SLK Ch 7 Adversities, Resilience and Rights

• Adversity


  Unfortunate, difficult or challenging events that occur in our lives. It signifies trauma, hardship and suffering.
• Toxic stress


  Stress that occurs repeatedly over a long period of time because of adverse conditions.
• Children are more vulnerable to negative circumstances compared to adults
• Risk factors


  Determinants that increase possibility of an event or circumstances harming children
• Statistical data should never be interpreted from a narrow perspective and context should always be considered
• What is considered an adversity in one society may not be considered as the same in another society
• Adversities


  • Not all adversities exert the same effect or trigger the same response
  • The duration of the adversity can affect development
  • The developmental status of children at the time they are exposed to adversity can influence the intensity and extent of the effect significantly
• The risk of adverse mental and physical health consequences increases as a function of the number of categories of adversities to which people are exposed
• Polyvictimisation


  The multiple forms of adversity that may act in interactive and complex ways overtime to intensify negative development
• Supportive systems and relationships

  Supportive systems can buffer the child's response to adversities and are associated with improved outcomes of physical and mental health
• Many adversities happening to children don't occur at random, they usually occur more often in children and families with pre-existing vulnerabilities linked to biological/environmental influences
• Children may have different psychological and physiological reactions to the same stressors
• Sleeper effect


  The delay in the emergence of symptoms after trauma
• Divorce


  • Emotional, behavioural and scholastic problems are more visible in children from divorced homes than intact homes
  • The probability of the children ending up divorced in future is also high
  • Relationship between the children and their fathers are affected negatively by divorce more often than relationships between children and mothers
  • Children of divorces parents tend to have lower levels of education, occupational and financial attainment than children with intact families have
  • Children of divorce from various faith groups are more likely to reject faith and religious involvements as adults when compared to those who have intact homes
• Degree of conflict before and after the divorce

  The higher the level of visible conflict before the divorce the lower the psychological well-being of children and their adjustment to the situation. The bitterness after the divorce has a significant effect on the child's well-being and adjustment.
• Stability after divorce


  The extent of the changes can have a serious effect on child's ability to adjust. If the environment around them is the same, the emotional blow caused by the divorce is softened. Financial stability of the parent also causes change in the child's ability to adjust.
• Nature of parent-child relationship

  The long-term involvement of a parent or of both parents in an emotionally supportive way helps children to adjust well to the post-divorce situation. The nature and quality of parent-child interactions remain as important after the divorce as before the divorce.
• Age of the child

  Children from age 3-5 may believe that they are the cause for the divorce. Children of age 6-12 may experience difficulties in coping with their parents' divorce. Adolescents may experience anger, fear, loneliness, anxiety, depression and guilt.
• Level of social support

  The presence of good social support system is one of the crucial factors that may influence the effect of divorce on a child. It enhances the feeling of security a child feels and serves as an information center where children can get answers to their questions.
• Information given to children

  Children adjust better if they have the necessary information about the divorce. They should know what is going to happen to them, where they will stay and how life will be after the divorce.
• Uniqueness of the child


  The child's unique personality and coping mechanism may determine how they will respond to the divorce.
• Gender of the child

  Girls tend to internalise their feelings through withdrawal, crying and self-criticism. Boys are more inclined to show behaviour that is more negative and antisocial and they experience more academic problems than girls do.
• Genetic differences between children whose parents have divorced and those whose parents have not may account for the different effects divorce has on children
• Suggestions for parents to help their children adjust to the divorce process

  • Shield child from conflict
  • Provide children same continuity, familiarity and predictability as possible
  • Explain the divorce and tell children what to expect
  • Emphasise the permanence of the divorce
  • Respond sympathetically to children's feelings
  • Engage in authoritative parenting
  • Promote a continuing relationship with both parents
• Stepfamilies


  • The chances that this marriage will fail is also higher than the first marriage
  • Children may even be stressed because of the new household environment
  • Young adolescents who are in the process of forming their own identity may have the most difficult time adjusting to a stepfamily
  • Boys adjust better to a stepfather than girls do
• Maltreatment


  Neglect or abuse of another person which may involve emotional, sexual or physical action or inaction, the severity or chronicity of which can result in significant harm or jury
• Reasons for maltreatment include children being too afraid to report their abuse or not knowing where to report it, and the reliability of official statistics and self-report surveys being questionable
• Neglect

  Failure to provide for a child's basic physical, emotional, or educational needs or to protect a child from harm or potential harm
• e because of the fact that they regard their stepparent as an untrustworthy substitute for their biological parent or even an intruder threatening their relationship with their father
• This also includes actions such as exploitation and denial of basic needs
• Emotional neglect


  Where the basic needs for psychological care are not met, such as refusing or neglecting to provide emotional affections
• The effect of neglect is extensive
• Incidents of BCS are usually found in lower income households
• Hostile behaviour and self-destructive tendencies may also be caused in these children
• Symptoms of children who have been sexually abused

  • Anxiety
  • Fear
  • Anger
  • Fatigue
  • Depression
  • Bed wetting
  • Sexual behaviour
  • Sleeping problems
  • Low self-esteem
  • Self-blame
  • Guilt feelings
  • Eating disorders
• Emotional Abuse


  Persistent and continual emotional maltreatment of a child causing severe and persistent adverse effects on the child's emotional development
• Across all age groups → females commit suicide more often than men do
• Youth and families who live with community violence have heightened fears that harm can come at any time and they experience the world as unsafe
• Community violence is intentional violence to harm someone
• A person doesn't have to be a victim of violence to have trauma associated with it, mere exposure can do the job of instilling trauma