Psychological abuse can be as harmful to kids as
physical
CTV National News
A report says psychological damage can harm children just as much as physical
abuse. Medical specialist Avis Favaro explains.
Jul. 30, 2012
Though the scars of psychological abuse may not be as immediately visible as a
bruise or a broken bone, a new statement by a leading journal in children’s
medicine says psychological abuse can be just as damaging to a child’s health as
physical abuse.
The statement co-authored by Dr. Harriet MacMillan of McMaster University in
Hamilton, Ont. and published Monday in the medical journal Pediatrics, says that
psychological abuse may be the most challenging and pervasive form of abuse
and neglect.
Although the phenomenon was described in scientific journals more than 25 years
ago, it continues to go under-recognized and under-reported, said MacMillan, a
pediatrician and psychiatrist at McMaster.
Psychological abuse includes acts such as belittling, terrorizing, exploiting,
emotional unresponsiveness and corrupting a child to the point that their well-
being is at risk, said MacMillan.
"For the most part we are talking about chronic, repetitive types of parental
behaviour," MacMillan said in an interview with The Canadian Press. “Any
caregiver can commit acts of psychological abuse or, through what we call acts of
omission, psychological neglect."
MacMillan stressed that the statement is referring to extreme behaviour, and gave
the example of a mother leaving an infant alone in a crib all day or a father getting
his teenager involved in a drug abuse habit.
“We are talking about extremes and the likelihood of harm, or risk of harm,
resulting from the kinds of behavior that make a child feel worthless, unloved or
unwanted,” MacMillan said in a statement.
So while yelling at a child to put on their running shoes for the eighth time is not
psychological abuse, persistent verbal abuse may be, she said.
“Yelling at a child every day and giving the message that the child is a terrible
person, and that the parent regrets bringing the child into this world, is an example
of potentially very harmful form of interaction,” MacMillan said in the statement.
The statement says that emotional abuse hinders a child’s development and has
been linked to developmental and educational problems, socialization problems
and disruptive behaviour.
MacMillan says that while this form of abuse can occur in all different types of
families, it is more common in households that experience multiple stresses
including family conflict, mental health issues, physical violence, depression and
substance abuse.
According to the statement, psychological abuse is especially harmful during the
first three years of a child’s life.
Dr. Marcella Donaruma of the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston welcomed
Monday’s statement and told The Canadian Press that children exposed to
psychological abuse have an increased risk in adulthood to certain physical health
problems including heart disease and certain types of cancers.
They also have an increased risk of abusing drugs and have an overall diminished
life span in comparison to kids who did not experience psychological abuse, she
said.
The statement notes that while there are no definitive statistics on the prevalence
of kids who experience psychological abuse, large studies conducted in the U.K.
and the U.S. found around eight to nine per cent of women and four per cent of
men reported exposure to severe mental abuse during childhood.
The statement says pediatricians need to be sensitive to the possibility of
psychological abuse in their patients and take time to speak to a young patient
alone if they suspect any form of emotional mistreatment.
It also urges for increased collaboration among pediatric, psychiatric and child
protective services to help children at risk of sustained mental abuse.
With files from The Canadian Press
Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/psychological-abuse-can-be-as-harmful-
to-kids-as-physical-1.897465#ixzz23MaOE2ov
physical
CTV National News
A report says psychological damage can harm children just as much as physical
abuse. Medical specialist Avis Favaro explains.
Jul. 30, 2012
Though the scars of psychological abuse may not be as immediately visible as a
bruise or a broken bone, a new statement by a leading journal in children’s
medicine says psychological abuse can be just as damaging to a child’s health as
physical abuse.
The statement co-authored by Dr. Harriet MacMillan of McMaster University in
Hamilton, Ont. and published Monday in the medical journal Pediatrics, says that
psychological abuse may be the most challenging and pervasive form of abuse
and neglect.
Although the phenomenon was described in scientific journals more than 25 years
ago, it continues to go under-recognized and under-reported, said MacMillan, a
pediatrician and psychiatrist at McMaster.
Psychological abuse includes acts such as belittling, terrorizing, exploiting,
emotional unresponsiveness and corrupting a child to the point that their well-
being is at risk, said MacMillan.
"For the most part we are talking about chronic, repetitive types of parental
behaviour," MacMillan said in an interview with The Canadian Press. “Any
caregiver can commit acts of psychological abuse or, through what we call acts of
omission, psychological neglect."
MacMillan stressed that the statement is referring to extreme behaviour, and gave
the example of a mother leaving an infant alone in a crib all day or a father getting
his teenager involved in a drug abuse habit.
“We are talking about extremes and the likelihood of harm, or risk of harm,
resulting from the kinds of behavior that make a child feel worthless, unloved or
unwanted,” MacMillan said in a statement.
So while yelling at a child to put on their running shoes for the eighth time is not
psychological abuse, persistent verbal abuse may be, she said.
“Yelling at a child every day and giving the message that the child is a terrible
person, and that the parent regrets bringing the child into this world, is an example
of potentially very harmful form of interaction,” MacMillan said in the statement.
The statement says that emotional abuse hinders a child’s development and has
been linked to developmental and educational problems, socialization problems
and disruptive behaviour.
MacMillan says that while this form of abuse can occur in all different types of
families, it is more common in households that experience multiple stresses
including family conflict, mental health issues, physical violence, depression and
substance abuse.
According to the statement, psychological abuse is especially harmful during the
first three years of a child’s life.
Dr. Marcella Donaruma of the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston welcomed
Monday’s statement and told The Canadian Press that children exposed to
psychological abuse have an increased risk in adulthood to certain physical health
problems including heart disease and certain types of cancers.
They also have an increased risk of abusing drugs and have an overall diminished
life span in comparison to kids who did not experience psychological abuse, she
said.
The statement notes that while there are no definitive statistics on the prevalence
of kids who experience psychological abuse, large studies conducted in the U.K.
and the U.S. found around eight to nine per cent of women and four per cent of
men reported exposure to severe mental abuse during childhood.
The statement says pediatricians need to be sensitive to the possibility of
psychological abuse in their patients and take time to speak to a young patient
alone if they suspect any form of emotional mistreatment.
It also urges for increased collaboration among pediatric, psychiatric and child
protective services to help children at risk of sustained mental abuse.
With files from The Canadian Press
Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/psychological-abuse-can-be-as-harmful-
to-kids-as-physical-1.897465#ixzz23MaOE2ov
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San Diego
Education Report
Education Report
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| SDER |
Why This Website
Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz v. Maura
Larkins defamation
SDCOE
CVESD
Castle Park
Elementary School
Law Enforcement
CTA
CVE
Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz
Silence is Golden
Schools and Violence
Office Admin Hearings
Larkins OAH Hearing
Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz v. Maura
Larkins defamation
SDCOE
CVESD
Castle Park
Elementary School
Law Enforcement
CTA
CVE
Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz
Silence is Golden
Schools and Violence
Office Admin Hearings
Larkins OAH Hearing
Abuse of children
No need for Zachary Turner to
die: death review
CBC News
Oct 04, 2006
The social services system in
Newfoundland and Labrador failed a
13-month-old boy, who drowned
along with his mother in a 2003
murder-suicide, a review has found.
Zachary Turner died when Shirley
Turner, 42, clutched him to her body and
jumped into Conception Bay, several
kilometres outside of St. John's.
"Nowhere did I find any ongoing
assessment of the safety needs of the
children," coroner Peter Markesteyn,
referring both to Zachary and Turner's
daughter from another relationship, wrote
in a three-volume report released
Wednesday.
Shirley Turner with her son Zachary:
A child death review has found that
officials gave more consideration to
her needs than to his. ((CBC))
Turner, a general practitioner, fled to
Newfoundland after her estranged lover
Andrew Bagby, 28, was shot to death in a
Pennsylvania parking lot on Nov. 5, 2001.
Turner had obtained bail from the
Newfoundland Supreme Court, and gave
birth to Zachary,Bagby's son, while
fighting extradition to the United States to
stand trial for the murder of Bagby. About
two months before the murder-suicide,a
judge cleared the way for Turner's
extradition.
Responding to Markesteyn's child death
review, Community Services Minister Tom
Osborne said the provincial government
accepted the report and would examine
the 29 recommendations to see which
ones could be acted on immediately.
Headded that the province had already
addressed someof the issuesraised by
Zachary's death.
Serious flaws pinpointed
Markesteyn, based in Winnipeg, found
fundamental flaws through child
protection system that dealt with the
Turner case in the months leading up to
the murder-suicide.
In finding that Zachary's death could
have been prevented, he determined
poor communication between officials
contributed to the sequence of events
that triggered the tragedy.
Darlene Neville, Newfoundland and
Labrador's child and youth
advocate,called immediately for an
external review of the child, youth and
family services program.
Neville, who said she is concerned that
other children in the province are in
similar circumstances, described the
results of the investigation as shocking.
Shirley Turner was fighting
extradition to the U.S. to stand trial
for the murder of Andrew Bagby,
Zachary's father. ((CBC))
"The fact that a whole organization
could be so out of touch with the
reality everyone else was wondering
about is baffling," she told reporters.
Neville said two things were evident
from reading the report. "One:
Zachary Turner's death was
preventable. And two: Zachary was in
his mother's care when he should
not have been."
Markesteyn found that
officials, who were working
on the presumption of
Turner's innocence,were
more concerned about the
welfare of the woman than for
her infant.
Turner frequently asked for, and
received, help from social workers, with
dozens of visits made on her behalf.
Neville said she found it difficult that no
one was putting Zachary's interests first.
"Given the amount of resources that were
put in to meeting Dr. Shirley Turner's
needs and demands, and what she
identified as necessary, if those same
resources had been taken and put in to
assessing what Zachary's needs were
and how could his rights would be best
protected, I would suggest there would be
a strong likelihood we would have had a
different outcome," Neville said.
Markesteyn, who was asked to review the
case in 2005, could not delve into an
issue pressed by the Bagby family:
how Turner was able to obtain bail
from the Newfoundland Supreme
Court.
Courts beyond mandate
David Bagby, Zachary's grandfather, said
the report is an important step but he is
disappointed the issue of the bail process
could not have been addressed
thoroughly in the review.
"My focus is bail," he said adding
that a suspect in a brutal crime
shouldn't be "walking around free so
they could do it again. I've said it a
hundred times." Bagby travelled from
California forthe release of the report.
Markesteyn nonetheless raised question
after question about how bail was
granted to Turner, particularly about the
actions of federal government counsel.
As well, herecommended that a separate
review of the justice system's handling of
the casebe launched.
Withthe social services system,
Markesteyn sharply criticized a
lack of critical analysis and
sound judgment among officials
who dealt with Turner while she
was on bail.
Markesteyn found that social workers
worked co-operatively with the review and
that "the impression they conveyed was
they believed they had done everything
they could, given their legislative and
policy mandate, to assist the children's
mother, Dr. Turner, in caring for her
children."
'An obvious difference of opinion'
He also noted"an obvious difference of
opinion" between case workers and their
managers, who recognized a possible
need for long-term intervention. Their
concerns, he wrote, were not
communicated to frontline staff.
Turner's daughter, who stayed with her
mother for periods of time during which
she was on bail, also suffered in terms of
her educational development, as well as
from guilt over her mother's and
half-brother's deaths, Markesteyn said.
The girl is in the care of other family
members.
As well, he found a lack of accountability
within the social services system.
"Yes, individuals were upset and sad
when Zachary was murdered, but what
was really confusing was the
limited sense of accountability in
terms of the hierarchy and lines
of authority," he wrote.
Markesteyn also critiqued the office of
the child and youth advocatefor its
handling ofTurner's case while she was
still alive. He suggested an intervention
shouldhave been made.
"To me, it is most relevant that there had
been considerable media exposure and
resulting knowledge of the Pennsylvania
criminal charges whichDr. Turner was
facing," he wrote.
Met at medical school
Turner had been married twice before
meeting Bagby while both were medical
students at Memorial University in the
1990s.
Markesteyn's research,which involved
interviews and reading scores of
documents about Turner,found
numerous cases indicating that shehad
personality and emotional problems,
including during her medical training at
Memorial.
A supervisor there described her as
"putting on a show" for superiors, and
found she was confrontational,
manipulative and unwilling to address
negative evaluations. Markesteyn noted
that the Turner experience led to
changes in how residents are evaluated.
Among other things, the report found
Turner had ingested drugs in either an
attempted suicide or what
Markesteynsaid could have beena
"suicide gesture." In a 1999 letter sent to
a would-be paramour before she
ingested prescription drugs, she
described herself: "I am not evil, just sick."
Markesteyn also found that Turner had
been under the care of at least four
psychiatrists during her lifetime.
die: death review
CBC News
Oct 04, 2006
The social services system in
Newfoundland and Labrador failed a
13-month-old boy, who drowned
along with his mother in a 2003
murder-suicide, a review has found.
Zachary Turner died when Shirley
Turner, 42, clutched him to her body and
jumped into Conception Bay, several
kilometres outside of St. John's.
"Nowhere did I find any ongoing
assessment of the safety needs of the
children," coroner Peter Markesteyn,
referring both to Zachary and Turner's
daughter from another relationship, wrote
in a three-volume report released
Wednesday.
Shirley Turner with her son Zachary:
A child death review has found that
officials gave more consideration to
her needs than to his. ((CBC))
Turner, a general practitioner, fled to
Newfoundland after her estranged lover
Andrew Bagby, 28, was shot to death in a
Pennsylvania parking lot on Nov. 5, 2001.
Turner had obtained bail from the
Newfoundland Supreme Court, and gave
birth to Zachary,Bagby's son, while
fighting extradition to the United States to
stand trial for the murder of Bagby. About
two months before the murder-suicide,a
judge cleared the way for Turner's
extradition.
Responding to Markesteyn's child death
review, Community Services Minister Tom
Osborne said the provincial government
accepted the report and would examine
the 29 recommendations to see which
ones could be acted on immediately.
Headded that the province had already
addressed someof the issuesraised by
Zachary's death.
Serious flaws pinpointed
Markesteyn, based in Winnipeg, found
fundamental flaws through child
protection system that dealt with the
Turner case in the months leading up to
the murder-suicide.
In finding that Zachary's death could
have been prevented, he determined
poor communication between officials
contributed to the sequence of events
that triggered the tragedy.
Darlene Neville, Newfoundland and
Labrador's child and youth
advocate,called immediately for an
external review of the child, youth and
family services program.
Neville, who said she is concerned that
other children in the province are in
similar circumstances, described the
results of the investigation as shocking.
Shirley Turner was fighting
extradition to the U.S. to stand trial
for the murder of Andrew Bagby,
Zachary's father. ((CBC))
"The fact that a whole organization
could be so out of touch with the
reality everyone else was wondering
about is baffling," she told reporters.
Neville said two things were evident
from reading the report. "One:
Zachary Turner's death was
preventable. And two: Zachary was in
his mother's care when he should
not have been."
Markesteyn found that
officials, who were working
on the presumption of
Turner's innocence,were
more concerned about the
welfare of the woman than for
her infant.
Turner frequently asked for, and
received, help from social workers, with
dozens of visits made on her behalf.
Neville said she found it difficult that no
one was putting Zachary's interests first.
"Given the amount of resources that were
put in to meeting Dr. Shirley Turner's
needs and demands, and what she
identified as necessary, if those same
resources had been taken and put in to
assessing what Zachary's needs were
and how could his rights would be best
protected, I would suggest there would be
a strong likelihood we would have had a
different outcome," Neville said.
Markesteyn, who was asked to review the
case in 2005, could not delve into an
issue pressed by the Bagby family:
how Turner was able to obtain bail
from the Newfoundland Supreme
Court.
Courts beyond mandate
David Bagby, Zachary's grandfather, said
the report is an important step but he is
disappointed the issue of the bail process
could not have been addressed
thoroughly in the review.
"My focus is bail," he said adding
that a suspect in a brutal crime
shouldn't be "walking around free so
they could do it again. I've said it a
hundred times." Bagby travelled from
California forthe release of the report.
Markesteyn nonetheless raised question
after question about how bail was
granted to Turner, particularly about the
actions of federal government counsel.
As well, herecommended that a separate
review of the justice system's handling of
the casebe launched.
Withthe social services system,
Markesteyn sharply criticized a
lack of critical analysis and
sound judgment among officials
who dealt with Turner while she
was on bail.
Markesteyn found that social workers
worked co-operatively with the review and
that "the impression they conveyed was
they believed they had done everything
they could, given their legislative and
policy mandate, to assist the children's
mother, Dr. Turner, in caring for her
children."
'An obvious difference of opinion'
He also noted"an obvious difference of
opinion" between case workers and their
managers, who recognized a possible
need for long-term intervention. Their
concerns, he wrote, were not
communicated to frontline staff.
Turner's daughter, who stayed with her
mother for periods of time during which
she was on bail, also suffered in terms of
her educational development, as well as
from guilt over her mother's and
half-brother's deaths, Markesteyn said.
The girl is in the care of other family
members.
As well, he found a lack of accountability
within the social services system.
"Yes, individuals were upset and sad
when Zachary was murdered, but what
was really confusing was the
limited sense of accountability in
terms of the hierarchy and lines
of authority," he wrote.
Markesteyn also critiqued the office of
the child and youth advocatefor its
handling ofTurner's case while she was
still alive. He suggested an intervention
shouldhave been made.
"To me, it is most relevant that there had
been considerable media exposure and
resulting knowledge of the Pennsylvania
criminal charges whichDr. Turner was
facing," he wrote.
Met at medical school
Turner had been married twice before
meeting Bagby while both were medical
students at Memorial University in the
1990s.
Markesteyn's research,which involved
interviews and reading scores of
documents about Turner,found
numerous cases indicating that shehad
personality and emotional problems,
including during her medical training at
Memorial.
A supervisor there described her as
"putting on a show" for superiors, and
found she was confrontational,
manipulative and unwilling to address
negative evaluations. Markesteyn noted
that the Turner experience led to
changes in how residents are evaluated.
Among other things, the report found
Turner had ingested drugs in either an
attempted suicide or what
Markesteynsaid could have beena
"suicide gesture." In a 1999 letter sent to
a would-be paramour before she
ingested prescription drugs, she
described herself: "I am not evil, just sick."
Markesteyn also found that Turner had
been under the care of at least four
psychiatrists during her lifetime.