Child Neglect (Symptoms)

You know a neglected child when you see her, she may be malnourished, always sick, or never at school. Neglect comes in different forms such as physical and emotional, and more girls suffer than boys, with younger children neglected most.

A number of neglected children present as suffering from medical conditions, failure to thrive or malnutrition, which in severe forms may be life-threatening. More observable signs include the following: dirty skin; offensive body odor; unwashed, uncombed hair; tattered, under or oversize and unclean clothing; clothing that is inappropriate to weather or situation; frequent lack of supervision.

Signs of Neglect

Consider the possibility of neglect when the child…

is frequently absent from school
steals or begs for food or money
lacks needed medical or dental care, immunizations or glasses
is consistently dirty and has severe body odor
lacks sufficient clothing for the weather
abuses alcohol or other drugs
states that there is no one at home to provide care

Consider the possibility of neglect when the parent or other adult caregiver…

appears to be indifferent to the child
seems apathetic or depressed
behaves irrationally or in a bizarre manner
is abusing alcohol or other drugs

Physical neglect includes the refusal of seeking necessary health care, child abandonment, which is the desertion of a child without arranging for reasonable care or supervision, inadequate supervision, the rejection of a child leading to expulsion from the home and failing to provide for the child's safety as well as his or her physical and emotional needs. Other physical neglect includes inadequate nutrition, clothing, or hygiene; conspicuous inattention to avoidable hazards in the home; and other forms of reckless disregard of the child's safety and welfare (e.g., driving with the child while intoxicated, leaving a young child in a car unattended).

Educational neglect occurs when a child is allowed to engage in chronic truancy, or is of mandatory school age but not receiving schooling. Additionally, another form is the refusal to allow or failure to obtain recommended remedial education services or neglect in obtaining or following through with treatment for a child's diagnosed learning disorder or other special education need without reasonable cause.

Emotional neglect includes inadequate nurturing and affection, spousal abuse in the child's presence, allowing a child to use drugs or alcohol, refusal or delay in providing needed psychological care as well as the encouragement or permitting of other maladaptive behavior (e.g., chronic delinquency, severe assault) under circumstances where the parent or caregiver has reason to be aware of the existence and seriousness of the problem but does not intervene.

Medical neglect is the failure to provide for appropriate health care for a child. The child may exhibit signs of poor health, such as fatigue, infected cuts, and constant itching or scratching of skin.

Next: Causes