Child Welfare Article Critique (Essay Sample)

Child Welfare Article Critique
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Child Welfare Article Critique
In their article Schenkel and her colleagues (2014) explicate the long term consequences of child maltreatment and its relationship to trauma. In particular, the article titled Child maltreatment and trauma exposure among deaf and hard of hearing adults, sought to examine post-traumatic stress disorder, trauma exposure and adult victimization. The authors argue that exposure to numerous types of victimization expose children to a risk of maladjustment in later stages of life. Quoting various authors, the article argues that child maladjustment, especially for those who are physically disabled have led to negative effects in later stages of life development. The article does note that children with disability are more likely to suffer from child maladjustment as compared with healthy children. Similarly, the article does call for further studies in regard to childhood trauma in children with disabilities.
The authors note that there have not been any systematic investigations in regard to different or multiple types of child Maltreatment. Further, the article notes that there have not been any researches in regard to the exposure of children who have been maltreated and long term effects to trauma and posttraumatic disorder. The main hypothesis of the study as indicated in the article is that children with disabilities have elevated rates of child maltreatment as compared with healthy children. This particular article gives very important information regarding interaction between parents/persons of importance and children. However, it fails to give crucial information in regard to what causes problems in such a relationship. It does not explain whether maltreatment results from child action or parents’ actions.
Powerless adults interact in a way that poses a threat to children. In a way, disabled children are more susceptible to maltreatment from parent who feels the need to keep the reputation in the society. In this context, they are unwilling to accept the responsibility of caring for the child, often accusing him or her of making mistakes which would otherwise be contributed to their condition. When confronted with different types of situations, such parents tend to be automatically responsive, show submissive behavior, use high levels of verbal derogation or be prepared of emergency response. This in turn make them susceptible to anger and mistreatment of the child.
While being not comprehensive, the study does give some important insight into traumatic events that occur in later stages of live. While it is understood that these children requires specialized care, it is evident that there is a shortage of health care professionals to take care of them. This is one reason that burdens parents making them to stress or maltreat their children. In the end, most children feel frustrated by their parents’ failure to understand their world. The study does suggest that child maltreatment has a negative effect on the psychological welfare of the child. More importantly, the article notes that relationship between the parent/caregiver and the child can be compromised owing to communication barriers and stress on the side of the parent. In turn children tend to be unresponsive to their peers and drawn from the people interact with them on a daily basis.
According to Schenkel and colleagues (2014), parents are often faulted for worsening and even causing trauma to children. Professionals are then unable to successfully provide help to these children making it difficult for them to cope with others in later stages of development. Citing, Burnash, Rothman-Marshall, & Schenkel, 2010; Kushalnagar et al., 2011, the authors does note that parental stress and communication barriers add to increased negative self-perception, deprived welfare for disabled children and mood swings. Further, communication barriers are known to cause depression and an overall poor quality of life for adults who have experienced maltreatment during their childhood years.
The severity of disability according to the article increases the risk of victimization. This is needless to say that these children have unique ability to be creative. Actually, the article does not that these children may be more creative than their counterparts and flexible in terms of thinking. The article however does not give an insight in to how this ability is related to their social relationship with their peers. What is clearer from the article is that poor communication between a child and the parent or the caregiver leads to increased incidences of physical abuse or general maltreatment (Schenkel et al 2014). Focusing on children with stern hearing abilities and with reduced communication ability, the article does suggest that children with disabilities have a very high risk of victimization as compared with those without disability.
In story of children with disabilities, paren...