Understanding the Connection Between Child Abuse and Anti-Social Behavior

Abused children develop antisocial behavior that persists through three continuous generations. Such behavior grows out of angry, aggressive parenting and an overall negative home environment, perpetuated by sibling collusion, economic and biological factors. These children exhibit this in preschool by committing at least one antisocial behavior each day in class. As dysfunctional adolescents, their romantic lives and eventual marriages also fail. African-American children suffer from the affliction than Caucasian children. The current level of knowledge and efforts requires effective and efficient mechanisms at home, in school and the community in the crucial formative childhood years.

Understanding the Connection between Child Abuse and the Development of Antisocial Behavior

Abused children eventually become problem adults who are a burden to society.

Recent studies reveal the significance of parenting in the cross-generational transmission of aggressive or problem behavior up to three continuous generations. Stable evidence has long recognized and documented the negative effects of aggressive or harsh and inconsistent parenting and identified the need for interventions that would foster better parenting skills (Dubow 2003). These new findings provide the direct link between the incidence of child abuse and the emergence of problem behavior later in life.

Child abuse may be physical, emotional, sexual or through neglect. Child Protective agencies received and investigated three million reports of maltreatment of close to four million children in 1999 (Black 2004), 54% of which were due to neglect. But because most of the victims were too young and too afraid to speak out, these agencies believed that the actual incidence was greater than reported. While it occurred in all social, ethnic and income groups, child abuse was most common among poor, under-educated and dysfunctional families and committed mostly by parents themselves who were young, unmarried or separated, lonely and coping with life's stresses but not criminal or psychotic (Black). Un-addressed incidence of child abuse increases the risk of criminality, academic failure and failed social relationships in later life (Conger 2003).

This paper will endeavor to inquire into, and understand, the details that link child abuse with the development of problem behavior and what approaches can be made in addressing this reality.

Present literature presents conclusive findings that parent-toddler relationship directly affects the toddler's problem behavior, with deviant or aggressive maternal behavioral attitudes crossing and spanning three continuous generations from grandmother to the child (Dubow 2003). A study offers significant evidence that angry, aggressive parenting strongly influences the development of aggressive behavior in adolescence through social learning and often results in unsatisfactory romantic and marital relationships and conditions (Conger). Findings also show that financial distress and improper parenting produce problem behavior in children (Thornberry 2003) and that poor or injurious maternal attitudes lead to it (Brook 2002). Antisocial and violent behavior in children and adults is also seen as the consequence of birth complications and certain biological factors when combined with a negative home atmosphere (Raine 2002). Family relationships strongly affect a child's self-esteem and the impact often remains through life. Collusion among siblings also contributed to the development of faulty behavior in children who were abused at home. Boys were more affected by peer rejection and girls, by low academic performance (Lewin 1999). Abused preschoolers often came from low-income families and exhibited at least one antisocial behavior each day in class (Qi et al. 2001 and Willoughby 2002). Most of these children were African-American who suffered from guilt and self-blame (Brown 1999), but most mothers of both problem and non-problem children viewed their children in similar ways (Kendziora 1998). Popular myths conduce to wrong beliefs and must be guided by scientific knowledge (Fiorello 2001). And despite much knowledge and effort, there remains the need for consistent and thorough mechanisms that will confront the issue and arrest the causes or conditions in preschool age right at the family and in the community (Fox 2002).

Subjects and participants in the studies included parents of children with problem behavior, adolescent parents, grandmothers of problem children, other family members with a target child at high risk for sibling collusion, mothers of non-problem children, respondents to 39 studies of biosocial interactions, demographic sub-groups (such as African-Americans) and normative samples of preschoolers exhibiting antisocial behavior.

Findings

Child mistreatment or abuse can be physical, emotional, sexual or in the form of neglect. Neglect was the most common type and the perpetrators were mostly parents who themselves were abused as children (Black). Irritable and aggressive parenting led children to grow up into unstable, under-controlled adolescents (Ary 1999) and adults with troubled relationships, families and parenting in later life. This type of parenting passed from the first to the third generations through the behaviors of the children who learned and engendered them (Conger 2003) mainly from their mothers' own behaviors (Brook 2002). This antisocial behavior that began from home increased the risk of criminality, academic failure and social relationship problems. Financial stress had a strong impact on parenting quality that transmitted antisocial behavior from generation to generation (Thornberry 2003). Four studies directly showed and reinforced earlier findings of this intergeneration transmission (Dubow 2003), demonstrated by preschoolers at least once daily in class (Qi 2003). These preschoolers came mostly from low-income families (Willoughby 2001), most boys influenced by peer rejection and most girls, by low academic performance (Lewis et al. 1999). Sibling collusion (Bullock 2002) and biosocial factors aggravated and reinforced the formation of antisocial behavior from children who were abused (Raine 2002). Mistreated African-American children experienced more guilt and self-blame than Caucasian children (Brown 1999). Common beliefs about children's misbehavior also clashed with scientific knowledge. All conditions pointed to the need for adequate mechanisms of early intervention that would consistently and thoroughly address the problem or question at the crucial preschool age of children (Fox 2002).

Discussion

I. Child Abuse

Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment or neglect of a child (Black 2004). About half of all cases of child abuse involve neglect, committed most often by the child's own parents, other family members and caretakers, such as teachers, babysitters, other children or even strangers. Once viewed as a minor social problem, child abuse caught closer notice from the media, law enforcers and professionals and, since then, figures began to go up. But authorities claimed that actual figures could only be higher than these, because abuses on children were more often hidden and the victims were too young and too afraid to report the crime (Black).

Child protective agencies investigated three million reports on the mistreatment of nearly four million children in 1999 (Black 2004) and found that 54% of these were cases of neglect. They also discovered that a child was often a victim of more than one form of abuse, that it occurred more in low-income than high-income families with little education, among young mothers, single-parent families and in families where the parents were alcohol or drug-dependent (Black). Investigations revealed that 90% of these parents, however, were neither criminal nor mentally unstable, but were lonely, young, single parents with unwanted pregnancies. Some or many of them were themselves abused as children, but statistics show that most abused children did not grow up to become abusive parents (Black).

Behavioral experts pointed to the lack of parenting skills, unrealistic expectations of children's behavior and capabilities, social isolation and family conflicts as additional factors that contribute to child abuse (Black 2004), which they perceived as the parents' coping response to their situation. The agencies' 1999 investigations showed that 75% of perpetrators were the parents themselves and those involved in the care of these children.

Physical abuse is the deliberate bodily injury on a child, most often a male (Black

2004). Earlier studies showed that 24% of all confirmed cases of child abuse were physical. The abuse is sexual if the child has not yet attained the age of legal consent and the abuse is performed for the sexual gratification of the abuser. The act may include sexual touching, intercourse, exposure of sexual organs or viewing pornography. In many sexual child abuse cases, the abuser was not a stranger or related to the child and one in five was under the age of legal consent himself or herself (Black). Reports also said that 20-25% of the cases were female and 10-15% were male who were sexually violated by age 18 (Black). Emotional abuse, on the other hand, consists of acts of rejection, ignoring, criticizing, isolation, or terrorizing of a child, which results in his or her loss of self-esteem. These are verbal assaults, which reject, belittle or use a child as a "scapegoat." Emotional abuse is the least reported because it often accompanies the other types and the hardest to prove (Black). And neglect is the failure to provide for the child's basic needs, whether physical, emotional or the lack of sustenance. Neglect accounted for 52% of all investigated reports of child abuse in 1996 (Black).

Abusive parents physically afflict their child when they lose control even for normal actions like crying or a change in diapers (Black). Non-abusive parents may at times get angry or upset, but remain genuinely loving, in contrast with abusive parents who harbor deep-seated hostility towards the child. Physical abuse can be suspected with the common signs, such as burns, bruises, bone or skull fractures. Death from physical abuse, such as the shaken baby syndrome, was among the leading causes for children less than a year old (Black). Studies revealed that physical abuse changed children's behavior in many ways.

Psychological experts maintained that sexual abuse constituted sexual arousal in a child and the child's willingness to act on it, conditioned by alcohol, drugs or the misconception that there was nothing wrong about the act (Black). There were greater chances of sexual abuse if the child was developmentally disabled or vulnerable some way. This type of abuse was often discovered when genital or anal injuries or abnormalities, including the presence of sexually transmitted disease, were noticed in a child. Behavioral signs included anxiety, poor school performance, suicidal tendencies or attempts, excessive masturbation and an unusually sexualized behavior often gave sexual abuse away.

Emotional abuse was often detected with the loss of self-esteem, sleep disturbance, headache or stomach ache, school absenteeism and leaving home (Black 2004). Neglect develops from a parent's negative feeling towards a child or the parent may truly care but is unable to provide for the child's needs because of the parent's depression, drug dependence, mental handicap or other problems. Findings said that neglected children did not receive sufficient nourishment or emotional and mental stimulation (Black) and this lack hampered their normal physical, social, emotional and mental development. Underweight, delayed language skills and emotional instability were among the consequences.

Doctors, social workers, other professionals, child welfare agencies and the police conducted physical and psychological examinations and interviews of abused children (Black). Reporting to the authorities, treating the child's injuries and protecting him or her from further harm were primary measures in child abuse cases. These authorities could then evaluate if moving the child to another willing and qualified relative or a foster family would be in the best interests of the child, whether long or short-term (Black). Further investigation could reveal that the child's siblings were abuse victims themselves, as reports found that about 20% of siblings were.

Victims of child abuse have been observed to perform poorly in school, develop antisocial personality or behavior, turn to drugs or alcohol, try suicide or become emotionally unstable (Black 2004) through adulthood. Health care professionals can treat the condition by detecting and treating physical and emotional symptoms in the victim and also help perpetrators through re-education. They can also refer the problem family to community and individual programs (Black). There are government home visitor programs focused on high-risk families and on teaching children how to ward off attempts at sexual abuse. Parents should begin to teach their children starting at 3 years old how to parry "bad touches" and confiding such attempts by anyone. Parents must also take extra care in choosing babysitters and other caretakers. There are organizations in many places that can be turned to round-the-clock for occurrence or suspicion of child abuse (Black).

Parents' mistreatment or abuse of their own children leads these children to form antisocial or problem behavior as adolescents and as adults. Previous and recent studies presented substantial evidence that angry, abusive and aggressive parental behaviors spill over to these children up to three generations (Conger 2003) through social learning. These behaviors, therefore, directly influence the different social behaviors and relationships of their children in adolescence and adulthood. Parents' anger, hostility or emotional support essentially determines if a child will be a supportive or rejecting adolescent. Hostility between parents and an adolescent conclusively predicts problematic romantic and family relationships later in his or her life (Conger). These latter studies also demonstrated that parenting in the first generation directly affected the bond between parents and child, one of the most important human bonds in life.

Another study offered evidence of this intergenerational continuity (Conger 2003) wherein aggression in youth is often followed by aggressive parenting and that kind of parenting, in turn, appears to contribute to aggression in children. This particular study expounded on the utter significance of parenting in the intergenerational transmission of antisocial or problem behavior, as previous findings already documented, and how normative approval of aggression, aggressive fantasies and verbal aggression maintain aggressive behavior through time.

The study also suggested the use of family-based and social-cognitive interventions as the best strategies in halting or preventing child aggression and abuse (Conger) and these strategies can be further improved to account for variables that account for the continuity of aggressive behaviors through generations.

Still another study focused on the transmission of problem behavior from parents to toddlers, the appearance of this behavior in preschool and how it affects academic performance (Brook 2002). It was a longitudinal study that investigated the intergenerational passing on of risk factors from grandmothers, parents to toddlers across three generations. Findings indicated that the characteristics of the parent-child relationships tended to continue or replicate themselves across generations. It found that a grandmother or mother who was cold, dissatisfied, exercised inappropriate control, characterized by conflict and had limited contact became a model for adolescents who repeated the traits in relation to their own toddlers or children. It added that the kind of grandmother had with the parent as the adolescent relationship between them increased the probability of impulsiveness, rebelliousness, irresponsibility and other psychological problems in adolescents, and in turn, the parent-child relationship. This is the hypothesis of mediating relationships (Brook). In turn, the grandmother's behavior towards her grandchild could have been mediated by her own mother's behavior when she was an adolescent, her mother's personality as a young adult and their relationship when the grandmother was a toddler (Brook).

According to the study, hostile maternal behaviors go through a cycle of intergenerational continuity (Brook 2002). Its findings suggested that aspects of parent-child relationships passed from generation to generation, directly by modeling the behaviors and indirectly by influencing the development of personality traits that characterized the relationship. It meant that parent-child relationship was an important mediator between the parent's characteristics and those of the child (Brook). Intervention goals should, therefore, address the parent-toddler relationship in changing the potentially adverse link between parental characteristics and the toddler's development. This was the first study on the longitudinal effects of the relationship between the grandparent and the parent as an adolescent across three generations (Brook). It also suggested that reducing the risk of transmission in the first two generations would reduce the risk between the next two.

Mothers of problem children and mothers of non-problem children from both stressed and happily married settings were the subjects of another study in measuring and determining how they appraised their children (Kendziora 1998). Findings showed that there was no significant difference between their appraisals. These mothers understated their children's the amount and intensity of their children's negative behaviors but they neither under-classified nor under-estimated the intensity of their positive behavior, either. The study found that they had no difficulty in identifying the positive behaviors of their children, but not the negative ones. It determined that they understandably under-classified their children's negative behavior and over-classified the negative (Kendziora and Leary 1998) and, at the same time, mistakenly noticed the negative behavior of unfamiliar and un-related children than their own. It found that these mothers were less affected by, or more upset with, misbehavior with children less than four years old and more with those between eight and 12 years old. This implied that mothers of even hardest-to-manage children would be reluctant to label or describe their children as negative (Kendziora and Leary). The mothers, however, generally agreed with the investigators on the concept of proper or positive behavior.

Building a proper relationship takes time, effort and sacrifice on both sides and parent- child relationship certainly requires all these. Parents have their own conflicts to work out and doing so can put their relationship with their children in jeopardy. These children who got caught in a violent interaction between their parents went through a nightmare that did not seem to come to an end (Ballard 2002). Familiar fights with loud, angry and injurious words, accompanied by noises, things breaking and screaming could create deep-seated anxiety and loss of self-esteem in frightened children. They would imagine that the conflict was several times deadlier than it really was and they were unaware if someone was getting hurt or killed or they were next (Ballard). Their fear could easily turn to rage that would need an outlet some time later. In time, that anger could go inward and manifest itself as a distrusting, vindictive attitude, a hatred of people in the form of or through over-eating, under-eating, drugs or sex. All that violent experience had to be externalize if they knew how and children who witnessed such events or arguments between their parents would need to act or take it out on someone else or other people.

Their broken sense of personal security could take the shape of urinating in bed or trouble in school (Ballard).

The worst consequences of an abusive relationship between a couple were not the bruises or black eye but that broken sense of security in their children. That insecurity would eventually become their standard in adulthood. Domestic abuse involved a destructive cycle that produced insecure, fearful children. A woman, for example, would allow to be abused by a man or husband because she had low self-worth and her daughter who witnessed this would accept that lifestyle and live it too. Most of our problems were occurrences in childhood that assumed pathological patterns (Townsend as qtd in Ballard). When parents quarreled violently in the presence or awareness of their children, the child could feel helpless and afraid, not knowing what to expect. They would not know how to deal with the anxiety poured into them by what they were made to witness.

Investigations showed that more than three million children witnessed domestic violence every year (Ballard). That witness could inflict much trauma that could affect every aspect of a child's life, growth and development and reduce his or her chances of succeeding in school, incline him or her to or commit violence and render him or her more vulnerable to poor health conditions (Ballard). It was also noted that even very small children who were allowed to witness violence at home could form passive anxiety forms, such as sleeping and feeding problems, separation-stranger anxiety, regressive behavior in preschoolers, aggressive and regressive behaviors in school and delinquency as adolescents (Ballard). Mere awareness of family or domestic violence tended to increase the risk of their internalizing and then externalizing violence themselves. Convincing evidence showed that this led them to develop antisocial or criminal behavior and experts believed that parents should recognize this fact, because, quite often, they did not know or realize it. Children who held their parents in esteem were at a higher risk of imitating their violent behavior. Hearing their parents in constant conflict, children blamed themselves for it and, in later life, repeated what they witnessed and experienced as children (Ballard). Parents might survive or let a bad relationship go, but its negative effects on a child could be different and devastating if experienced or witnessed, whether for the first or the 50th time and emotionally crushing.

Furthermore, these children tended to act their parents' anger out or express anger out by becoming angry themselves or simply because they have many unexpressed feelings. Behind all that would be the stubborn fear of domestic violence occurring again (Ballard).

Family or child abuse was not something new, only well-hidden (Dickerson as qtd in Ballard) within the domestic setting of what used to promise safe haven and shelter from the harm in the outside world. Family abuse has become a statistical reality, which points to the home as one of the most terrible places in America. It happens in all social and economic classes, although those in the higher ladder of society have been better equipped in hiding the reality.

Neglect was found to be the most common form of child abuse. When the relationship between a couple or parents turned abusive, violent or unhealthy, the care of children was oftentimes sacrificed (Ballard) and they were neglected. This condition increased the risk of abuse through neglect and likewise increased that risk of their becoming abusive parents themselves in adulthood. Parents must be made aware of their own parenting skills and the effects and impact of an unhealthy or injurious relationship on children and their future (Ballard). A violent past often developed a violent future (Dickerson as qtd in Ballard).

Experts advised parents to combat or prevent this condition, such as by taking more time for family outings and trips, interact more with their children or join a family organization where the whole family could engage in activities and talk about their problems and common concerns (Ballard). Parents should be aware of the possible effects of an abusive relationship on their children, such as increased likelihood of developing violent and delinquent behavior, fear of family members, increased tendency towards depression and suicide, bullying and teasing, and poor conflict management and coping skills (Ballard). Among the signs and symptoms of an abusive relationship that parents should also be made aware of included restriction of freedom or access to resources and isolation from friends, family and money; sexual coercion or forced sexual intercourse; and frequent verbal humiliations (Ballard).

Parent-child relationship, however, did not stand alone in the family setting. A sibling subsystem, called sibling collusion, was part of it. Sibling collusion was a process that strongly promoted or detracted from the socialization goals set forth for caregivers (Bullock 2002). It was premised and depended on a pattern of mutual positive reinforcement of deviant talk, according to Bullock. Two sibling processes, i.e., coercive sibling interactions and mutuality of sibling problem behavior, were extensively investigated with the end-view of focusing on collusive interactions in which brothers and sisters mutually reinforced each other's deviant behaviors and attitudes through "positive affect (Bullock)."

Under the coercive process, the model emphasized escape conditioning during family interactions and this frequently led to the development of aggressive and antisocial behavior (Bullock 2002). The use of aversive behavior was usually resorted to in solving family conflicts. This was common in families with high levels of conflict, wherein children learned aggression and other forms of aversion. This happened when parents did not effectively attend to or manage the children and, without directly intending to, allowed conflicts to be approached or managed through coercion (Bullock). Siblings in antisocial families were aptly described as "fellow travelers within a coercive system (Patterson as qtd in Bullock)." Patterns showed that families under treatment for childhood behavior problems had higher levels of coercive exchanges among siblings than with outsiders. These siblings took part in extensive coercive chains, with the problem children engaging in the extended coercive exchanges. Studies indicated that coercion was a process, which was entrenched within family conflict and negative affect (Bullock).

Studies revealed that siblings with a high-risk target child promoted their own deviance by colluding among themselves in the presence of adult caregivers (Bullock 2002). Sibling collusion was found to predict adolescent problem behavior in addition to, above and beyond the influence of deviant peers. There was also considerable body of behavioral research evidence that sibling collusion shared environmental factors and genetic similarity. It was understandable that the sibling collusion process, genetic factors, and individual adjustment interacted to establish a family culture that fostered or repelled sibling maladjustment (Bullock). Evidence held that children, who inherited an antisocial pattern of behavior through their sibling interactions, were more likely to establish social links with those possessing the same antisocial conduct. Sibling interaction appeared to be the foundation in which young adolescents encouraged the formation of antisocial behavior of their siblings and look for reinforcing peer relationships. Sibling collusion was noted in higher levels in single-parent families, where parenting was more difficult, especially when there are too many children or during adjustments to stepparents (Bullock).

The search for child abuse and the development of problem behavior brought to light significant evidence of social and biological process that appeared to predispose children to antisocial behavior (Raine et al. 2002). Most demonstrable among these were birth complications that combined with a negative home environment and enduringly inclined a child to adult violence. Hormones, neurotransmitters, toxins and drugs were also found to have an impact on the development of problem behavior when the home environment or relationships reinforced their biological effect.

A study was also conducted to look into the level of intergenerational transmission and how financial distress and parenting style affected the transmission (Thornberry 2003) by interrogating and observing fathers and mothers. It found that the antisocial behavior of both parents had similar impact on their children and that parents who were generally more consistent and warm had lower development levels of antisocial behavior in their children. Fathers' antisocial behaviors and mothers' parenting had the strongest effects on children's latter development of problem behavior and improper parenting style (Thornberry).

Preschoolers who came from economically disadvantaged families had a higher risk of developing antisocial behavior (Qi et al. 2003). Studies conducted on antisocial behavior among preschool subjects showed that 30% of those with the misbehavior belonged to lower economic classes as compared to only 3 to 6% of preschoolers belonging to higher economic classes and less expected to develop misbehavior. These preschoolers from lower economic classes also tended to develop lower language ability levels and poorer social skills. They also had bad temper and temperament became worse whenever their mother confronted family stressors and limited resources and support, quite often the setting for harsh parental discipline, family or community violence or child abuse (Qi).

This particular study presented evidence that specific and harmful family attitudes and habits were precipitating factors in developing early aggressive and belligerent behavior in children (Qi) and in consequences that could end in their development into delinquent or criminal adolescents and adults. Researchers discovered that stern but inconsistent parental discipline of children's oppositional behavior tended to result in a coercive parent-child interaction (Qi) and that, to avoid this, parents were inclined to become even increasingly inconsistent in their discipline and monitoring of the opposing child or children. This intensified discipline was responded to by the child by further establishing or enhancing his belligerent behavior. In preschool, the child tended to extend this behavior as well as act it out through non-compliance of some kind and aggression, an unfortunate condition, which elicited peer rejection by normal children and poor academic performance.

The cycle continued into later years, when these problem children would band with other rejected and aggressive children or peers who sharply reinforced, perpetuated or even made their antisocial behavior worse (Qi). The study clearly concluded that poor family management practices, particularly coercive interactions and poor monitoring, accounted for problem children's becoming deviant as and through proximal deviant peer influence (Qi).

Preschool boys who came from aggressive, psychologically imbalanced families tended to exhibit antisocial behavior in the classroom in the form of early fighting - anger, disruptive, withdrawn and low pro-social behavior - and early peer rejection and, eventually, adolescent antisocial or problem behavior (Lewin 1999).

Peer rejection and early aggression were found to be the most important predictors that a boy would turn out to behave antisocially (Lewin). Early withdrawal was the most exhibited predictor among male adolescents who tended to become behaviorally problematic. The study also showed that aggression, when combined with social withdrawal in preschool, predicted drug-related behavior in adolescence, such as with cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana for boys and marijuana only for girls (Lewin).

There were gender-related differences in these predictors too. If peer rejection and early rejection were early signs of problem behavior in boys, low academic performance predicted misbehavior in girls (Lewin). This was followed immediately by an indirect type of aggression, characterized by making up stories. According to findings, antisocial behavior was more frequent with girls or women who did poorly in school than those who did well or better (Lewin).

The severity of the impact of abuse or violence on children could be detected from their internalized and externaled symptoms (Brown 1999) and their attributions predicted the level of their psychopathological condition. These symptoms, in turn, depended on the severity of the violence, the child's attributions about the violence or abuse, the child's attributional style and the family's level of functioning (Brown). Another predictor of symptoms was other people's inference of hostile intent and this was mediated by poor social problem-solving skills (Brown).