Week 4: Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development - A brief discussion about my personal experience with domestic violence as a child.

Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another. It is an epidemic affecting individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality or educational background. Violence against women is often accompanied by emotionally abusive and controlling behavior, and thus is part of a systematic pattern of dominance and control. Domestic violence results in physical injury, psychological trauma, and sometimes death. The consequences of domestic violence can cross generations and truly last a lifetime. (http://www.ncadv.org/)

I have alluded to a little bit on this blog about my somewhat challenging upbringing. Domestic violence was present in during my childhood as I witnessed physical, emotional, mental, financial abuse occurring within my parent’s relationship. Growing up as the eldest child, having my little brother there for company helped a lot back then, but it also made it that much more confusing. The roles expected of me such as protector, helpless kid, secret keeper, mini-mommy (as Alex would sometimes call me) were constantly conflicting, causing a lot of stress. Both of my parents assured us kids that we were loved at all times, and I could not understand for a long time why they were saying “sorry” to us kids. I remember thinking “I thought kids just had to be sorry.” All I can really remember thinking about is being functional, keep busy, to get me through it: make sure Alex has what he needs, try to help mom clean up, make dad laugh, never throw away the news paper when they were fighting about jobs, etc. Alex and I were never physically hurt that I can remember, but it was scary. After countless trips around the cycle of violence, the family did what it needed to do to make it stop. My parents split, my dad got help (a lot of help over a lot of time), and Alex and I survived as best we could. We got counseling, I sunk myself in my studies, determined to get away to go to college. When I was eight or nine, my favorite Auntie said to me “School is your ticket out, Sess.” Those words were imprinted on my brain, and ultimately, it was true! I know both my parents feel unbelievable guilt now for what my brother and I were exposed to, but ultimately it, in some ways, accounts for who I have become: A person who will hopefully make the world a better place than she found it!

Though a career in social services, child protection, or as an advocate of victims was not my childhood dream (being a marine biologist was), I am certain that a large part of this decision for my current career of choice has to do with the stress I experienced as a kid. I have a hope to help alleviate it from others now. There are many variations of child maltreatment, abuse, and neglect I could have focused on such as working with disabled or elderly victims, in the medical field, law enforcement, mental health, substance abuse, etc.  However, I chose to become an advocate for child victims. Having firsthand experience, made the training for this field challenging as well because setting boundaries is not a lesson that one can learn from a book or lecture.  

In our studies this week, we learned a little about some of the issues I just described, especially the effects of stress on early childhood development biosocial, cognitively, and psychosocially. Some of these include stunted growth and poor nutrition, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues, and propensity for high-risk behaviors later. For me, keeping my eye on the light at the end of the tunnel was the key for me to cope with the stress. Thinking about tonight, tomorrow, next week, next year, my next teacher, college, own apartment, moving away was the way out for me. Now, having learned about some actual advantages to stress allows me to account for my method of madness. I believe that while kids need a certain amount of stress in their upbringing to develop normal and healthy coping strategies. Now, domestic violence is so prevalent and no child should have to be exposed to it, but less dangerous, low-risk stressors can help kids bounce back and formulate good coping, cooperative, and consistent strategies to stress.

During college, I was fortunate enough to spend a semester abroad in London, England. This part of the world is very special to me, I have even considered moving there at some point (on my Bucket List). It was some of the best time of my life so far. I had never lived in a real city before, and this was my first time outside the US.  Nevertheless, despite its amazing public transportation system, universal health care, lower unemployment rate, rich history, art, cool accents---domestic violence is a very big problem here too.

If we remember three things about Domestic Violence: It is everywhere, affects every type of person, but the kids are the silent victims usually. When people learn about my experience, or question clients of mine about “why didn’t you say anything, do anything, just leave?” there are so many answers. But, this question is still traumatizing a victim because she is again blamed.

Below is some information about domestic violence and it’s affects on children from both England and the US. After you read, check out each website for more information!

In the US: http://www.ncadv.org/

One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime

Historically, someone they knew has most often victimized females.

Most cases of domestic violence are never reported to the police

Witnessing violence between one’s parents or caretakers is the strongest risk factor of transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the next

30% to 60% of perpetrators of intimate partner violence also abuse children in the household

In the UK:    www.nspcc.org.uk/

~29% of women and 18% of men aged 16 to 59 reported that they had experienced one or more types of abuse (non-sexual abuse such as use of physical force, being prevented from having money or seeing friends or being belittled, sexual assault and stalking) at the hands of a current or former partner at some time since age 16.

~Over a quarter (26%) of young adults reported that physical violence sometimes took place between those caring for them during childhood. For 5% this violence was constant or frequent.

~The total cost of domestic violence to services (the criminal justice system, health, social services, housing and civil legal) amounts to £3.1 billion per year, while the loss to the economy is £2.7 billion per year in England and Wales. 'An additional element is the human and emotional cost. Domestic violence leads to pain and suffering that is not counted in the cost of services. This amounts to over £17 billion a year. Including all costs, the total cost of domestic violence for the state, employers and victims is estimated at around £23 billion [per year]'.

What stops children and young people seeking help?

Many children and young people are reluctant to seek help because they feel that they do not have anyone that they can turn to for support. They may have sought help in the past and had a negative experience, which makes them unlikely to do so again.

In an NSPCC study of child maltreatment, only a quarter of the people who had experienced sexual abuse as a child had told anyone at the time. Being unable to tell someone that you are being abused can be very stressful and may leave a vulnerable child at risk of continuing or further abuse.

Young people may not seek help because they feel that they will not be believed. They may feel too embarrassed to talk to an adult about a private or personal problem, or they may be worried that they will not be taken seriously by parents and/or professionals.Children and young people are often reluctant to admit that they have a problem. They may be worried about confidentiality and lack trust in both the people around them (including parents) and in the services provided to help them.

Through trials, tribulations, including stress. I consider my experiances as priceless resources as an advocate!

Week 2: Children's Development & Public Health-A Multicontextual Issue

Many facets of public health are particularly interesting to me, and more importantly, vital to the population of young children. This week I chose to learn more about and discuss Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS. Berger defines SIDS as “a situation in which a seemingly healthy infant, at least 2 months of age, suddenly stops breathing and dies unexpectedly while asleep” (Berger, 2009).This topic is particularly meaningful for me because of a professional experience that I had when entering the field of working with children and families. In 2008, I began working as an emergency response team specialist, working cases in collaboration with Child Protective Services. It was my first on-call shift (EVER), and I was called out to a home where the family had recently moved to the area (2 Parents, a 5 year old, and her infant brother). That afternoon, the baby had died in the parents’ bed from “unknown reasons.” While on the phone taking the referral, I remember the investigator saying, “They are calling it SIDS for now.” The case also involved allegations of domestic violence. The parents denied co-sleeping with the infant reporting that he was healthy, but the 5 year old reported co-sleeping behavior. I was called in to link the parents with resources such as bereavement counseling, financial assistance, domestic violence services, childcare, etc. while the investigation ensued. The protective investigator, being overwhelmed and busy with the infant/evidence, told the family that in fact I was a bereavement counselor and was referred to come to the home to help notify their 5 year old about where her baby brother went and why he was not coming home. Not knowing how or why the child had died obviously made this a daunting task. On the drive home from this case, I remember thinking to myself, that SIDS is such a controversial issue! What if the parents were in a dispute and the baby got hurt in some unobvious way? What if they rolled over and suffocated him? I thought, “there has to be more to it.” Due to my temporary engagement with the families I serve, knowing the outcome and/or explanations of cases is often left unknown.

The rates of SIDS has decreased over the past 10-20 years due to more research and education regarding infants sleep behaviors, improved public health resources, etc. and how to use this information to decrease risk. However, over time, across cultures with different levels of access to resources, SIDS has had varied prevalence on mortality rates. There is a lot of research as to why Asian culture tends to have the lowest SIDS prevalence (Berger, 2009). I read a study done in Australia about Thai women who had immigrated there, but kept their cultural practices regarding pregnancy, and infant child rearing from their original countries where SIDS is not as common. According to the article, “Asian peoples and migrants from Asia have a lower incidence of SIDS than those of other nationalities” (Rice & Naksook, 1998). Some of these practices include co-sleeping, placing infants on their side or backs to sleep, rituals to ward away evil spirits like chants with monks, ceremonies promoting spiritual protection, refraining from taking the child out of the home during the first weeks, swaddling in several layers of clothes (Rice & Naksook, 1998). This information is interesting because some of these practices are exactly what is being taught not to do with infants to prevent SIDS in the first place! The study stated that while learning about these cultural beliefs and trying to understand the implications regarding SIDS, “Asian infants were cared for in a consistently rich sensory environment which helped to prevent SIDS” (Rice & Naksook, 1998). While it can be debated as to the degree that some of these rituals can scientifically be linked to prevention, in this study, and I agree that “cultural beliefs and practices in any culture function to provide protection and to reduce negative outcomes for the participants” (Rice & Naksook, 1998). “The practices used by Thai parents are a fruitful source of ideas and hypotheses which could be further investigated in our efforts to reduce infant deaths” (Rice & Naksook, 1998).

Understanding the cultural beliefs and practices of infant rearing, especially regarding SIDS is going to influence my professional career. Because co-sleeping, swaddling, immunizing, etc. varies culturally, SIDS from a child protection point of view is a very grey issue. On the one hand, these behaviors can be neglectful to a baby. On the other hand, they may also be protective. Like so many other issues associated with the field of children and families as well as public health in general, more research and cultural understanding is needed.

Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth

            Publishers.

Rice, P.L., Naksook, C. (1998). Child rearing and cultural beliefs and practices amongst Thai mothers in

            Victoria, Australia: Implications for the sudden infant death syndrome. Journal of Paediatrics and

            Child Health, 34(4), 320-324.

http://www.sids.org/ This is a great resource about SIDS and prevention. Take a peek and share!

Week 1-Early Childhood Development--Childbirth––In My Life and Around the World (Haiti 2010)

It is exciting to begin this second class with Walden, Early Childhood Development. I am very excited that even in the first week, we are learning about development, and not only in the US, but will be gaining an international perspective. As someone who LOVES to travel and learn about other cultures, this is right up my ally!

I do not remember anything about my own birth. I do have a detailed account of the evening though, from both my parents. I remember growing up, for some reason, the story was very comforting to know about. Maybe it is because much of my parents marriage was unhappy, knowing and hearing about the same story from both of them as they describe it as “one of the best nights of my life” is reassuring in a way, especially since I do not have children of my own yet.

I was born when both of my parents were still in the Marines. They met, were married, and I was born on a cold, rainy night in a hospital on base in North Carolina at Camp Lejeune at 8:23pm. My mom says that my dad was supportive during the process, but that her love and hate for him came and went with every contraction due to the pain. My mother describes my birth as long, but uncomplicated. She was excited because she was hoping that we would have the same birthday. Alas, this was not the case as I came into the world almost exactly 8 hrs before her birthday. I have always found this very cool since though only eight hrs difference, we have different zodiac signs. AND, I was born on the longest night of the year, December 21, the winter solstice!

We stayed in the hospital for most of the next day. My maternal grandparents drove all night from Massachusetts (I was their first grandchild.), and were in NC by the next morning. My first photo in the hospital, in my opinion I look Asian, but that is not saying much because I am an interracial child, so then and ever since, I have been told I look like various nationalities/ethnicitys. My mother says that she tried to breast feed me, but ultimately I was given formula for most of my infancy.

I chose this example of a birthing experience because, I have not had children of my own yet, and have not taken part of anyone else’s birthing experience. I believe that a child’s birth is a very important time for both parents and child alike. When working with new parents in the field professionally, I am amazed at how quickly bonds are formed, as well as how forming those bonds can be especially challenging right after birth. Birth is a very important part of the field and domain of child development because the experience sets the stage for how the child will adapt out of the womb. For example, a child who received adequate prenatal care, educated and prepared parents, engaged and supportive health care staff at birth, will have an extraordinarily different start to life than one whom for example, was exposed to drugs prenatally and therefore addicted (as well as other complications), or born in the midst of a natural disaster.  Thinking about how birthing differs in every case began a stream of thought about how other countries treat the event of childbirth. It makes me think about how fortunate my birth was, and how the experiences of my parents are vastly different than others whom may not have access to the resources and support my family had at the time.

Child Birth in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake:Giving Life in a Land Overflowing With Pain

I read an article from the New York Times about the struggles of mothers’ forced to give life to babies in midst of the devastation of the earthquake. The article describes women standing in line to give birth in tents among the debris, “flies were their roommates, bunching like crows on the intravenous drips, and as for the joy found in most maternity wards, that had been lost to the cracked earth” (Cave, 2010). Further, the article describes complications such as still births (it tells about a woman waiting longer than a day to have the child taken out of her womb after being told it was dead), amputations, and cerebral palsy. It discusses the thousands of women who did not know where they were going to do with their newborns or where their next meal would be from. The article further describes how medical staffs, many whom were volunteers, sometimes just did not show up to work.

A natural disaster like this one in Haiti last year is traumatic enough for the general population. When comparing it to my own, well, can a comparison really even be made? My mother had a comfortable room, a team of medical staff and family, as well as access to other supports after I was born. She did not have to wonder where she and I would sleep that night. She did not have to worry about the water she drank and bathed me with or other issues with which those in Haiti, even today are still struggling.

Cave, D. (2010, January 29). Giving life in a land overflowing with pain. The New York Times, p. A8.

Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/world/americas/30birth.html?pagewanted=1 on May 7, 2011.