward et al., 2006). �
Variety of theories have been established to explain why sexual offenders commit the acts they do.

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Fixated/Regressed Offender Theory

Fixated Offender

Fixated: primary orientation is to children (particularly males)
Compulsive premeditated abuse was based on need to repeat/undo past victimization

Regressed Offender

Somewhat well adjusted as an adult
Motivated by conflicts and crises to regress to an interest in children, particularly females
Impulsive and episodic abuse, precipitated by stress

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Precondition Model

An abuser is preconditioned for sexual abuse to occur

Motivation to abuse based on three factors

Lack of internal inhibitors

External inhibitors that must be overcome

Child’s resistance must be overcome

Emotional congruence
Sexual arousal
Blockage of normal outlets

Alcohol, psychosis, senility, impulse disorder, etc.

Mom’s role in the child’s life is the greatest external inhibitor

Emotional congruence: need to satisfy some emotional need (power, control, dominance)�Sexual arousal by a child: usually based on a childhood trauma, based on child’s misinterpreted need for affection and attention.

Blockage of normal outlets: fear of adult females, martial problems, etc. no atmosphere to have sexual and physical, affectional needs met.

Internal inhibitors: the little voice that says not to do something. Becomes inhibited by some other mental or physical aspect that prevents them from being heard.

External inhibitors: role of the mother (absent, ill, distant, etc), lack of privacy, unusual opportunities for the abuser to be alone with the child can all contribute to the abuse. If there aren’t many external inhibitors to overcome, then the abuse is “easy” for the offender to proceed with.

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Process of Development

Victim of inadequate child rearing and faulty bonding or attachment with primary caregivers
No ability to trust; feelings of worthlessness and not being loved
Ineffective problem solving, lack of judgment, self regulation and unknowing how to appropriately and effectively live his/her every day life.
Low self esteem, impulsivity and poor judgment who tries to compensate for those deficiencies at the expense of others
Discovers unmet psychological needs can be met through sexuality.
Cognitive distortions begin to develop that excuse the individual’s ‘behavior

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Who Become Abusers?

No Confidant Relationships

Heightened Sexuality

Families of Origin

Peer Relationships

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Think About It…

What are some commonalities between all of the abuser profiles that we have looked at thus far?

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Neglectful Parents

Abuser Profiles

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Characteristics

Child Neglect
Indifferent to their children: discipline out of their own need for quiet/convenience	Relationships with mothers were poor	Drifting aimlessly and passively through a hostile world
Inadequate childhoods, negative experiences with school, unsatisfying adult relationships	Difficulty instilling hope in children, encouraging them in school, or modeling appropriate roles	Little involved with other people, less verbally accessible, difficulty organizing and planning
Little pride in their accomplishments or workmanship	Test lower on IQ tests, higher on scales of anomie (absence of social norms or values)	Lack of judgment of motivation
Infantile personalities	Used to a dysfunctional family	Unmet needs

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Types of Neglectful Mothers

Polansky, DeSaix,& Sharlin (1972)

Apathetic-futile: �Given up on living, withdrawn and feel nothing is worth doing.

Impulse Ridden:�Low frustration tolerance, little ability to delay gratification, poor judgment

Borderline/Psychotic:

Small percentage of families; inability to see beyond delusional world.

Reactive Depression:

Inability to overcome depression and understand meaning of her life

Intellectually Disabled

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Read & Think

Read the news article about baby Jason Midyette
Go through the article and circle/highlight things we have discussed in class this evening:

Risk factors
Abuser profile characteristics
Possible causes
Etc.

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Match Up Quiz!