Emotional Abuse in a Sample of Multiply Maltreated, Urban Young Adolescents: Issues of Definitions and Identification

• NCJ Number: 226369
• Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 33 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2009 Pages: 27-35
• Author(s): Penelope K. Trickett; Ferol E. Mennen; Kihyun Kim; Jina Sang
• Date Published: January 2009
• Length: 9 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The primary purpose of this paper was to use the Brassard and Donovan (2006) framework for coding emotional abuse in examining and describing the nature of emotional abuse experienced by a sample of urban, ethnically diverse male and female youth (n=303) identified by a public child welfare agency as maltreated.

Abstract

This study determined that nearly 50 percent of the 303 youth identified as maltreated by the child welfare agency had experienced emotional abuse, in contrast to 9 percent identified as emotionally abused at the time of referral by the agency. Most of the emotionally abused youth also experienced physical abuse (63 percent) and/or neglect (76 percent). The most frequent subtype of emotional abuse experienced by the youth was “terrorizing;” however, most youth experienced more than one subtype of emotional abuse. Although frequently experienced by the youth, emotional abuse was seldom the focus of the child protection services investigation. The nature of the emotional abuse was likely to be dangerous to the mental health and well-being of these youth. Screening for emotional abuse should be included as part of all intake referrals; and when confirmed, should be noted in official records, so that appropriate interventions can be provided. The Brassard and Donovan system for coding emotional abuse involved developing from two to five subcategories of abusive behavior for each of the six larger categories identified by the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. These six categories are spurning, terrorizing, isolating, exploiting/corrupting, denying emotional responsiveness, and mental health/medical/legal neglect. Including subtypes of abuse within these 6 categories, Brassard and Donovan’s coding system contains 22 behaviors that constitute emotional abuse. Case record abstraction was conducted on the agency records of the youth using the Maltreatment Case Record Abstraction Instrument based on the work of Barnett et al. 6 tables and 16 references