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Ashley Burrup
Mrs. Jackie Burr, Instructor
English 1010, Section 7
21 November 2016
History and Psychological Effects of Child Abuse
Beth Thomas, the subject of the documentary Child of Rage, suffered from Reactive
Attachment Disorder (RAD), which is the severe and uncommon disorder among children
marked by disturbed and developmentally inappropriate behavior socially. Because of the severe
sexual abuse in her infancy, and the development of RAD, Beth developed no capacity to love or
trust. She also lacked the development of morality. Beth, in exhibiting this behavior, committed
many violent acts such as breaking the necks of a clutch of baby birds, attacking her brother at
night, stabbing the family pets with needles, and wounding a classmate with a shard of glass. She
also vocalized her desire to kill her parents and her brother.
The behavior that Beth displayed came about as a result of experiencing severe sexual
abuse by her biological father at the age of one, resulting in the relocation of Beth and her
brother in the Thomas family, who had no previous knowledge of her abuse. The Thomas
expressed extreme surprise and alarm when she began to display this socially inappropriate and
unfeeling behavior. Because of this, Beth was placed in a series of therapies to cope with her
tragic past, revealing her past of sexual abuse and the ultimate result of RAD. She has since
worked through her disorder and appalling past and now works as an RN at a hospital in
Flagstaff working in the Neonatal unit (Magid).

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Many other stories of sexual abuse are evident in all of history and in modern society.
Evidence of child abuse began with an orphan named Mary Ellen Wilson who, at eight-years old,
suffered beatings daily while living in her foster home. Her case went before a judge, sentencing
the foster mother to one year and generating outrage across the country. When a medical journal
described the symptoms of child abuse in 1962, laws were born in an attempt to eliminate this
problem. However, modern child maltreatment is much more frequent than people would like to
presume. There are more than three million reports of child maltreatment are submitted each year
involving over 6 million children, and every day approximately 4 to 5 children are killed from
child abuse or neglect in the United States alone (Child Abuse). Concerning child sexual abuse,
Dr. Jon Shaw states that it is estimated that 12% to 35% of women and 4% to 9% of men have
unwanted sexual experiences prior to 18 years of age (217). Most of these abused children
have lingering psychological damage, such as depression and anxiety, as well as the
development of mental disease.
Victims of child abuse, and specifically child sexual abuse, have a greater tendency
towards depression and anxiety, as is supported by Brbara Amado et al. in their research of
child maltreatment. Amado et al. found that sexual abuse has a significant effect on mental
health--symptoms of which are depression and anxiety--resulting in a 70% higher probability of
internalizing injury, with 66% for depression and 68% for anxiety (51). Amado et al. also
found that female victims had a higher tendency to develop depressive symptoms, depending
upon the severity of the abuse--mild, moderate, or severe--as well as the form of sexual
abuse--no contact, contact, and penetration (52).

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Marcia Rasch and Edwin E. Wagner conducted an experiment on the initial consequences
of sexual child maltreatment on female children, observing that they experienced withdrawal,
aggression, sleep-related issues, and anxiety and, observing the long-term effects, claim that
victims reported depression, guilt, sexual dysfunction, flashbacks regarding the abuse, and
suicidal thoughts (Rasch 762). In the article Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and
Neglect, psychological effects on the victims are presented, stating that roughly 54 percent of
cases of depression and 58 percent of suicide attempts in women were connected to adverse
childhood experiences. (see Figure 1) Cindy Juby et al., in commenting on the child
maltreatment predictors, explains that the effects are increased depression, anxiety, and
substance abuse (239).
Childhood abuse can create an obstruction in the victims development in addition to

Figure 1: Mechanisms by which Adverse Childhood Experiences Influence Health and

Well-Being Throughout the Lifespan. Mechanisms.

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creating depression and anxiety, as it did with Beth Thomas in Child of Rage. Using theorist
Erik Eriksons stages of psychosocial development, Beths development became hindered in the
Trust vs. Mistrust stage, where infants typically begin to develop a sense of basic trust for their
caregivers (Myers 451). Beth, because of the severe sexual abuse that was inflicted at such an
early age, developed extreme mistrust in that stage of psychosocial development, resulting in an
impediment in her moral developmental stages, which were created by Lawrence Kohlberg
(Myers 449). Beth is a severe case, but impediment of development, in some degree, happens on
all levels. Child abuse also negatively impacts the development of emotion regulation
(Long-term). In an article titled The Legacy of Child Sexual Abuse, Jon A. Shaw gives a
commentary on the personal narrative of Penelope Hollander, who experienced childhood sexual
abuse. Shaw examines the impact of the childhood sexual abuse on the development of an
individual, stating:
While children are generally exposed to the same traumatic happenings as adults, the
trauma occurs in a developing child who is in the midst of elaborating an inner
representational world, sensual-sexual motivational drive structures, internal mechanisms
for regulating affects and impulse, identity formation, and who may be still struggling
with issues of separation-individuation. (217-218).
Shaw also explains that each person has a self-image that, through the adverse childhood
experience, endure the self-images splitting off from each other and the images of the sexual
abuse also splitting apart from each other because the emotions from the trauma are so
contradictory, especially when abused by someone the victim knows and loves, which is usually
the case. This splitting off makes the victim unable to integrate the self-images into a

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self-representation that is cohesive and continuous over time (220). In other words, they are
incapable of forming their identity, which is a necessary stage of development. Shaw concludes
his commentary by stating that all childhood traumas have their derivative effects on
personality structure, object relations, and motivational structures as they are all products of
development (221). The adverse childhood experience shapes all aspects of their life,
personality, and development.
Psychological health of the victim is influenced by adverse childhood trauma, but the
victim's offsprings mental health in later life is also affected. Andrea Roberts and her colleagues
completed an experiment testing the depressive effects of maternal abuse on the offspring by
examining possible pathways through which the mothers abuse can be connected with the
offspring mental health. Roberts found that women who reported severe abuse in early life were
more likely to take antidepressants and to receive a diagnosis of depression. The offspring of the
victims who reported child abuse more likely to live with only one parent, and they were more
likely to experience child abuse. Roberts et al. also found that the offspring exhibited higher
tendency toward depression, presenting from age 12 to age 31 (713). The offspring of severely
abused women were at more than 1.5 times the risk of high depressive symptoms and nearly 2.5
times the risk of persistent depressive symptoms than offspring of women who did not
experience abuse (715). Roberts established that offspring exposure to child maltreatment in
their own life also accounts for a large part of depressive symptoms in addition to the mothers
exposure to abuse. Child abuse stretches across generations (717).
Adverse childhood experiences also increase the probability of partner abuse (IPV) in
later life as well as offspring abuse, as discovered by Cindy Juby et al. Juby et al. states that

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adverse childhood experiences often preclude both IPV perpetration and victimization,
concluding that being a victim of child abuse creates vulnerability, making them more likely to
experience abuse in the future (245). This leads to Intimate Partner Violence and child abuse of
the offspring, which then typically leads to changes in family structure, such as divorce,
separation, or remarriage. Osnat Zamir and Yoav Lavee, in their article about child abuse and
psychological mindedness, claim that child abuse is typically results in less marital satisfaction,
less sexual satisfaction, increased marital conflict, reduced intimacy, and increased probability of
divorce (847). Zamir and Lavee claim that poor intimate relationship quality is influenced by
childhood abuse because the maltreatment impairs the ability to regulate emotions and display
any form of affection (849). Victims of childhood maltreatment are six times more likely than
nonabused women to experience marital difficulties and are about five times more likely to
experience IPV (Zamir 847). Data has shown that girls who experience child maltreatment are
1-7 percent more inclined to participate in juvenile delinquency and violence, and they are 8-10
percent more inclined to experience IPV. Boys who experienced child sexual maltreatment are
3-12 percent more inclined to participate in IPV (Child Welfare). Because of the decreased
ability to monitor emotions and the impairment of the ability to display affection, adverse
childhood experience negatively influences behavior and relationships in later life.
To conclude, childhood maltreatment can have severe psychological effects on the
victim, including depression and anxiety, mental diseases, poor mental health, and impediment
of childhood cognitive, psychosocial, and moral development. Childhood abuse can also lead to
youth violence and, more apparent, Intimate Partner Violence. Victims of childhood abuse also
have a higher tendency to abuse their own offspring. These findings suggest that actions need to

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be taken to prevent these effects that, in some cases, last for generations. There are many
interventions that have been found meant to improve parenting and prevent child abuse (Roberts
et al. 717). Roberts et al. state that because these interventions affect multiple domains of
maternal and family functioning, they are cost effective even strictly in terms of reducing net
government expenditure (717). Many have indicated the need to have background screenings of
pregnant women for past experience of childhood abuse, and some people believe that they need
to be offered opportunities to improve their mental health and prevent long-term depression in
their offspring (Roberts et al. 717). Zamir and Lavee assert that enhancing psychological
mindedness can contribute to success in preventing revictimization and enhancing marital quality
(855). Preventive precautions, in whatever form they present themselves, need to be taken to
prevent serious long-term consequences of both the victim and the victims offspring.

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Works Cited
Amado, Brbara G., Ramn Arce, and Andrs Herraiz. "Psychological Injury In Victims Of
Child
Sexual Abuse: A Meta-Analytic Review." Psychosocial Intervention / Intervencion
Psicosocial 24.1 (2015): 49-62. Fuente Acadmica. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.
"Child Abuse Background and History." Findlaw. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
Child Welfare Information Gateway. "Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect."
Child Welfare Information Gateway. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Children's Bureau, 2013. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.
Garbarino, James. "Psychological Maltreatment Is Not An Ancillary Issue." Brown University
Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter 14.8 (1998): 2. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23
Oct. 2016.
"Intimate Partner Violence: Definitions." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S.
Department of Health & Human Services, 20 July 2016. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
Juby, Cindy, William Downs, and Barb Rindels. "Intimate Partner Violence Victimization,
Maternal Child Maltreatment, And The Mediating Impact Of Changes In Family
Structure." Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal 31.3 (2014): 237-249. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
Magid, Ken. Child of Rage. Fort Refuge. N.p. N.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2016
Mechanisms by which Adverse Childhood Experiences Influence Health and Well-Being
Throughout the Lifespan. Chart. Stanford Medicine, 2016. Web. 23 October 2016.
Myers, David G. Myers'Psychology for AP. New York: Worth, 2011. Print.

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Rasch, Marcia A., and Edwin E. Wagner. "Initial Psychological Effects Of Sexual Abuse On
Female Children As Reflected In The Hand Test." Journal Of Personality Assessment
53.4 (1989): 761. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
Roberts, Andrea L., et al. "Maternal Experience Of Abuse In Childhood And Depressive
Symptoms In Adolescent And Adult Offspring: A 21-Year Longitudinal Study."
Depression & Anxiety (1091-4269) 32.10 (2015): 709-719. Psychology and Behavioral
Sciences Collection. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
Shaw, Jon A. "The Legacy Of Child Sexual Abuse." Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological
Processes 67.3 (2004): 217-221. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
Zamir, Osnat, and Yoav Lavee. "Psychological Mindedness As A Protective Factor Against
Revictimization In Intimate Relationships." Journal Of Clinical Psychology 70.9 (2014):
847-859. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.