What is Emotional Abuse? Definition and Prevalence in Australia
Definition of Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse and neglect are critical yet often overlooked issues within child abuse research. Emotional abuse is defined as persistent and harmful interactions between a caregiver and a child that damage the child’s self-esteem, emotional well-being, or psychological development.
Why Emotional Abuse is Hard to Identify
According to Hawkins (2012), “Emotional abuse and emotional neglect are the poor cousins in the child abuse research field. They are perhaps the most difficult of all forms of abuse to quantify and are often discounted as being trivial when compared with the horrors of some forms of physical or sexual abuse” (p. 87). This highlights the challenges in identifying and addressing emotional abuse, because it often lacks physical evidence and is harder to measure.
Prevalence of Emotional Abuse in Australia
In Australia, the influence of emotional abuse is difficult to determine due to inconsistent definitions and reporting practices. According to Tomison and Tucci (2012), there are wide state by state disparities in reported emotional abuse rates, and these differences are likely to reflect definitional variations than actual rate differences. Though these challenges are posed, emotional abuse is considered one of the most common forms of child maltreatment in Australia. Studies indicate that emotional abuse often co-occurs with other forms of abuse, such as physical or sexual abuse, further complicating its identification (Briggs, 2012). Also, emotional abuse is unique in that it underpins much of the harm caused by other forms of abuse, as it often involves betrayal of trust, fear, shame, and anxiety (Hawkins, 2012, p. 87).
Why Emotional Abuse is Underreported
Although emotional abuse is widespread, it has not received the same level of attention as physical or sexual abuse. Hawkins (2012) stated, “Emotional abuse has received far less attention from researchers, clinicians and child protection services than either sexual or physical abuse” (p. 87). This lack of focus contributes to the continued underreporting of emotional abuse cases in Australia.
According to what mentioned above, emotional abuse is a prevalent but little-known type of child abuse in Australia, which is very difficult to handle because of its intangible character and a lack of research. In order to enhance child protection services and guarantee the welfare of impacted youngsters, more work must be done to identify, quantify, and comprehend emotional abuse.