ABSTRACT
Maltreatment by parents can have a profound impact on children’s psychological development, with consequences that intrude into many aspects of their functioning in adult life. Greater sensitivity by those working with children to the prevalence of child abuse is leading to an increased awareness by all mental health practitioners of the pervasive impact of maltreatment during the formative years. This chapter addresses the significance of childhood abuse in a number of related areas. First, we consider its impact on the emotional life and development of children, and factors that afford children some degree of resilience. Next, we consider the long-term effects that persist into adult life, including risk of psychiatric breakdown, and the degree to which mental health professionals take account of such histories. We also address whether ‘memories’ of childhood abuse can be recovered many years later. Then, we discuss the intergenerational repetition of abuse and factors that afford resilience to such continuities.
