Know The Facts
Know the Facts
Effects of Child Abuse and Neglect on Children
Children who are abused and/or neglected often have social, cognitive, and economic difficulties in adulthood. Studies have shown that they are more likely to have poor academic achievement, poor coping and decision-making skills, and fail to develop adequate and positive social support. In addition to suffering from immediate physical injuries, victims of child abuse and neglect are more likely to develop behaviors that lead to obesity, diabetes, depression, psychiatric distress, post traumatic stress disorder, and other chronic diseases.
Violence within the family of origin is the one factor that is most strongly correlated with child abuse and neglect—studies have shown that children who are abused or witness abuse are also at a high risk of becoming violent themselves, particularly toward their own children and/or spouses. In 1992 the U.S. Department of Justice reported that being abused as a child increased the likelihood of future delinquency and adult criminality by 40%. In its State of America's Children 2000 report, the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) reported that 44% of all women on probation and in jails or prisons were physically or sexually abused as children.
In order to succeed in life and be healthy, active members of the metropolitan community, the next generation of adults in the Greater Richmond area must grow up in safe and nurturing homes.
