Emotional effects of abuse on children

Use this forum to discuss the April 2018 Book of the Month, "Ironbark Hill" by Jennie Linnane
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Rosemary Okoko
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Re: Emotional effects of abuse on children

Post by Rosemary Okoko »

I believe the author was honest in portraying the effects of abuse in children. Though not all children who wet their beds are abused, it can be a sign of fear. Children will react differently to abuse and this makes the effects vary.
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Ginnamassa19
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Post by Ginnamassa19 »

I think everyone reacts differently to abuse, and Robyn, Shirley and Natalie's portrayals seemed pretty realistic to me. Of course it's the author's call how to describe or show a character whose personality has been affected by trauma, and I think even if the characters had been written differently, it would have been easy enough to explain—depending on who and what affected any one particular character more. For example, if the external environment had had more of an influence on Shirley than the abuse, then she could have turned out a lot more well-adjusted.

Like others have said, there's not really any right or wrong way to write the personality of an abused child, but I did think Linnane characterized them well.
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Echo Haapala
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Post by Echo Haapala »

I do believe that the author was honest in her portrayal. I worked with children that were either victims themselves of domestic violence and sexual abuse or lived in that type of environment. Each child had different reactions and side effects so to speak.
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Post by Kemunto lucy »

The author has done an excellent job in showing the emotional effects of abuse on children. Personally I have witnessed a similar situation and yes each individual has their own way of handling trauma.
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Post by Lu_rire »

It is sad that the abused often become the abusers. This is the reality of our world, a vicious cycle of being hurt and then hurting others either consciously or unconsciously in a twisted effort to relieve our pain.
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Post by Samantha333 »

I am in sync with a lot of these comments. One thing I have noticed recently is that the affects of abuse in childhood can present themselves in many ways but also at really unpredictable times going into adulthood. It is an interesting study, however not ideal.
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Emilyflint
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Post by Emilyflint »

Yes, these are true and very real things that happen to children. I think that in any book concerning abuse that these affects are true to the nature of the abuse. Just so that the reader and maybe someone else going thru things can really identify with the characters.
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Post by nikkyteewhy »

Yes, I think she gave an honest portrayal on the effect of abuse on children. These events seen may not be stereotypical, they may vary fro child to child.
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Post by Mr Justin »

I don't think the author gave an honest portrayal of the effects of abuse in children!Interestingly,the author,Jennie's objective of the book was to add a voice to many anti-child abuse voices,and not to expose the effects of abuse in children.

However, she did also attempt to portray the effects of child abuse in children in a specific sense and not general sense when she exposed Natalie 's resentment against her stepfather.

Children who are abused tend to develop an attitude of resentment towards men,particularly in a relationship.

Indeed, on the that score she portrayed a honest case of child abuse.

But It w'd be practical for the author to bring out the effects of child abuse in a part two story of Natalie as a woman and not a girl.
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Post by AdlerOlivia11 »

I do think it's crucial that Linnane showed the abuse having serious effects on all the children, not just Natalie. It is certainly true that people process abuse differently, but there are certain things that are common which I think she captured well (bed wetting, a "mean streak", violence begetting violence, and the tendency of victims of abuse to become abusers themselves to reclaim that power). It's certainly good that she did not sugarcoat these aspects, as that would be doing a disservice to people who have actually suffered abuse of any type. I applaud her for not shying away from that.
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Post by Erick Bixen »

BDTheresa wrote: 02 Apr 2018, 02:50 Yes she did give an honest portrayal of the effects of abuse in children. Aldo all families are not the same, all situations are not the same so therefore all outcome can't be the same.
True indeed.
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Erick Bixen
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Post by Erick Bixen »

lesler wrote: 02 Apr 2018, 14:21 The author does give an accurate portrayal of the effects of child abuse to the child. There is no specific way it affects each individual person, so there's no right or wrong way.
I equally agree with this.
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Erick Bixen
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Post by Erick Bixen »

SABRADLEY wrote: 04 Apr 2018, 09:21 I think the author addressed some realistic results of childhood abuse, but these are just the tips of the iceberg. There are countless indicators for abuse.
Yeah, he has just addressed superficial issues on child abuse.
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Post by joshfee77 »

Yes, I felt Linnane did well in portraying the varying effects of abuse on the children. Different people react in different ways to intense, painful situations. Having a bed-wetter, a girl with a mean streak, and Natalie as the strong one trying to hold everyone together gave that decent variety in characterization.
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Post by faceadventure »

I think it was realistic. In most cases abused children adapt behaviors that they don't even know are not normal. They will carry these behaviours throughout most of their lives, probably. But everyone is different so it doesn't have to be that way for everyone.
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