Their inability to be part of a social group or to relate to others can make the educational process very challenging for abused children, with poorer cognitive and language skills being the outcome.
Long-term consequences of child physical abuse are:
Possible development of physical disabilities, for example, brain damage or eye damage.
A tendency not to get on with others easily, for example, difficulty trusting others within adult relationships or violent relationships.
A predisposition to emotional disturbance, feelings of low self-esteem and depression.
An increased potential for abusing their own children when they become a parent.
Possible development of drug or alcohol abuse.
Identifying and handling traumatic brain injury
Traumatic brain injury,
as when part of the brain is damaged, is most often caused by accidents, but it can be the result of violent assault. Such injuries become relevant when forensic psychologists are considering victims, from two points of view:
The effects on those victims that may be relevant in trying to help them, such as seeking medical support and medication, or taking account of the way the brain damage has impaired cognitive abilities.
The basis that it can provide for understanding how, in some cases, such victims can become criminals, such as changes in their ability to control their emotions or to fully understand the consequences of their actions.
Of course, many possible consequences of injury to the brain can result depending on which part of the brain is injured. In addition, the forensic psychologist needs to recognise that the event may have had a psychological effect in making the person fearful and anxious quite independently of any brain injury. If the injury results from an assault, the psychological consequences that I discuss earlier in this chapter with regard to rape (in the section ‘Suffering from the trauma of rape’) may be the main cause of any psychological disturbance. Therefore, disentangling the influences of organic brain damage from the emotions associated with the violent crime can often be difficult for anyone trying to help the victim, whether she’s a forensic psychologist, a psychiatrist or even the local family doctor.
Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of brain injury and can display:
Lower levels of self-esteem and ability to cope with challenging circumstances, such as first day at a new school.
Higher levels of loneliness.
Maladaptive behaviour, such as avoiding any problem faced rather than trying to deal with it, like running away from home because of a family row.
