2. Physical abuse
Physical abuse has many forms for example, severe bruising caused by smacking, a child having broken bones or being burned. Parents may have poor control of their tempers and may hit out at a child and cause injury. Many parents who abuse their children have had poor parenting themselves (an example of poor parenting is given in case study Ellie) and have little idea of how to give their children good physical and emotional care. They may be isolated and find it hard to keep friends who could support them.
Case Study: Ellie
Ellie was born to a 19 year old young mother, Jennifer, who had been in care herself. Jennifer was living with Ellie’s father Akim. He was a young asylum seeker from North Africa and there was no wider family to offer support to the couple.
Ellie was premature and had been in hospital for two months before being discharged to her young parents. Ellie was a fractious baby who needed a lot of attention and her mother had quickly become exhausted from sleepless nights. Akim had little experience of babies and was frustrated and impatient at the attention the baby required. The health visitor arranged for the family to attend a Family Centre for support and, over the months, Ellie seemed to make reasonable progress. Ellie was often in a poor state of cleanliness but, at 11months was beginning to crawl.
When Ellie arrived one day with a severe bruise on her face there were questions about how this had occurred. Jennifer and Akim’s story seemed vague and Ellie was taken to hospital to make sure there was no other injury. Scans showed that Ellie had previously had rib fractures that had healed without attention, as well as an old injury to her arm.
Neither parent accepted responsibility and each blamed the other for the injuries. Ellie was placed with foster carers until the court decided that it was not safe to return Ellie to her parents. The best way to provide for Ellie’s future was an adoptive family. Ellie was 2 years old.
Answer the following questions relating to Ellie’s situation.