What can be harmful or have an impact on children?

Domestic abuse is any form of physical, verbal, sexual, psychological or financial abuse which might amount to criminal conduct and which takes place within the context of a relationship. The relationship may be between partners (married, cohabiting, in a civil partnership or otherwise), or ex-partners. The abuse may be committed in the home or elsewhere, including online.

Children affected by parental alcohol and drug use may experience neglect, feelings of fear, blame, abandonment, anger and shame. Children who may not be recognised as Young Carers may have to care for children, or for adults. Secrecy and denial are recurrent features within families affected by alcohol and drug use. Divisions occur within families where there is pressure to contain knowledge of substance use. Children’s potential to experience and develop trusting, secure relationships are compromised. Harm may be multi-dimensional, affecting physical and mental health and development, relationships, behaviour, identity and survival. This could include physical and neurological damage, or death in utero. Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is the leading known worldwide preventable cause of neurodevelopmental disorder, with maternal use of alcohol during pregnancy leading to learning and behavioural difficulties. It potentially has lifelong implications, affecting not just babies and children but also young people, and adults and their families, who will be living with the impact of the condition.

Children affected by parental alcohol and drug use may experience neglect, feelings of fear, blame, abandonment, anger and shame. Children who may not be recognised as Young Carers may have to care for children, or for adults. Secrecy and denial are recurrent features within families affected by alcohol and drug use. Divisions occur within families where there is pressure to contain knowledge of substance use. Children’s potential to experience and develop trusting, secure relationships are compromised. Harm may be multi-dimensional, affecting physical and mental health and development, relationships, behaviour, identity and survival. This could include physical and neurological damage, or death in utero. Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is the leading known worldwide preventable cause of neurodevelopmental disorder, with maternal use of alcohol during pregnancy leading to learning and behavioural difficulties. It potentially has lifelong implications, affecting not just babies and children but also young people, and adults and their families, who will be living with the impact of the condition.

Poor parental health (for both mothers and fathers, both mental and physical) can be a contributor to mental health problems in children and young people. The stigma associated with mental health problems means that many families are reluctant to access services because of a fear about what will happen next. Parents and carers may worry about being judged, and that they will be deemed incapable of caring for their children. Emotional accessibility and the reliability of parents or carers is a key feature of child protection assessment, and should be an objective in the planning of support. Children are affected when a parent is unable to anticipate or prioritise his or her needs, or by a parent’s distress, disturbance, delusions and lack of insight.

Children can experience a range of mental health problems, from depression and anxiety through to psychosis. While most will recover, many are left with unresolved difficulties or undiagnosed illnesses that can follow them into adult life. Parents and carers may be bewildered or frightened by their child’s behaviour, or concerned that they are the cause of such behaviour. A small number of children with mental health problems may pose risks to themselves and others. For some, their vulnerability, suggestibility and risk levels may be heightened as a result of their mental ill health. For others, a need to control, coupled with lack of insight into or regard for the feelings and needs of others, may lead to them preying on the vulnerabilities of other children. Co-ordinated inter-agency work, and close collaboration with parents or carers, is essential to mitigate risks for these children and for others.

Harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) is defined as ‘sexual behaviour(s) expressed by children and young people under the age of 18 years that are developmentally inappropriate, may be harmful towards self or others and/ or may be abusive towards another child or young person or adult’. Some young people sexually abuse other young people. Harmful sexual behaviour may be within the context of relationships, or it may be exploitative abuse that falls within the definition of child sexual exploitation. Both forms of harm may co-occur. Where a child or young person displays sexual behaviour that may cause significant harm, immediate consideration should be given as to whether action should be taken under child protection procedures, in order to protect the victim and to tackle concerns about what has caused the child/young person to behave in such a way

Terms: ‘Resistance’ and ‘disguised compliance’ (usually meaning disguised non-compliance or non-effective compliance), are terms sometimes used when services find it hard to engage with families. Such terms imply that the location of responsibility for this block lies with children and families. ‘Non-engagement’ covers a spectrum of failures that are all a product of interaction. The tone of engagement and painful previous experience of services may both play a part. Non-engagement on the part of service users may take the form of aggression, manipulation, concealment, superficiality, blaming and ‘splitting’ professionals, inaction or selective action. Children who experience frequent changes of address within such a pattern may be at increased risk.

Online child abuse is any type of abuse that occurs in the digital environment and the internet, facilitated through technology and devices such as computers, tablets, mobile phones, gaming devices and other online-enabled devices. If abusive content is recorded, uploaded or shared by others online, there is a risk of on‑going experience of abuse. Online abuse can include online bullying; emotional abuse and blackmail; sharing of intimate images; grooming behaviour, coercion and preparatory behaviour for abuse including radicalisation; child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation as described above. Perpetrators may be strangers, family members, friends or professionals.