Maltreatment of Children with Hearing Impairment: An Exploratory Study
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Date
2007-04
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study attempted to explore the maltreatment of children with hearing
impairment. Data were collected from five children with hearing impairment
and two parents of them. All the respondents are residing in Addis Ababa.
Interview guide and focus group discussion guide were developed and used to
conduct interview and focus group discussions systematically. The data were
analyzed exclusively qualitatively.
The attempt also made to describe the extent to which maltreatment affected
the development of children under investigation, revealed that children who
had experienced maltreatment assumed to have developed disrupted growth
and development. Adverse effects have also been identified in maltreated
children's physical, cognitive, emotional and social, and academic
development. It could also be presumed that maltreatment had not only
immediate impact but also long lasting effect on the holistic development of
children with hearing impairment. Their psychosocial development could be
assumed impaired greatly.
Poverty, stress, poor relationship among the family, having unhappy family,
parental conflict and violence were hypothesized to be the major causes of
maltreatment.
Finally, an attempt has been made to investigate whether children's hearing
impairment lead them to be abused. The findings showed that the participants
were maltreated due to their hearing impairment leading to infer that hearing
impairment could be assumed a major causative factor for abuse.
Establishing sound early parent-child interaction, promoting peer interaction,
providing information to enable children with hearing impairment to better
prepare to resist abusive actions, and acquainting parents/ caregivers with the
developmental stages of children, training in sign language and the need for
conducting further research are among the major points that are recommended
to break the cycle of maltreatment.
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Keywords
Children with Hearing Impairment