Emotional neglect, emotional abandonment in childhood

The WHO defines child abuse as a very broad construct that includes abuse and neglect towards children under 18 years of age. In addition, it includes all types of physical and emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect or commercial or other exploitation that results in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power (WHO, 2003).

In our case, we are going to focus on the field of child neglect or negligence. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the appearance of one or several children locked up at home and totally neglected, dirty or malnourished. This is precisely called child neglect.

Now, what is negligence exactly? What types of negligence are there? What are the consequences that this type of abuse has on the child? Below, we delve into these questions.

Definition and types of child neglect

Neglect is defined as the form of abuse that consists of repeated failure by the child’s parents or caregivers to provide the child with minimum standards of food, clothing, medical care, education, safety and/or affection. That is, the satisfaction of your basic needs, both physical and emotional.

There are two distinct types of negligence:

Physical/cognitive neglect: refers to that situation in which the child’s physical needs such as food, clothing and hygiene or medical care are not temporarily or permanently attended to by any adult who is responsible for the care of the child.emotional neglect: refers to the persistent lack of response to signals (crying, smiling), emotional expressions and behaviors seeking proximity and interaction initiated by the child. As well as the lack of initiative for interaction and contact from a stable adult figure.

From now on, we are going to focus on this last type of child neglect: emotional neglect.

Indicators of childhood emotional neglect

There are three major indicators of emotional neglect which include the following behaviors:

Ignore: occurs when parents ignore the child’s attempts and needs to interact and do not reflect any emotion in the relationship with him. For example, these are parents who only interact with their child when it is strictly necessary. There is a total absence of expressions of affection, care and love towards the child.Refuse psychological care: Parents refuse to initiate treatment for any severe emotional or behavioral problem of the child. In these cases, competent professionals have previously indicated the need to access treatment and the parents have refused to receive it.Delay psychological care: In this case it is not that they reject the attention of a professional, but rather that they do not seek or provide the necessary psychological help. It occurs when the child’s emotional or behavioral alteration is evident and extreme (e.g. suicide attempt).

Variables that intervene in child abandonment or neglect

Given these behaviors that are so difficult to imagine when we talk about a parent-child relationship, it is common for us to wonder what type of families are more likely to carry out this negligence.. Well, there are various studies that agree on the intervention of the following variables:

Relationships with ups and downs. There are communication difficulties between them and an imbalance in the balance of power. Conflictive relationships with the extended family. For example, they do not ask grandparents for help when they need someone to take care of the children.Poor or even non-existent social relationships of caregivers. There is no contact with neighbors and/or friends and they are resistant when it comes to asking for help. No adult assumes responsibility for household chores and they are usually carried out by one of the minors.Living in small spaces where safety and hygiene are deficient. In most homes, important services such as hot water are missing. Inadequate parenting habits, attention and child care. Parents are not clear about what their children’s needs are, the perception towards them is negative, there is hardly any communication between them and they do not spend time with the minors.Educational level of caregivers/parents basically low. Parents have barely completed any education and do not show interest in their children in this area. The employment situation of caregivers/parents is usually unstable. Although the parents are working, these are sporadic jobs that do not generate any satisfaction.Parental history of lack of protection: at least one of the caregivers has been a victim of abandonment situations during their childhood. It is common for them to be reticent when talking about their childhood.

In short, emotional neglect is a very complex problem for which many factors must be taken into account. That does not mean that, despite its complexity, it is not urgent to attend to it. On the contrary, It has been observed that the long-term consequences in these children can be even more serious than in the case of physical abuse.

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