Child Abuse and Neglect: A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard - Research Paper Example

 Child Abuse and Neglect Neglect is failure to act appropriately in accordance to one’s responsibility eventually causing harm to another person. Police department neglected its duty in the novel, A stolen Life. Phillip Gorrido, who was Jaycee Dugard’s kidnapper and abuser, was on parole following a previous kidnapping case. The federal agents are responsible for monitoring any suspect on parole accused of criminal activity of such magnitude. However, the federal agents did not monitor Phillip giving him an opportunity to kidnap Dugard. Her mother also hurriedly left home for work leaving her to attend to her needs on the fateful day constitutes neglect. Her grandfather watched as she walked to the bus station alone. It is necessary that an eleven years old girl is accompanied especially within public places. Neglect also presents in the case of Dugard’s daughters. They could not visit a doctor despite the fact that Starlight had a cyst above one of her eye. This is evident in Dugard’s own words when she writes, “I wish I could have a doctor look at it. Phillip says to continue watching it if it starts growing, then he will figure out a way to take her to the doctor” (Naoum, 2011). Dugard experienced several forms of abuse especially after her abduction. She faced physical, sexual and psychological abuse. The victim underwent physical abuse from both Philip Garrido and his wife Nancy Bocanegra. During the kidnapping, Phillip shot her with a stun gun until she lost consciousness. He also handcuffed her against her will for one week. Nancy on her part harassed the girl physically by holding her down as she drifted into and out of consciousness in the speeding car. Dugard’s two daughters could not attend school (Naoum, 2011). This is physical harassment because they could not interact with peers and establish normal lives like other children. Sexual harassment began before they got to the kidnappers’ home. Undressing the young girl is tantamount to sexual harassment. Phillip goes ahead to leave her naked in the sound proofed structure. He further forces her to take a bath with him and rapes her. These are already four accounts of sexual harassment. Several acts follow in the 18 years stretch that Dugard remained in captivity. Sexual harassment causes a child to develop Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome (CSAAS). In CSAAS, the child undergoes five stages post sexual harassment. They include secrecy, feelings of helplessness, entrapment and accommodation, delayed disclosure and lastly, retraction. Dugard must have undergone the same but considering the prolonged period she endured the sexual harassment, the pregnancy and absence of a sharing partner, her condition worsened to PTSD. Leaving Dugard naked and alone in cuffs psychologically harassed her. The Garridos further harassed her mentally by telling her stories and giving excuses that manipulated her mind, convincing her that remaining in captivity, was a favor she did to other girls like her. As Philip argued, she kept them safe (Dugard, 2011). Phillip further forced her to keep him company as he cut out pornographic pictures under influence of drug and later crying to her apologizing, whereas still keeping her captive. The two kidnappers provided her with kittens, which they took away without warning. The young girl could not even mention her name. She was stripped of her name and with it her identity. Phillip impregnated Dugard at an early age, thirteen, an age no girl is prepared psychologically for such a thing. All these actions amount to psychological harassment. Sexual, physical and psychological harassments have negative impacts on any victim. Children are affected the most and may develop life-long Post Trauma Stress Disorder (PSTD) depending on magnitude of unjust actions perpetrated to them. It is evident that Dugard suffered from PSTD because after finally resurfacing after the ordeal, she is afraid of meeting her mother despite the fact that she did not do anything wrong. She also expressed desires for repossess the pets she left in her captive home. Various risk factors ultimately contribute to abuse or neglect. These factors group in four categories, namely parental, family factors, environmental and child factors. Among parental risk factors are personality traits, abuse history, substance abuse, attitudes and age of parent. Traits such as low self-esteem characterize most abusive parents. History is important in that if the parent comes from an abusing family history he/ she is likely to mistreat his/ her children as well. Parents who abuse drugs are emotionally unstable and research shows that they have higher chances of being abusive. Negative attitude towards a child’s behavior predisposes the kid to maltreatment by the parent. Lastly, those who acquire children at a tender age have higher chances to mistreat the children as well. Family factors that increase chances of abuse and neglect include single parent family, unstable marriages and lack of early parent-child bonding. The environmental factors facilitating the same include unemployment and poverty, social isolation of families and violence prone communities. Child factors include disability and Stockholm syndrome. Disability leads to discrimination thus harassment or neglect. Stockholm syndrome on the other hand encourages the abusive person to continue harassing the child due to the child’s innocence and acceptance of her/his position. Psychological symptoms following a traumatic experience vary with different persons and the magnitude of the traumatizing event. Some may be immediate while others may develop after unspecified period. Panic attacks, spontaneous crying or depression, anxiety, fearfulness, emotional distancing, obsessive and compulsive attitudes, withdrawal from normal life processes, feelings of distraction, difficulty decision making and ADHD symptoms are the main symptoms signifying post traumatic events. There are two groups of sources to child resilience. The environment sources include healthy relationships, well constructed to provide support and caring to the child; encourage participation of the child in peer activities and instilling positive expectations in the child. This must be achieved both in school and at home. The second group encompasses a child’s internal environment. These are positivity in the child, confidence and strong cognitive ability. In Dugard’s story, there are a number of missed opportunities for systemic intervention. The first one is that the police failed to realize that Dugard was kidnapped in the same location that Garrido had earlier kidnapped another girl, Katherine Callaway Hall. Secondly, a caller reported to police seeing Dugard staring at a picture of herself on one of the numeral lost person’s poster the community had erected in a petrol station at Oakley, California, a short distance from Garrido’s home. He said he later saw the girl leave in a big yellow van. No findings followed this, however, after recovery of Dugard, a yellow van fitting the description surfaced in Garrido’s home. Thirdly, a report by fire department of an injury to a juvenile at a swimming pool did not prompt report to parole officers despite there being no swimming pool at the residence. Lastly, a neighbor called on 9-1-1 claiming that there were children leaving in tents on Garrido’s backyard. A police officer approached the residence and talked with Garrido at the front door but did not check the backyard despite the fact that the neighbor made it clear that Garrido had cases of inappropriate sexual behavior (Naoum, 2011). References Dugard, J. (2011). A Stolen Life: A Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster. Naoum, J. (2011). Kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard. New York: Duc. Read More