Emotional abuse
Emotional abuse is made up of a series of incidents, over a period of time. Emotional abuse includes any incident which degrades, humiliates, threatens, isolates or controls another person. Most emotional abusers see themselves as being unworthy of love. Emotional abuse will reduce an individual’s quality of life and their self-esteem to the extent that they will be less likely to achieve their full potential.
- Failure to protect from emotional abuse by others
- Forcing an individual to perform tasks which are unsuitable or inhumane
- instinctive withdrawal from a valued activity
- Mental distress caused by threatening or aggressive behaviour or language
- Verbal abuse which include threats, racism, sexism, abuse and being shouted at
P3)
Early identification of abuse would prevent further abuse.
There are many indications of abuse such as:
- Physical abuse such as bruises (unexplained, fingertip burns and cigarette burns) burns, black eyes, slap marks, grip marks and pinch marks.
- Unexplained/suspicious injuries.
- An injury for which the explanation seems suspicious or incompatible.
- An individual describing what appears to be an abusive act relating to them.
- Unsuitable sexual awareness.
- Engaging in sexually open behaviour.
- Having difficulty in making new friends.
- Is prevented from socialising with others.
- Loss of weight
- Depressed, or afraid
- Withdrawal or mood changes
- Unexplained shortage of money
- Changes in mood/behaviour/responsiveness/appetite/sleep patterns/ continence, use of eye contact.
- Attention seeking
- Uninhibited sexual behaviour and/or language,
- Reluctance to undress
- Anxiety
- Evidence of infection or injury in the genital area.
P4) Institutional abuse may include abuse throughout the organisation
- Organisational poor practice resulting in abuse from:
- Poor restraint practices
- Poor feeding techniques
- Lack of choice in everyday activities
- Lack of personal possessions
- Lack of awareness
- Living in a closed environment
- Can’ get away from pain
Potential for abuse happens when there are inequalities in power. Power can be used positively or negatively. Power can exist when individuals have limited abilities- communication difficulties, dementia, learning difficulties, physical disabilities. Residential care has the potential of abuse on various levels. In addition to abuse by carers and invasion of privacy, there is the possibility of abuse by other service users and by the organisation. Services users lack resistance because of their low- self-esteem. Abuse could occur when is there poor requirement or there is a lack of staff. Patients must have charters which will help them to be more aware of what they will expect. They may feel that they have done something wrong in the past and the abuse is a punishment which they deserve to have. Understanding the characteristics of the abusers may help raise suspicion in certain abuse cases. The abuser is usually financially dependent upon the elder. It would seem instinctive that the quantity of caregiver stress would associate with the potential for the abuse, but data do not necessarily support that supposition Vulnerable adults who live alone are most in danger of abuse occurring, not just from direct caregivers, but also from dishonest neighbours or from Internet scams. Institutional abuse can sometimes happen in residential homes, nursing homes or hospitals when people are mistreated because of poor or insufficient care, neglect and poor practice which affect the whole of the service. People’s rights may be abused by the practises and procedures of the organisation which cares for them. New members of staff can be introduced to poor, and potentially abusive, care practices by staff telling tell what to do and how to do things in the care setting. Institutional abuse could be caused by care workers cutting corners and a lack of staff training. Abusers could be relatives and family member, professional staff, paid care workers, volunteer, other service users, neighbours, friends and associates and strangers. There should be more members of staff on duty to supervise. Care workers must be aware of the behaviours and problems of the service users as they will have to tolerate and not react negatively towards them.
The factors which may contribute to the potential for abuse:
- Bullying
- Stress
- Family overworked, little support
- Strangers
- No one to protect the individual
- Threats to care workers.
M1)
Abuse is minimized by an individual knowing that there is someone out there who will be there to help them. A vulnerable adult would feel that they can trust other individuals.
Numerous reasons as to why a child is being abused or exploited, there are strategies that are used and put in practice to minimise risks of harm and abuse to children and aid them to understand they have a right to be safe, secure and free from harm.
Residential care homes might have systems which deny the rights of service users. Residents may be put to bed early just so that the night staff could carry on cleaning and doing the laundry. They are clearly being bullied into going to sleep even if they are not tired or do not wish to sleep, which is why they should have right to speak up and choose when to go to bed. Is could be the cause of the residents having low self-esteem and less confidence. Tensions and conflicts are caused by differing people sharing the same living space. Some carers are unable to please all residents and may hold grudges over them which will lead them to mistreat them.
Also if the living environment is not up to the standards and expectation of service users, then this could lead to many problems, tensions and so abuse may occur. This is why care workers could try and balance the needs of service users as they are not chosen to share their living space with others. Emotional abuse is often difficult to recognize. Social care professionals need to be aware of their own feelings in cases of abuse. It is natural for people to deny, retract or ignore that abuse is taking place, but it is important to be aware that anyone could be an abuser.
Hospitals are found to have many physical and verbal abuse incidents. Staff in the psychiatric units is also subjected to assault by the service users because of their illnesses. This is the case of a staff member reporting situations where they believe abuse is confirmed or suspected. A result of not strictly adhering to the procedures is the case maybe compromised harshly. It is a failure to ensure the necessary safeguards are in place to protect vulnerable adults and maintain good standards of care in agreement with individual needs, including training of staff, supervision, management and record-keeping.
Abuse in hospitals
- Excessive restrains on patients
- No staff training, expect for restraining
- Nothing to occupy the patients with
- Withholding the patients food, money and clothes
- The staff being more interested in talking to fellow colleges then residents
- Financial abuse
Homes are where most individuals are supported by care workers. If an individual is living alone and receiving service to support their needs, then they could become vulnerable adults. The risks which could occur are people calling at their doors and gaining access through force or threats who may steal from them or change the excessive rates for minor repairs.
Care workers may be frightened into doing more than the service user agreed, such as being threatened to the service user will make a compliant about the carer. To minimize the risk of abuse from going ahead more supervision must be made available, close monitoring of the carer’s activity. The client’s family may resent to looking after a close family member as they feel it’s going to be hard work. There may be no one to protect the clients.
Service users can be very vulnerable in the community if they look or behave differently to the accepted norms in society. To minimize the risk of abuse is to always ensure that someone knows your whereabouts and the time you will be back if for example visiting a service user by yourself in their homes. A lot of support will be needed due to the self-conscious feelings being strangely strong and powerful NCSP are helping to tackle abuse by improving residential homes and shopping areas.
Many individuals who require health and care support and live in the community can suffer from abuse as anti-social crime and discrimination.
