Are Children Who Experience Maltreatment More Likely to Develop Mental Disorders Later in Life?

For my research seminar class I had to complete in order to graduate, I decided to research the topic are children who experience maltreatment more likely to develop mental disorders later in life. The data I found was heartbreaking but not shocking. I think this is a eye-widening topic, and while my essay is quite long, it is a good read!

Resources, support, and treatment for mental health disorders are more abundant in today’s day and age than any other point in history. People are no longer shunned or used as experiments due to their “freakish” disorder. To think this was an occurrence throughout known history is mindblowing. Humans now have a better understanding of how the brain develops and what types of experiences in one’s life can alter a normal brain's growth and development. Mental health disorders do not just occur out of the blue. Usually, there is an underlying cause that triggers something in one’s body to then translate into a disorder later on in someone’s life. Children that come from unnurturing or dangerous homes more than likely had to interact with someone, whether it be a neighbor, a caretaker, or family member, that had a mental disorder. These children are forced to grow up fighting for their life and are always in a battle with either themselves, siblings, or parents. No child deserves to grow up like this, but unfortunately, it is the case for some. It is important to note that some children are more resilient than others their age and can in fact withstand forms of abuse leading to no development of mental disorders later in life. There are some cases that are worse than others, but mental disorders are prevalent in all types of people. So, how common is childhood maltreatment, and are children who experience maltreatment, such as abuse and neglect, more susceptible to developing mental disorders later on in life? 

Children are one of the most vulnerable types of people since they have little to no independence and rely on caretakers and parents to live until they get older. All children deserve to grow up in a caring and loving household with parents who only want what is best for them. To think that this is not available for all adolescents is heartbreaking. In order for them to properly grow and learn, children need the guidance and nurturing their parents and caretakers are supposed to provide. Specifically, their social, physical, and cognitive development depends on it. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (2022), about one in seven children experience childhood abuse. Unfortunately, this number is most likely an underestimate due to the lack of reporting. Children do not always have access to report this type of stuff and no parent is going to admit it to someone else. Children in these types of environments sadly just have to endure it until they are either old enough to defend or stick up for themselves or move out. Sometimes, these options can help them, but with others, it can backfire and lead to something even worse. The most common effects of child maltreatment are anxiety, depression, substance abuse, eating disorders, identity disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (McLean Hospital, 2023).

Child maltreatment can lead to an array of serious mental health concerns. To talk about the affects of child abuse, it needs to be defined first. According to the United States government, they use the terms child abuse and maltreatment interchangeably and define it as when a parent or caretaker’s actions or failure to act results in the physical, emotional, and sexual harm (McLean Hospital, 2023). For the sake of this paper, maltreatment will be considered both child abuse and neglect, differentiating it from the sole term “child abuse” or “child neglect”. The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is a little more consise with their definition including an age. Their definition of child abuse is an type of physical, emotional, or sexually damgaging act, including neglect, that happens to a person under the age of eighteen. McLean Hospital (2023) ensures that child maltreatment increases the chances of many different physical and mental conditions developing later in life. 

Perpetrators of child maltreatment are not limited to only adults such as family, teachers, coaches. Minors and adolescents can also be prepatrators towards another child, and it would qualify as child maltreatment or child abuse. According to the United States Department of Justice (2022), more than one in four cases of child sexual abuse are committed by other minors. Again, this number is an estimate due to the lack of reporting by this age group out of embarrassment or fear. Due to the stigma around the occurance, rape is classified as the most unreported crime. School districts are collectively trying to lower this number by incorporating sexual education in school curriculums and even starting these curriculums at lower grade levels. One downfall of introducing sexual education to younger children could be exposing them to what sex even is. Teaching them too early can lead these below average aged children to sexual experimentation. So as school districts across the country are implementing this in their curriculum, it is important to have a set line of what is and is not too young. 

The definition of physical abuse is described as any intentional aggressive or violent behavior towards a child. It is important to note that just because there is no visible mark or evidence of abuse, does not mean it never occurred. Forms of physical abuse include but are not limited to slapping, punching, kicking, shaking, shoving, and burning. In some states, corporal punishment, which is the punishment of a child in school or at home typically with a paddle, is still considered by the majority of people to be a form of abuse since it fits the definition of the term. Even though this form of punishment is “legal”, it still can leave impacting effects that will negatively affect a child later on in life. Currently, there are seventeen states that deem corporal punishment in school to be legal as of August 2023. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2024), more than 70,000 public school children face forms of physical punishment at least one time during the school year. Three states that deemed corporal punishment illegal even in private schools are New Jersey, New York, and Iowa (Beers, 2024).

Child maltreatment is not just limited to physical abuse. Other types of maltreatment include sexual abuse, emotional abuse, verbal abuse, and neglect. Sexual abuse is defined as “any sexual experience with a child, which includes sexual activities involving physical contact as well as activities that do not involve contact, such as exposure or voyeurism” (Beers, 2024). The World Health Organization (2022) defines it as behaviors that involve fondling, penetration, or exposing a child to such activities. The World Health Organization does not mention anything about nonphysical occurrences in its definition, but it should. Sexual abuse can include indecent pictures online, and this type of abuse has no physical contact involved. Sexual maltreatment of a child is unfortunately and sadly a common offense. The risk of it happening also increases during a time of crisis and explosive situations, such as sex trafficking or relationships that experience occurrences of partner violence. In the year 2022, there were thirty-six states that reported 1,084 different victims of sex trafficking. Of these 1,084 reported cases, there are likely more, the overwhelming majority of them were female at 87.3%, 11.5% were male, and the rest were undisclosed (American SPCC, 2024). Unfortunately, one in fifteen children are exposed to a household that contains intimate partner violence or domestic violence. Once again, this number is only an estimate due to the lack of reporting caused by fear and embarrassment. Due to this lack of reporting, it can only be concluded that of these households, thirty-eight percent involved a female victim and twenty-one percent involved a male victim. This supports the conclusion that females are more likely to experience sexual or domestic abuse than males. Then of the amount of children exposed to these households, ninety percent of them witness the abuse first hand. Even though the abuse is not physically occurring to them directly, this environment is still traumatic and can be considered an adverse childhood experience. Child sexual abuse is also recognized as one of the six most common abuses that occur during times of war according ot the United Nations Security Council (Beers, 2024). Another form of sexual abuse is statutory rape. This form of rape is defined as any sexual activity with a minor that has not reached the age of consent. It does not matter if they gave consent or even initiated the act. If they are not of age to legally give that consent, it is still considerated a form of rape. Fifteen million girls from the age of fifteen to nineteen reported having non-consensual sex (UNICEF, 2020). 

Shifting from sexual abuse, other common forms of abuse are emotional and psychological abuse and neglect. Emotional abuse is defined as behavior that attacks a child’s basic emotional needs or consistently prevents such needs from being met. An example of emotional abuse is attacking a child’s character, degrading them, yelling and screaming at them, insulting them, and swearing at them. These instances correlate to children having to walk on eggshells around the perpetrators, and they do not understand what they did wrong. It is heartbreaking that children have to experience this because it can affect their growth, development, and even themselves in the future. In 2022, 38,030 victims of the total reported maltreatment cases were emotional and psychological maltreatment (American SPCC, 2024). This form accounted for 6.8% of all forms of maltreatment for that year. A child does not have the mental maturity to understand why their parent or caretaker is not showing them affection or guidance which should be a universal occurrence for all children. Without this type of love and support, children can begin to feel they are incapable of love, they are in danger, there is something wrong with them, and even like they have no purpose in life. Neglect is essentially the lack of support and love and in 2022, 74.3% of all reported child victims were victims of neglect (American SPCC, 2024). This 74.3% of the reported cases for that year translates into 415,445 individuals. The American Academy of Pediatrics stated that according to Child Protective Services (CPS), neglect of a child is the most frequent form of abuse reported to their organization, and the year of 2022 can support this statement.

How often does the abuse of a child actually occur? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022) states that one in seven children in the United States have experienced abuse in the past year. In reality, this number is most likely higher due to the fact that children do not always have the resources and ability to report their abuse. The most common age range for child abuse is children under the age of one. These newborn to twelve month olds cannot defend themselves at all, making them the most vulnerable age group and susceptible to abuse. The number declines steadily until these children reach their teenage years. Once they reach the age range of middle adolescence, the amount of occurrences spikes again. The form of abuse that occurs most often to teenagers is different than the one that occurs in infants. With teenagers,  sexual abuse is the most common form of abuse due to the possible lack of education, new desires, interest in experimentation, or even peer pressure (World Health Organization, 2022). In the state of New Hampshire, about twenty-one thousand kids are victimized every year, and only ten percent of these kids will report it. In 2022, there were 59,044 reported cases of sexual abuse. This form of abuse accounted for 10.6% of the all reported cases for different forms of maltreatment for that year (American SPCC, 2024).

The other most common place for children to experience adverse childhood experiences besides their own household is at school. Eighty percent of public schools report that there was one or more violent incidents that occurred on school property. More than seven percent of children in grades nine through twelve were threatened or injured with a weapon on school property and five percent of students from the age of twelve to eighteen were afraid of being attacked on school grounds. Also, about one fifth of high school students were bullied over the past year (YRBS, 2019). Bullying and this feeling of unsafety at home can cause extremely devastating emotional and physical effects. There are children in the world that use school as an escape from their home life, but their school environment can also be a highly stressful environment like their homelife, or even worse. This constant state of being in a fight or flight mode is not healthy for a child’s development and does not allow their body to ever rest and reset. Another form of bullying that is becoming more popular due to the access to phones and computers is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is a convenient way for bullies to belittle those around them. They get to hide behind a screen which gives them a high level of confidence they probably would not have had when encountering their peers in person. Cyberbullying is so destructive because if someone says something bad about someone else, the victim does not have the ability to delete that said comment or post. They can only report it in hopes that the social media platform takes it down. Also on these social media apps, users have the ability to block others. If the bully blocks the victim, this leads to the victim not being able to see their content, which then makes reporting it and having the content deleted even harder. Adolescents do not understand that once something is posted on the internet and specifically social media, the world can see it forever and it is merely impossible to get rid of. Even after someone deletes a post, there is always the chance that a viewer has already screenshotted or downloaded that content. So while it will not show on the bully’s account anymore, someone else has it on their device.

After discussing the possible forms of maltreatment and abuse, what are the effects of these adverse childhood experiences on a child short and long term? Again, it is important to state that not all children who are neglected and abused will develop unhealthy behaviors. Some children are more resilient, optimistic, and have one special person they can rely on for help. They are the lucky ones. For the majority of maltreated children, there are consequences both short and long term. Let us discuss the short term effects first. Children’s brains are not fully developed and because of that, they do not think about the totality and effects their actions could have. Effects from situations like bullying can be permanent and alter someone’s entire personality and thinking. Between the ages of fifteen and nineteen years old, suicide is the second most common form of death (Kwan et al., 2022). These children sadly do not realize they have not even gotten the opportunity to experience true life yet. It is hard for them to believe that once they get out of school, there is so much more the world has to offer than a bully from science class. However, it is nearly impossible to try and convince a kid of this way of thinking, especially one that is exposed to such bullying and maltreatment. On top of this, maltreated children have a 13% higher chance of failing out and not graduating high school (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). 

Younger children and teenagers also feel more guilty saying “no” than older teenagers and adults do. They also feel guilty for failing to say “no” which can potentially lead them into a sexual situation. Then, they feel even more guilty for getting pleasure from that situation they did not want to be in the first place (World Health Organization, 2022). This causes a chain of events such as being displeased with oneself for letting it get that far, then feeling guilty for feeling pleasure, then hating oneself, then possible withdrawal, dissociation, and isolation from friends and family due to the experience. Because of all these occurrences, these children are at a much higher risk of developing anxiety, depression and even memory issues (World Health Organization, 2022). Memory issues are caused due to children trying to block out the traumatic memories, but of course this is not their fault. It is only a coping mechanism, and they do not know that this leads to the brain’s memory functions learning to work improperly. When the brain’s memory is trained to work in this manner, the issue is then susceptible to lasting for a much longer period of time or even permanently. A more long term effect of child abuse is that the child’s nervous system and immune system could not develop properly. Stress is a powerful thing, especially when it is so continuous and constant. This can impact the development of those certain bodily functions. 

A result of improper nervous and immune system functions are physical, mental, and emotional health problems. These problems also lead the child to be more likely to engage in risky behaviors. Engaging in risky behavior always has the potential to include criminal activity. Adults who experienced adverse childhood experiences are nine times more likely to engaged in criminal activity. This usually leads to these individuals going to jail or serving a prison sentence. In 2022, of the men and women prison population in the United States, 14% of the men were abused as children and 36% of women were abused as children (American SPCC, 2024). 

According to the World Health Organization (2022), studies do show the direct correlation between children who experienced maltreatment and risky behavior, especially sexual risky behavior. These children are more likely to engage in sexual behaviors too early or have multiple sexual partners. A 2018 study researched 4,594 adolescents over a two year period. From the observations and findings, it was concluded that girls who were sexually abused were more than two times as likely to experience an early pregnancy and become pregnant in their teen years (World Health Organization, 2022). However, early pregnancy is not the only possible outcome of sexual abuse. Physical, internal pain in the uterus and external tearing can occur. Also due to the nature of the abuse, possible lack of education, and denial, sexual abuse and early sexual experimentation is usually unprotected sex which then has effects of its own. 

Not protecting oneself in sexual encounters can lead to the transmission of diseases, some treatable and some lifelong. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can have serious consequences if left untreated. Another term for STIs is STDs, sexually transmitted diseases. Both abbreviations can be used to talk about the same infections. The most important question is are they curable? Well, there are two types of sexually transmitted diseases, bacterial and viral. Bacterial sexually transmitted diseases can be cured with antibiotics if the condition is found early enough. Types of bacterial infections, which are typically curable, are chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Chlamydia, when left untreated, can cause infertility, leaving women unable to produce and have children (MO.gov, 2024). Syphilis can lead to mental health complications, damage to the heart, blindness, paralysis, and even death (Familydoctor.org, 2020). Viral STDs on the other hand cannot be cured. Types of viral infections are herpes, HPV, human immunodeficiency (HIV), acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDs), and Hepatitis B. Human papillomavirus (HPV) can lead to cervical or penile cancer, and while there is a vaccine for hepatitis B, it only works for someone who is not already infected with the disease (MO.gov, 2024). As for the rest of the viral infections, to suppress symptoms and contagiousness, there are some prescription medications available that can help. 

A study conducted in 2020 on young adult females found correlations between childhood adverse experiences and an engagement of unhealthy adult behaviors. These behaviors included lying, stealing, trespassing, vandalizing (specifically graffiti), and physical altercations (World Health Organization, 2022). There was also enough conclusive evidence to show the direct correlation between adverse childhood experiences and substance/drug abuse. The misuse of a substance leads to a dependency on this drug, which causes drug addictions. When someone has this level of dependency, people will do anything to get a fix when they are experiencing withdrawals. Drugs can make people dangerous and do things they would not normally do. This abnormal behavior caused by the substances usually leads to abusive or broken relationships with their families. Another permanent consequence of drug use is death. Overdosing is becoming more popular due and in 2021, there were 106,699 drug overdoses that occurred in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023). It is also becoming more common for drugs to be laced with another type of drug to create a more powerful fix. People are experimenting with these drugs while not knowing their limits or what the reaction of mixing drugs together will have. Drug dealers are looking to make money and are highly unlikely to disclose what their drugs are laced with. This dependency is causing death.

Another type of long term effect of child maltreatment is post traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. Due to the adverse childhood experiences they endured, the now teenager or young adult experiences unwanted intrusive thoughts, nightmares, and flashbacks. This can disrupt the body’s normal functioning because it causes them to always be on high alert for a panic attack and even sleeping, which poses the risk of having a nightmare that could replay the incident. Another long term effect that research supports is the correlation between adverse childhood experiences and obesity. Like before, not all who experience abuse will experience obesity. Sometimes it is the complete opposite, and they can have anorexia, an eating disorder defined as having an abnormally low body weight, an intense fear of gaining weight, and a distorted perception of weight (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2018). How does weight gain and childhood abuse necessarily correlate though? Well for some, food acts as an outlet and people may turn to it for comfort. Another but even more unfortunate reason why obesity correlates to childhood abuse is that those who experienced sexual abuse turn to food, so they can put on weight to make themselves less sexually appealing to others in an atttempt to make sure their abuse does not occur again. Obesity can lead to a long list of effects such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension (high blood pressure), type 2 diabetes, cirrhosis, osteoarthritis (the breakdown of cartilage and bone within joints), cancer, and many other life-altering conditions (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). The worst one being death.

The previously stated effects are not the only ones that can potentially occur. Individuals who experienced childhood maltreatment are more likely to get themselves into an abusive relationship. Due to their brain’s damaged dopamine and stress receptors, these individuals get dopamine rushes and satisfactions from the emotional rollercoaster relationship they are a part of. Yes, the bad can get ugly, but to them, when they make up with their partner, they feel like they are on top of the world. This causes very toxic and unsteady relationships. On top of getting into abusive relationships, those who were abused are also more likely to go and abuse their own children (World Health Organization, 2022). This is because it has become second nature to them, and they subconsciously resent their children so they think that they need to experience the same things they went through as a maltreated child. This creates a generational cycle of abuse. Not all parents who endured childhood maltreatment will go on to abuse their children though. A good majority of them want a better life for their children and want them to feel all the love and comfort they did not receive as a child. 

The most permanent and long-term effect that can occur with child maltreatment is death. With lack of knowledge of what to do or who to turn to, children are left vulnerable and are an easy target for perpetrators. In the year 2020, more than 1,700 children died from abuse, neglect, or both (maltreatment) in the United States alone (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). In 2022,  the annual estimate of deaths was even higher at 1,990 child fatalities due to abuse and neglect. To put it in perspective, five children die everyday from child maltreatment in the United States alone. Of the 1,990 lost souls in 2022, 66.1% of these fatalities were younger than the age of three and 44.7% of all children who die from child abuse are under the age of one, 22.2 babies per 1,000 (American SPCC, 2024). Toddlers and babies who have just come into this world were so quickly taken away majorly by the same ones that brought them into this world. This can be concluded because 81.8% of child fatalities involve at least one parent, and 89% of all victims are abused or neglected by one or more parents. Also of these deceased children, 42.1% of these children endured physical abuse either by itself or in conjunctions with other forms of maltreatment. In this year, there were 4.276 million reports received in the United States for child maltreatment (American SPCC, 2024). 

All over the world, there are famous cases of childhood maltreatment. From the Gypsy Rose Blanchard case to the Turpin family and books such as A Child Called IT, which is an autobiography about the abuse the author endured, these cases of maltreatment are different, unique, and cruel in their own ways. Gypsy Rose has been a hot topic in the media today due to her release from prison early this year after serving eight years out of her ten year sentence. Her case was disturbing in nature because her mother was her perpetrator. Gypsy suffered from a condition known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy which is more commonly referred to as factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA). In this situation, the caregiver, which is usually always a parent, exaggerates or lies about medical conditions to their child has to establish dependency between them and their child and to gain attention. From a young age, Gypsy’s mother Dee Dee Blanchard began to fabricate medical conditions her daughter had. First, the claims started with sleeping problems and epilepsy. Overtime, Dee Dee insisted her daughter had leukemia, muscular dystrophy, vision problems, hearing problems, and seizures, and she forced her daughter to use a wheelchair (Upham, 2024). The claims got so intense that Dee Dee even had a feeding tube placed into Gypsy’s mouth to fabricate the lies. As she grew older, Gypsy grew suspicious and aware that she was not truly sick. She was not allowed to do anything and felt like an outsider, and eventually started to catch on that her mother thrived off of this dependence the two shared with each other. 

Typically, child abuse ends when the child either grows up and moves out, doctors and social workers figure out that there is abuse occuring, or death of the child. In this case, the abuse of Gypsy ended in the death of her mother at Gypsy’s own doing. She found a man online, who many believe has mental abnormalities of his own, and convinced him to help her escape her mother’s rule by stabbing her to death. The condition that Gypsy suffered from, Munchausen by proxy, is a mental health disorder that is a recognized disorder in the DSM-5, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Upham, 2024). Typically, the victim is under the age of six, but it is not uncommon to see this condition with another vulnerable adult or elderly person. However, experts state that when this condition involves a child victim, the emotional effects can be so severe making it a form of child abuse and this can result in fatality (Upham, 2024). Patricia J. Osborne, PhD, a psychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral health at Stony Brook Medicine shares her insight on this condition. She states in the article “Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s Prison Release Raises the Question: Just What Is Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy?” that munchausen syndrome by proxy is one of the most lethal forms of abuse due to the low mortality rate of six to ten percent of victims (Upham, 2024). This syndrome is generally rare, and it is estimated that only about 1,000 cases are reported to officials annually. In other words, this occurs in about one to thirty children per one million children. Like all other forms of abuse, this number is likely higher in reality. Due to the nature of this occurrence, it can be hard to detect and pin point since the perpetrator is not coming across as abusive but genuinely caring for the sake of their child. However, when the symptoms and tests start to not line up, this syndrome is usually caught by doctors. For example, if a parent is insisting their child is having breathing problems and the tests are clearly showing no signs of lung or pulmonary function problems, it does cause doctors to take a step back. Of course there are cases where this is truly happening, and a child does in fact have trouble breathing but there is no evidence. This is completely different from Munchausen syndrome by proxy because the syndrome is the false claim or exaggeration of a medical condition to gain attention. Essentially, perpetrators of this syndrome act in a manner that comes across as an extreme hypochondriac. Dr. Osborne states that any child or victim that experiences this needs to enroll in mental health treatment as soon as possible. The emotional and psychological effects that can follow this syndrome can be dangerous, leaving the child curious as to why their parent or caretaker would want to purposely make them sick and scared. These parents are supposed to have the child’s well being as their number one priority, but they are the ones toying with their child’s health. All of this can lead to PTSD, anxiety, depression, as well as other mental health disorders. The best course of treatment for this syndrome is to have the child enrolled in evidence-based psychotherapy to help overcome and limit the effects of this trauma (Upham, 2024).

Another famous case of child abuse has to do with the Turpin family. A normal, loving relationship between two Christians turned into a lifestyle of torturing their children. It all started when David Turpin met Louise in church. The two fell in love quickly and tied the knot privately on February 11th, 1985. Four years after marrying, the couple gave birth to their first child. About two decades pass and after having thirteen children, the Turpin family relocates from Texas to Murrieta, California due to David’s shifting job. A year after moving, the couple renew their vows and include their children in their celebrations at a wedding chapel in Las Vegas. In 2014, David and Louise moved their family to Perris, a town approximately seventy miles away from Los Angeles. At this home is where the horrific abuse commences. This house is now known as “House of Horrors” (Rasmussen, 2023). On January 14th, 2018, seventeen year old Jordan Turpin escaped the home by climbing out a window. Free from the house, she calls 911 and reports that her two little sisters are chained up to their beds. When the dispatcher asks for her address, Jordan is unable to provide one as she does not go outside often and knows nothing about her neighborhood. Luckily, the police are able to track the location of the cell phone, and David and Louise Turpin were arrested for child abuse that same night. When investigations started on this case, the facts that came to light were disheartening. The investigators and detectives learned that these parents occasionally beat, strangled, and starved all thirteen of their children ranging from the ages of two to twenty-nine (Rasmussen, 2023). After seeing the filthy state of the children and the house, the officers were made aware that the children were only allowed one shower per year. Both parents receive sentences of twenty-five years and will not be eligible for parole until after serving at least twenty of those years. Unfortunately, twenty-five years is not enough punishment for the pain and suffering they put these thirteen children through. 

During the court proceedings, a few of the Turpin children gave victim impact statements to share the effects this abuse has had on them and still does. Noteable, Joshua Tuprin states “sometimes I still have nightmares of things that had happened, such as my siblings being chained up or beaten” (Rasmussen, 2023). This is a clear case of post traumatic stress disorder and potentially even anxiety, which most likely is occuring in the other twelve children as well. Surprisingly, Joshua goes on in his testimony stating he forgives his parents for what they did and that he loves them. This shows that these children never got to experience what is right and wrong and they cannot fully see that this treatment and behavior from their parents is not love, it is evil.

If their parents' abuse was not enough, in March of 2021, foster parents Marcelino and Rosa Olguin and their daughter, Lennys Olguin, were arrested for supposedly abusing multiple Turpin children (Rasmussen, 2023). These children had finally escaped the evil of their biological parents and when given a second chance at a better life, their foster parents were no better. In July of 2022, half of the Turpin children filed two lawsuits on behalf of the abuse they endured. One was against Riverside County and the other was against ChildNet Youth and Family Services, a foster care agency. The siblings claimed that the foster home officials were aware that the Olguin family was unsuitable to be a foster family and that they even had a past history of child maltreatment of other children they have fostered, ranging from physical abuse and emotional abuse to neglect (Rasmussen, 2023). Today, the Turpin siblings are trying to move on with their lives and leave the past behind. Jordan, the daughter who had escaped to call 911, admitted that she sometimes questions if her life is real and if she is really living in an apartment all on her own. As much as these siblings try to move on and forget what they endured, there will always be a trace on their hearts and in their memory.

In conclusion, adverse childhood experiences will forever linger in an individual’s mind. While some humans are more resilient than others when it comes to developing mental disorders, there is clear evidence to support that childhood maltreatment does correlate to a higher likelihood of developing mental disorders. Children are the most vulnerable and precious group of the population. They are the future of the world and need to be treated properly and with care to ensure healthy growth, and any who stand in the way of that due to their practices of maltreatment need to be punished. Fortunately with the wide access to technology and cell phones, more and more children are able to report their abuse and neglect and seek help than at any other point in history. Children learn from those they spend the most time with, and parents do not realize this. Data supports the statement that abused children are also more likely to be the ones abusing their own children leading to more developments of mental health disorders. The justice system, education system, Child Protective Services, and most importantly parents need to do a better job at protecting the future of this nation and world, the children. 

References

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