Create a new account

It's simple, and free.

Abused Children in Foster Care

A significant number of children enter foster care abused. In some instances, the abuse continues after the child is placed in care. Social services and mental health professionals must be prepared to take a proactive approach to intervention and treatment for abused children in foster care. Today's families in crisis are burdened by a host of acute societal problems including poverty, drugs, teenage pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases. The helping professions have an obligation to ensure the safety of children in the care system.

An understanding of the needs of abused children in foster care is basic to the provision of treatment and intervention. Psychiatric disorders are prevalent among such children. A study in London of adolescents in residential units and living with foster care families found the rate of psychiatric disorders among this group (65 percent) much higher than the rate of psychiatric disorders among the general adolescent population (15 percent). The range of psychiatric problems among the adolescents in the care system included conduct disorder, overanxiety, depression, and unspecified functional psychosis. The authors of the study concluded that these adolescents could be helped with the right type of treatment and intervention: "One of the most worrying findings was that a significant number of adolescents were suffering from severe, potentially treatable psychiatric disorders which had gone undetected" (McCann et al., 1996, p. 1529). Social services professionals must direct their attention and resources to this disadvantaged segment of the population.

Abused children often suffer from some of the same mental and emotional problems as their abusive parents. These problems include bipolar disorder, substance abuse, and fetal alcohol syndrome. These disorders make it difficult for a successful adoption placement to occur. The problems of some children are so severe that adoption plac...

Page 1 of 12 Next >

More on Abused Children in Foster Care...

Loading...
APA     MLA     Chicago
Abused Children in Foster Care. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 13:24, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1681232.html