Minding the Minds of the Sexually Abused Street Children: A Look into Their Cognitive Functioning

Minding the Minds of the Sexually Abused Street Children:

A Look into their Cognitive Functioning

I. Analysis of the Article

A. Salient Points made by the Writer

Experiences of sexual abuse especially in childhood are known to have devastating effects (Browne and Finkelhor, 1986). Among its psychological consequences are fearfulness, depression, hostility and aggression, low self-esteem, guilt and shame, somatic complaints (sickness, aches in the body) and acting out example running away, in appropriate sexual behavior (Everstine and Everstine, 1989; Crosby, 1993). Abused children are also observed to lose their appetite and confidence in play, and tend to be self-critical.

B. Reaction

Sexually abused children (SAC) have acquired many psychological effects. Among which are, they very much ridiculed, laughed at criticized and talked about. The result will be, it would be difficult to return back their lives normally. The tendency would be a complete destruction of their whole lives. Instead of helping them to cope up to live a normal life, they would be arriving at a destructive ending of their lives. The fact that they are still minors, very young at their age and minds and emotions, people around them should looked at them in a special way of treatment, in a normal and spiritual atmosphere of guidance, full of positive words that would boost their morality and character that can improve their personality as they grow up.

II. Conclusion

The trauma that sexually abused children had experienced was so devastating, physically, morally, emotionally and psychologically, and spiritually. It is a total wreck of one's whole life of an individual. It bothers everything, when you sleep, when you eat, when you do something and sometimes it reach to a point ending one's life just to stop the mental torture that children were experiencing. To cope up and recover after the trauma is a very significant role of parents, teachers or social workers. The way sexually abused children should be given special treatment and permanent guidance which should be attended regularly together with their clinical and psychiatrical guidance and counselling. They would not be exposed yet to crowd which they had undergone. Sexually abused children should be given the proper venue away from a place they could remember the past trauma. The new environment can help them forget and enter into a new life again. Through this process, the SAC, sexually abused children would regain their self-esteem, dignity trust and confidence in themselves from the compassion, kindness, good relationships from adult people.