Parental Neglect: Causes, Types and Consequences

An overview of parental neglect, a type of abuse that occurs in the family.

When we think of abuse, physical violence always comes to mind, but there are much more subtle forms of abuse, sometimes even unconsciously.

This is the case of parental neglect.. Let's discover what this concept consists of and what variants can be observed.

What is parental neglect

Parental or child neglect is a form of mistreatment of the parents (or tutors) towards the children by a lack of care in their basic needs, or a bad in their basic needs, or a bad management of them. To be considered as such, it must occur continuously over time. That is, we could not speak of parental negligence when there is an isolated episode, unless it is of considerable gravity.

Our society has made great progress in the eradication of violence in the education of children, but there is still much to be done with respect to parental negligence, which represents one of the greatest problems of lack of protection of children, and there is a great lack of knowledge of the extent of its consequences.

Children are absolutely dependent on their caregivers, and have a series of needs to be met.They have a series of needs at various levels, both physiological and psychological and social, and they must be covered in an adequate manner, always corresponding to each stage of development, so that the child can develop normally and without any type of deficiency.

A neglectful parent would be characterized by one or more of these behaviors:

• You are unable to detect your child's needs.
• You consider that your own needs are more important than the child's needs.
• He is mistaken about what he considers to be the child's true needs.

Of course, parental neglect can lead to a series of consequences that can extend into adulthood, so it is not a problem.Therefore, it is not a minor problem, but an issue to be tackled in order to avoid any repercussions that may affect this person in the medium or long term and that may need, for example, a deep psychological therapy to be solved. Later on we will delve into some of the possible sequelae that may be experienced.

Causes of parental neglect

Parental neglect can be caused by a number of very different factors, related to the parents or guardians of the children. Let's see a classification of them.

1. Addictions

In cases where the father, mother or both maintain a continuous consumption of intoxicating substances, either alcohol or drugs, it is a high indicator of a potential case of parental neglect.

This occurs even before the child is born, during pregnancy.This happens even before the child is born, during pregnancy, since the harmful substances consumed by the mother would pass into the bloodstream and from there to the fetus, which could cause irreversible sequelae.

Once born, the lack of care would continue, as the parents would be incapacitated a large part of the time due to their state of drunkenness, which would make it impossible to adequately cover the child's needs.

2. Mental disorders

On other occasions It may be the case that one of the parents suffers from a psychological pathology that affects his or her perception of reality, e.g. by means of psychotic outbursts.for example by means of psychotic outbreaks, or their cognitive and emotional capacity may be impaired in some way.

This would be another cause that would be directly affecting adults in their ability to care for their children properly.

3. Absence of parental skills

Sometimes there is not a direct conditioning factor, but due to different circumstances, even for having been themselves victims of child neglect as children, certain parents do not have the necessary skills to exercise as parents in a correct way, neglecting even the most basic tasks.

In such cases, children would be provided with only survival care, without covering any additional needs, which are also fundamental for a child's development.which are also fundamental for a complete development.

4. Very large families

In families at risk of exclusion that also have a large number of children, there may be cases of parental neglect, as the older children are sometimes required to perform adult tasks in relation to the care of their younger siblings. older children are sometimes required to perform adult tasks in relation to the care of their younger siblings, which should obviously be the responsibility of an adult.which should obviously be the responsibility of an adult.

In this way, the older children suffer from parental negligence as they are not treated as children but as adults, and the younger children suffer from it as their needs are only partially covered, since logically the care provided by the siblings is not the same as that which should be provided by the parents.

5. Lack of resources

In line with the previous point, there are family units where economic resources are very limited. and sometimes the social protection offered by the State is not enough to cover their needs, so that adults do not have the capacity to meet their obligations to their children.

Types of parental neglect

The problem of parental neglect is varied, and we can classify it according to the dimension in which the lack of coverage of needs is framed. This would be a proposed classification.

1. Physical neglect

This category would include all the behaviors that in some way are impeding or harming the correct physical development of the child.The range of options is very wide, starting with the feeding of the child, which must be sufficient and adequate for his age and specific needs.

It would also be the failure to provide the child with clothing suitable for each season, so that he/she is protected from heat and cold or inclement weather. Likewise, not protecting your child from the sun in summer with sun protection, sunscreen, etc.

Likewise, everything related to hygiene and a correct health control, taking care to cure their scratches and wounds, and attending punctually to pediatric appointments.It is also important to take care of their scratches and wounds, and to go punctually to the corresponding pediatric appointments for vaccinations, check-ups or any medical incident that needs to be solved. In fact, it is in the medical context, as well as in the school context, where most cases of parental negligence are detected, when doctors find clear indicators that the child is not being well cared for and bring it to the attention of the competent authorities, as is their duty.

Of course, any other lack of protective measures in each relevant context, for example the lack of a special car seat and/or seat belt when traveling in a car, would constitute a clear cause of parental negligence of a physical type.

Psychological neglect

The psychological needs of the child must be properly met. A form of neglect in this regard would be not adequately stimulating their cognitive abilities through games and activities appropriate to their stage of development, or even ignoring them. indicated for his evolutionary stage, or even ignoring him.

Likewise, depriving him of proper socialization with his peers (playing with other children) would also be preventing the optimal development of his identity and psychological functions.

Educational neglect

Obviously, it would also it would be a clear negligence not to provide the minor with a formal education, even more so since this is compulsory by law and also free of charge, so that it would also be a crime.It would also be a crime.

Education is one of the primary rights of the child, and its benefits are of incalculable value: the acquisition of skills and knowledge, psychological development, learning interpersonal skills, etc. If we deprive the child of all this, we will be greatly hindering his or her development and subsequent transition to adulthood.

Consequences

We already know the different causes and possible types of parental neglect that we can find, but equally important are the consequences that this phenomenon can trigger in the child. equally important are the consequences that this phenomenon can trigger in the child, as we anticipated at the beginning.as we anticipated at the beginning.

The consequences can range from physical problems, whether due to poor nutrition, unattended ailments ... to a lack of development due to a lack of stimuli and education appropriate for their age. But let's go deeper into the psychological consequences that can be triggered by continued parental neglect.

Attachment

Attachment is the emotional bond established between the child and the adult during upbringing. It can be of the following types:

• Secure: the baby is able to explore the environment as he/she feels protected by the support figure.
• Anxious: it is difficult for them to move away from the support figure, so exploration is very limited.
• Avoidant: they do not have a good bond with the support figure, so they may move away from it.
• Disorganized: combines the two previous ones, behaving in an erratic and changing manner.

Logically, the secure attachment is the optimal one and to which all parenting guidelines should be directed, but in situations of parental neglect other types are likely to develop, especially avoidant and disorganized.

The possible consequences that insecure attachment can have on the child when he/she becomes an adult are many and varied. They may have problems regulating their emotions, experience difficulties in social activities, be emotionally dependent on someone in an unhealthy way, have a negative view of themselves (low self-esteem and self-concept), suffer from behavioral problems, and more.

This does not mean that the children of parents who exercise parental negligence are condemned to a life marked by these facts and to suffer from psychological disorders.Not all of them develop them, and if they do, they can always undergo attachment repair therapies, which work very satisfactorily, but obviously it is preferable to eliminate the problem before it is generated, since we have already seen the extent of the consequences and their maintenance over time.

Bibliographical references:

• Pérez-Muga, O. (2007). Neglect: discrimination and lack of protection of children. Psychology without borders.
• Marvin, R., Cooper, G., Hoffman, K. (2002). The Circle of Security project: Attachment-based intervention with caregiver-pre-school child dyads. Attachment & human Development. Taylor & Francis.
• Peña, M.F. (2017). Apego seguro y desarrollo del infante en poblaciones vulnerables. Avances en psicología. Unifé.