Chapter Fourteen: Risks in the Family Context: Child Maltreatment and Domestic Violence (Vocabulary Flashcards)

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts from the lecture notes on child maltreatment and domestic violence, including definitions of maltreatment types, developmental considerations, risk factors, prevalence, effects, and interventions.

Child maltreatment

All forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a child by a caregiver in a relationship of responsibility, trust, or power.

Maltreatment (World Health Organization definition)

All forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, or exploitation, harming a child’s health, development, or dignity within a relationship of responsibility, trust, or power.

Polyvictimization

Experiencing more than one form of maltreatment; common and associated with greater risk across domains.

Physical abuse

Acts that cause actual or potential physical harm to a child by a caregiver; ranges from minor injuries to severe harm; can include Munchausen by proxy in rare cases.

Munchausen by proxy syndrome

A parent fabricates or induces illness in a child to gain medical attention, causing substantial physical and emotional harm.

Neglect

Failure to provide for a child’s physical or mental health, education, nutrition, shelter, or safe living conditions; includes subtypes such as physical, medical, educational, mental health, and psychological neglect.

Nonorganic Failure to Thrive

A neglect-related condition where a child fails to grow or thrive due to emotional neglect or lack of nurturing despite adequate nutrition.

Psychological (emotional) abuse

Acts damaging a child’s emotional development or sense of self, such as belittling, terrorizing, isolation, exploitation, or denying emotional responsiveness.

Exploitation

Use of children to fulfill adult roles or other forms of exploitation (e.g., child labor, indentured servitude, child soldiers).

Sexual abuse

Involvement of a child in sexual activity that the child cannot comprehend or consent to, ranging from exposure to pornography to rape; can involve incest when the perpetrator is a family member.

Traumatic sexualization

Developmentally inappropriate sexualization or distorted sexuality resulting from abuse, with effects on thoughts, feelings, and behavior.

Betrayal (trauma dynamics)

Disillusionment that a trusted adult harmed the child, leading to depression, grief, and mistrust.

Powerlessness

Sense of helplessness when a child’s will is overridden by the abuser, often resulting in anxiety, nightmares, or avoidance.

Stigmatization

Negative self-image and internalized blame (guilt/shame) following abuse, potentially leading to secrecy or self-harm.

Exposure to domestic violence

Witnessing or being exposed to violence between caregivers in the home, which can impact development even without physical harm.

The batterer

Male perpetrator of domestic violence who often has a history of trauma, insecure attachment, and emotion regulation difficulties.

Disinhibition (internal constraints)

Removal or weakening of internal controls that would normally limit abusive behavior.

Disinhibition (external constraints)

Accessibility and opportunity for the abuse to occur (e.g., unsupervised access to a child).

Motivation to sexually abuse (traumagenic dynamics)

A factor in which sexual arousal or emotional needs drive the abuse; part of Finkelhor’s model.

Four traumagenic dynamics (Finkelhor & Browne)

Motivation to abuse; disinhibition of internal constraints; disinhibition of external constraints; overcoming the child's resistance.

Trauma-focused CBT (TF-CBT)

CBT approach for abused children incorporating trauma education, coping skills, and parental involvement to reduce PTSD symptoms and distress.

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)

Evidence-based treatment for maltreating families using live coaching to improve parent-child interactions and noncoercive discipline.

Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT)

Family-focused CBT approach addressing cognitions and increasing nonviolent problem-solving to reduce abuse.

Multisystemic Therapy (MST)

Intensive family- and community-based treatment targeting multiple systems (family, school, peers) to reduce delinquency and abuse.

Prenatal and Infancy Home Visiting (Olds program)

Home-based visiting program by nurses to support at-risk mothers; associated with reduced child protection involvement and better long-term outcomes.

Kids Club (domestic violence intervention)

School-age intervention program for children from violent homes, with parallel mother-focused components to improve safety and coping.

Average expectable environment

Normative developmental milieu described in developmental psychopathology as essential for healthy child development.

Exploitation (definition in WHO context)

Use of children in ways that deprive them of their developmental potential or safety (e.g., child labor, trafficking).

Cross-cultural differences in punishment norms

Cultural norms shape what is considered abuse (e.g., corporal punishment accepted in some countries/states, considered abuse in others).

Reporting bias and prevalence data

Official statistics may underestimate true prevalence due to underreporting, cultural factors, and reporting practices.

Neurodevelopmental effects of maltreatment

Abuse-related brain changes (e.g., smaller hippocampus, corpus callosum, amygdala; altered white matter; HPA axis changes) affecting emotion regulation and cognition.

Attachment in maltreatment

Insecure or avoidant attachment patterns commonly emerge in maltreated children, influencing later emotion regulation and relationships.

Cognitive development delays (maltreatment)

Maltreated children often show language, memory, and executive function delays; neglect is particularly associated with cognitive deficits.

Emotional development effects

Maltreatment disrupts emotion processing and regulation, leading to depression, anxiety, and dysregulated affect.

Social development and peer relations

Maltreated children often show aggression, hostility, social withdrawal, or poor social competence and peer relationships.

Revictimization risk

Abused children, especially sexually abused, are at elevated risk of subsequent victimization later in development.

Intergenerational transmission of abuse

Estimated 30% of abused children may become abusers in adulthood; influenced by environmental and individual factors.

Prevalence in the United States (statistical snapshot)

For example, in 2010 about 6 million children were reported; 826,000 substantiated; most cases were neglect (≈78%), physical abuse (≈18%), sexual abuse (≈9.5%), with mortality around 2.3 per 100,000.

Ethnicity, poverty, and maltreatment

Ethnic differences in maltreatment prevalence often reflect underlying social class and economic disparity rather than ethnicity alone.

Sexual abuse prevalence and gender differences

Sexual abuse more commonly affects girls (roughly 3:1 female-to-male victim ratio in many studies); older children and adolescents at higher risk.

Sexual abuse consequences (psychological impact)

Internalizing symptoms (depression, anxiety), PTSD, dissociation, self-blame, and later risk for revictimization.

Interventions with sexual abusers

CBT-based and multisystemic approaches; goals include reducing denial, increasing empathy, and reducing risk factors; mixed evidence on effectiveness.

Prevention programs (general)

Primary prevention aims to reduce risk by supporting at-risk parents, improving parenting skills, and reducing stressors (e.g., home visiting, parent education).