Truancy and Child Abuse relationship

In many children around the world, truancy and child violence have increased. There are many families dealing with such cases and this has especially become a problem in children's development in many areas. Cognitive, mental, physical, social and moral spheres are impacted when children experience truancy and child abuse. Statistics indicate that 3 million children suffer from child violence truancy.
Truancy is thus a deliberate act, in which a student establishes an excused school absence. For example, these children have no serious reason to hold them out of school by medical practitioners.Child abuse on the other hand, is a psychological, physical, and sexual maltreatment of children. As such, a child is neglected by parents or caregivers to an extent they suffer severely. There is a vivid relationship between truancy and child abuse, the relationship is exponentially equal in that the increase in one, affects the other. The present study will examine the effects of child abuse and how it’s related to truancy among the children. This will include emotional, psychological, sexual, physical, social, and behavioural influences that are contributed by witnessing violence against children. Research relating to this issue will be analysed to access the available information and create a synthesis of what needs to be done to avert the issue. The negative effects will show a correlation between truancy and child abuse. Literature ReviewCases of exposure of children to child abuse and truancy have been well documented over time. However, the impact and the intensity of child abuse to spark severe effects associated with truancy are yet to be extensively studied. While most studies aim at studying truancy and child abuse separately, the long term effects of child abuse which shows a link to truancy has not been explored. Fry et al. (2017) studied the connection between child neglect, abuse and their development in school. The study aimed at establishing the violent and severe treatment undergo at home when with their parents and their replication in school life. Indeed, most children are affected by child abuse and this has affected their behaviour in school. The study involving 150 participants revealed that the exposure to child abuse acts such as emotional, psychological, and social maltreatment amounted to negative effect on children thus missing out of school. This indicated that emotional and psychological stability of school children was severely affected leading to adaptation of violent character that made them controllable. In this study, child abuse referred to cases such as sexual harassment, exploitation, emotional abuse, and physical torture. Fry et al. (2017) concluded that child abuse at home led to high chances of children missing out of school deliberately. Dargis, Newman, & Koenigs (2016) studied the attitudinal and behavioural factors of truant children and exposure to child abuse history. The study aimed at showing whether the relationship existed between truant children and the exposure to child maltreatment. Using an experimental approach, 26 students who have undergone cases of child abuse were used. The results indicated that children who were exposed to child abuse were often absent from class or school without a concrete reason. The study focused on those children who suffered mistreatment either sexually or exploitation from the people they stay with. Indeed, negative effects which includes emotional, mental, social, and physical development were harmed which made many of the students to opt out of school. In a systematic review by Rocque et al. (2017), the effects of witnessing child abuse and truancy were addressed. Using the literature materials from the year 2000 to 2010, the behaviour exhibited by the victims of child abuse which included not performing well in school, violent behaviour, drug abuse, and more importantly truancy. It was concluded that there was a significant difference between children who were exposed to child abuse and those who were treated properly. The systematic review further emphasized that truancy was an open effect of child abuse despite victims having other severe effects that may be related to health. Referring to Merrick et al. (2015), the systematic review suggested that the performance of children and their constant presence in school (class) was drawn from good care and treatment accorded to them. In this regard, social pressures and emotional instability coupled with aggressive character and truancy were indiscipline cases that manifested as a result of poor child treatment at home (child abuse). Hagborg, Berglund, & Fahlke (2017) also sought to establish whether there was a relationship between truancy and child violence. The analysis of this indicated that school children are affected emotionally and physically which affects their concentration span in class. The students in such a scenario gets a problem with cognitive development and thus loses taste to be in class as a result of clogged minds of torture and social stigma. Also, the study indicated that the social stigma especially as a result of sexual abuse and exploitation severely isolates the child from class or other children. This agrees with studies on child victimization showing that children exposed to violent behaviour at home suffered serious mental degradation and consequently developed warped social and education character. These behaviour shows a synch between child abuse and class performance with in such victims was lower than other children in the same class. Findings and Analysis of the RelationshipConsidering the results of a number of researchers, truancy is a weird character that affects majority of students in many countries across the globe. The research indicated that majority if children developed mental, physical, and emotional injuries from their parents and caregivers. Such cases of injuries affected the social and education of the children leading to deliberate absenteeism from school. As such, other students developed violent and aggressive behaviour out of the child maltreatment at their homes. The physical, sexual, and emotional maltreatment led to a change in the way of life and performance of the school children who develop a shift in attitude. They end up developing a negative attitude towards their teachers and colleagues, thus opting to stay away from school and class work. The prevalence of this behaviour has its genesis from the psychological torture emanating from the way children are harassed and abused from their homes (Hagborg, Berglund, & Fahlke, 2017). Also, child abuse as an act that distorts the cognitive growth and psychological being of the children has severe effects on children. In this regard, child abuse which revolves around physical, emotional, sexual, and exploitation abuses. These abuses are empirically related to the children school attendance and performance which negatively gets severe to an extent of being truancy. It’s imperative to know that school attendance just like performance of children is linked to the emotional and social pressure stabilities. Which such, emotional and social stability starts from the way children grow up. When children are poorly assaulted and abused in all forms, they become aggressive and negatively radical. Therefore, this clearly gives a relationship between truancy and child abuse. Increase in cases of child abuse affects children drastically and consequently school attendance and behaviour which is the basis of truancy. Therefore, T α CWhere, T= Truancy, C= Child abuse, α = proportionality sign which indicates that Truancy (T) is directly proportional to child abuse (C) (Fry et al., 2017).ConclusionEvidence from this study has led to a number of researchers to conclude that child abuse has a negative effect on children’s performance in school and it leads to truancy. Also, the involvement of children on parent’s violence at home equally affects them severely. It’s vivid that there is a close correlation between child abuse and truancy. In this view, it would be significant that effects of child abuse on children’s performance and school attendance gains support from the agencies and education policies across the globe. This will help curb instances of truancy at school and elevate students’ performance and understanding. It’s recommended that parents stay close to their children, finding out all the issues affecting their children. Also, counselling services should employed in schools in bid to mentor students who show cases of absenteeism from school most often. This will help in addressing the problems of child abuse. ReferencesDargis, M., Newman, J., & Koenigs, M. (2016). Clarifying the link between childhood abuse history and psychopathic traits in adult criminal offenders. Personality Disorders Theory, Research, and Treatment, 7(3), 221.Fry, D., Fang, X., Elliott, S., Casey, T., Zheng, X., Li, J, & McCluskey, G. (2017). The relationships between violence in childhood and educational outcomes: a global systematic review and meta-analysis. Child Abuse & Neglect.Hagborg, J. M., Berglund, K., & Fahlke, C. (2017). Evidence for a relationship between child maltreatment and absenteeism among high-school students in Sweden. Child Abuse & Neglect.Merrick, M. T., Litrownik, A. J., Margolis, B., Wiley, T. R., Everson, M. D., Dubowitz, H., & English, D. (2015). Sexualized Behaviours Partially Mediate the Link between Maltreatment and Delinquent Behaviours. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24(8), 2217-2228.Rocque, M., Jennings, W. G., Piquero, A. R., Ozkan, T., & Farrington, D. P. (2017). The importance of school attendance: Findings from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development on the Life-Course Effects of Truancy. Crime & Delinquency, 63(5), 592-612.