Child Abuse Intervention
 On this page, child abuse intervention refers to handling disclosures of abuse.
Disclosures can be purposeful (verbal) or accidental (non-verbal).
Purposeful disclosures occur when the child or youth consciously decides to discuss his or her abuse. See table below for top reasons why youth disclose:
Why Youth Do Disclose Abuse |
76% I told because I couldn't hold it in any longer.
56% I told because I wanted it to stop so my life could go on.
56% I told because I wanted him/her to be punished.
53% I finally felt comfortable enough to tell.
50% I was afraid someone else would get hurt if I didn't talk.
48% I was afraid I'd get hurt if I didn't tell.
41% I told because I couldn't sleep/ eat/ think anymore.
41% I got tired of the unwanted sexual experiences.
40% Someone else convinced me to tell.
35% Someone else told me about their unwanted experiences.
31% I was pregnant or afraid I might be.
28% Due to a school program about unwanted sex experiences.
22% I told because I didn't want to go home. |
| Kellogg and Huston, 1995, pp. 308-3091 |
Non-verbal disclosures occur when the child or youth does not consciously decide to reveal abuse. The secret can be discovered in several ways:
¤ Someone else observes the abusive behaviour of a caregiver toward a child or youth. Oberservations like this must be reported.
¤ The physical marks of abuse and neglect are evident on the child's body. Child abuse intervention is required--report the suspected abuse to the authorities.
¤ A pattern of inappropriate behaviours or sudden changes in behaviours by the child or youth cause caregivers or professionals to suspect abuse is taking place. Report any suspected abuse to the authorities.
¤ A child or youth displays chronic low self-esteem that may reveal the child/youth is in an abusive or neglectful situation.
¤ Health care professionals discover sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancies, which could be indicators of sexual abuse. Report these findings.
See table below for the top reasons why youth don't disclose abuse:
Why Youth Don't Disclose Abuse |
74% I was scared.
60% I was embarrassed.
55% I didn't want to get into trouble.
47% I didn't want anyone else to get into trouble.
46% No one would believe me.
29% I still like/love the other person.
29% I was my fault as much as the other person's. |
| Kellogg and Huston, 1995, pp. 308-3092 |
As identified above, child abuse intervention may involve handling disclosures. With almost every child abuse and neglect presentation I facilitate in the high schools, I deal with some type of disclosure. Most are written on the evaluations that I read after the presentation. Some are either verbal or accidental and occur during the workshop, in which case the youth generally leaves the room in favour of a trip to his/her counselor's office. The occasional disclosure is accidentally blurted out during the workshop. In all cases, I have a duty to report this known or suspected abuse.
When dealing with disclosures of abuse and neglect, the child abuse intervention procedure I follow includes documentation.
When I arrive at the point in the presentation where we talk about How to help a friend, the procedure I encourage the youth to follow is called HEARS:
Hear: Listen to your friend.
Tell your friend: "I believe you."
Encourage; empathize
Tell your friend: "I'm sorry this happened to you."
Affirm; acknowledge
Tell your friend: "It's not your fault."
"I'm glad you told me."
Report; refer; reassure
Tell your friend: "Together we're going to get some help."
Self-care
Disclosures of child abuse and neglect can be very stressful.
Take care of yourself afterward. My 3 Bs of self-care:
Breathe (easy to forget to do when under stress)
Boom-box (listen to great music)
Bubble bath (when I get home)
Child abuse intervention (a report of abuse and neglect to authorities) may be done by telephone, by letter, by e-mail or in person. A report can be made anonymously, but divulging who you are and the relationship you have with the child or youth will aid in the investigation.
When a report of abuse and neglect is made, child abuse intervention dictates that the person or organization making the report must act in a way that:
» protects the child or youth
» protects other children/youth who may be involved
» respects the rights of alleged abuser; keeps information confidential
» cooperates with Child Protection Agencies and possibly police
Child abuse intervention is everyone's responsibility, ethically, morally, and legally.
Stop further child abuse by reporting it!
If you live in Canada, check your local phone book in the provincial blue pages under Children & Family Services for the number to call in your area to report child abuse and neglect.
Child abuse intervention
will provide you with British Columbia phone numbers.
The province-wide Child Abuse-Neglect help line in British Columbia is: 310-1235
The help line in British Columbia for children - Deaf (TTY): 1-800-667-4770
Child Help USA: 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)
Child abuse information pages on this site:
References
Child Abuse Intervention
1 & 2 Kellogg, N., & Huston, R. (1995, June). Unwanted sexual experiences in adolescents: Patterns of disclosure. Clinical Pediatrics, 306-311.
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| This child abuse intervention page was last revised May 31, 2007
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