Can a parent get arrested for emotional abuse? How would it be proven?
I don’t think a parent can be arrested for complaining, insulting or criticizing a child.If a parent is emotionally abusive, that may not fall under the heading of a crime. Criminal Law. But it may fall under the heading of Civil Law, which means a lawsuit.Law suits are for ‘Tort’ - a wrong that the code of criminal law does not address.There is a possibility that SOME emotional abuse may fall under the heading of ‘harassment.’ There are harassment laws.Most likely, if you called CPS (Child Protective Services), and said your parents were emotionally abusing you to the point of causing emotional distress, interfering with your school work, CPS might come and TALK to your parents, but they would be unlikely to remove you from the home or punish your parents.
Is it considered emotional abuse when parents never react to their child's emotions?
Yes, especially if you are a baby, toddler, child or teen, and showing emotions that need acknowledgement and action. That would be emotional abuse to ignore the child’s emotions.If the person is sitting around, having a pity party and wants others to join in, so that they can feed off the sympathy. It still needs a reaction and acknowledgement, then distraction.Humans should have some reaction to others emotions especially a child being emotional. It should be hard wired into their behaviour and personality. But everyone is different. Everyone has different perceptions, everyone deals with other people’s emotions differently and not everyone is going to be comfortable with being close to someone who is emotional.Hopefully this answers your question.Sarah
What to do with emotional abusive parent?
You are going through a difficult time right now, and it is not your fault. It sounds like you are experiencing feelings of hurt and unfairness. Perhaps your mother was abused as a child and what she is doing is displacing her anger. One of the symptoms of emotional abuse is depression. Emotional abuse has life long effects. To stop the cycle, it is important to educate yourself about emotional abuse, stay connected with supportive networks, manage your emotions, and engage in healthy coping. Your life is precious, and you deserve to enjoy your life. Ask yourself, is your mother adding joy to your life or taking away from it. Worrying about the things that you cannot change is meaningless. How would it be for you to concentrate, and to make an effort on the things that you can change? What you can do is limit your interaction with her. When you are around her though, be respectful yet direct and state your concerns clear and confident. I hope that you taking care of yourself.
What counts as emotional abuse from a parent?
I think this qualifies:Berating the child for no reason. Calling the child stupid, inferior, a jerk or better yet, calling the child by a swear word. Yes, we all swear when we shouldn’t, but calling your own child an A^%$ho*& is abusive.Gaslighting the child. Only certain parents do this, but the idea is to make the child think that everything is his or her fault. The parent is perfect. The child is a total failure who can’t even keep track of his or her various crimes.Crossing boundaries like showing up to the child’s school drunk or in a bad mental state.Trying to know too much personal information when the child’s behavior has been fine. Reading journals, checking phones, going on their computers—that should only be done if the child isn’t communicating and the parent is afraid something is desperately wrong. Other than that, give the child his or her place to vent and have a private life if all seems good and I don’t mean straight As.Interfering with personal relationships when there is no threat of misbehavior on the part of the child.Not giving the child enough room. Showing up at his or her place of work to yell at him.Making the child feel like he or she doesn’t have the right to be alive—statements like “I should have gotten an abortion” or “you were a mistake” are examples of that.Manipulating him or her in any way to make them do what they know is wrong.Making them a surrogate spouse in which they are given responsibilities to run the family income, take care of younger siblings or do things because the parent will not do them. That is different from helping in dire straits like one parent abandons the family, so the older siblings help the other parent with money from their jobs or do homework with their siblings. That is not abuse.It all starts with boundaries. Your child is not your friend or your property. Your child is your responsibility. Don’t make him or her regret that you are their parent.
How common are emotionally abusive parents?
A lot more common than you realize.It seems like just about every parent I know mistreats their child, implies that they’re weak, or just doesn’t respect their child.And that’s just for neurotypical children. I bet every last disabled or mentally ill child is being abused by their parents. Every single one of these children are getting abused because the parents refuse to listen to them.
What is emotional and verbal abuse by a parent?
By definition emotional abuse is abuse characterized by a person subjecting, or exposing, another person to behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Verbal abuse is abuse done by word of mouth. In my opinion abuse is distinct from neglect because it’s a form of active attack as opposed to merely failing to supply the things a child to thrive. Verbal abuse is a form of emotional abuse since it relies on hurting the child’s feelings, either by content alone or by the style of delivery.Examples of emotional abuse: telling the child they were unwanted, that they are unloved, disliked or hated by the parent. Telling them that they don’t count because they were born in the wrong place. Having unreasonable expectations of the child & then calling them an idiot because they inevitably fail to live up to those expectations - such as asking them a complex mental arithmetic question based upon Imperial units of measurement or pre-decimal British currency when that kid has only ever known SI units & decimal currency. Shouting at the kid while indoors & standing up close inside their personal space, like Gunny Hartman in Full Metal Jacket. He’s a great example of an emotional abuser - because of him, a marine recruit eats a rifle bullet.Criticism that isn’t constructive is kind of abusive. If a kid does something wrong, that’s ok - they’re a kid. Childhood’s full of learning by trial & error. To take them to task excessively for making mistakes can be abusive. Give them a safe space in which to learn, and advise them patiently if they need it.
What are signs of emotional and verbal abuse form parents to the child?
All these answers talk about physical abuse but with emotional and verbal abuse the "bruises" are not visible and this is what makes it so very hard to detect! Emotional abuse in children can affect their development in terms of cognitive, social and psychological behavior - the impact is long-lasting. Some common types of emotional abuse are neglecting/rejecting, isolating, unrealistic expectations (demands, criticism), ignoring (refuse to listen or understand the feelings), constant chaos, exploiting, aggression (blaming/threatening), dominating, verbal assaults (sarcasm, berating), unpredictable behaviors (mood changes, emotional outbursts). Following are the signs and symptoms of emotional abuse: •Feeling of depression •Withdrawal/ Isolation from social interaction •Low self-esteem •Fearfulness •Increased anxiety •Feeling of shame/ Guilt •Mood changes •Nervous feeling •Not trusting of others •Frequent blaming of others or self •Pessimistic behavior •Substance or drug abuse •Extreme dependence on others •Avoiding eye-contact •Telling lies •Aggressive behavior •Emotional instability •Suicidal attempts Control it a big part of the abuser - the suffer often feels scared that no one else will like them or want to be with them, except the abuser - almost as if they are "lucky" the abuser 'puts-up with them'. Hence, they continue to stay in the abusive situations. In this way, the emotional abuse continues. The hard part is getting the suffer to admit that they way they are spoken to and treated is not ok and then building the suffer up so that they believe themselves worthy of better
My parents emotionally abuse me, help!?
Firstly, you need to realise that it's not your fault in any way. You should never, ever never ever, feel that it's your fault because it's your parents problems. I suggest you talk to the child abuse agencies, i'm not sure what type of agencies you guys have cause i dont know what country/state w.e you live in. But seach into that, and also talk to the police. No women, child, man, elderly, deserves to be abused emotionally, psycsically, luckily for you your 17 and you the eldest of the 3 you can prevent i by sticking up for yourself, but i dont suggest you this because it may turn out worse than it already is. So what i suggest - Talk to child abuse agencieis and whats happening - Talk to the police about it Dont let it hang and think ti will go away, i've read many stories where as the case is the same as yours and the people in it arent so lucky. Be safe. devil_dill@hotmail.com if you want anymore help or moral support. :) Good luck P.s - It's not your fault that your parents are like this, make sure you remember that.