Safe Environment Strategies: Transportation
Your youth-serving organization may provide transportation to children and youth—either on a regular or occasional basis. If you’re a larger…
Physical and Behavioral Indicators of Abuse
Home / Reporting / Physical and Behavioral Indicators of Abuse
Physical and Behavioral Indicators of Abuse
| Type of Abuse | Physical Indicators | Behavioral Indicators |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Abuse | ● Unexplained bruises (in various stages of healing) ● Unexplained burns, especially cigarette burns or immersion burns ● Unexplained fractures, lacerations or abrasions ● Swollen areas ● Evidence of delayed or inappropriate treatment for injuries | ● Self destructive ● Withdrawn and/or aggressive – behavioral extremes ● Arrives at school early or stays late as if afraid to be at home ● Chronic runaway (adolescents) ● Complains of soreness or moves uncomfortably ● Wears clothing inappropriate to weather, to cover body ● Bizarre explanation of injuries ● Wary of adult contact |
| Neglect | ● Abandonment ● Unattended medical needs ● Consistent lack of supervision ● Consistent hunger, inappropriate dress, poor hygiene ● Lice, distended stomach, emaciated ● Inadequate nutrition | ● Regularly displays fatigue or listlessness, falls asleep in class ● Steals food, begs from classmates ● Reports that no caretaker is at home ● Frequently absent or tardy ● Self destructive ● School dropout (adolescents) ● Extreme loneliness and need for affection |
| Sexual Abuse | ● Sexual abuse may be non-touching (obscene language, pornography, exposure) or touching (fondling, molesting, oral sex, intercourse) ● Torn, stained or bloody underclothing ● Pain, swelling or itching in genital area ● Difficulty walking or sitting ● Bruises or bleeding in genital area ● Venereal disease ● Frequent urinary or yeast infections | ● Excessive seductiveness ● Role reversal, overly concerned for siblings ● Massive weight change ● Suicide attempts (especially adolescents) ● Inappropriate sex play or premature understanding of sex ● Threatened by physical contact, closeness |
| Emotional Abusemmmm | ● Emotional abuse may be name-calling, put-downs, etc. or it may be terrorization, isolation, humiliation, rejection, corruption, ignoring ● Speech disorders ● Delayed physical development ● Substance abuse ● Ulcers, asthma, severe allergies | ● Habit disorder (sucking, rocking, biting) ● Antisocial, destructive ● Neurotic traits (sleep disorders, inhibition of play) ● Passive and aggressive – behavioral extremes ● Delinquent behavior (especially adolescents) ● Developmentally delayed |
1 From the Handbook on Child Safety for Independent School Leaders, by A. Rizzuto and C. Crosson-Tower, Copyright 2012, Reprinted with permission from the National Association of Independent Schools.
Other Reading You Might Be Interested In
Reporting
Building a Culture of Prevention
You can help protect the children you serve by maintaining an environment that prioritizes both preventing child abuse before it occurs and—since…
Reporting
Reporting Children and Youth with Problematic Sexual Behavior
Thinking of children or youth as capable of sexually abusing other children or youth can be difficult to consider and challenging to address. In…
Training
Training Contractors, Consultants, and Interns
Training Contractors, Consultants, and Interns When it comes to training your contractors, consultants, and interns, there is certain core…
Safe Environments
Checklist for Safety Checks in Your Facility
How is Your Facility Designed to Keep Children Safe? Child development and school-age programs operate in many different types of facilities….
Training
Research and Identify Trainings
Staff and volunteers must be trained on child abuse prevention, including the signs and symptoms of child abuse. In order to identify and vet these…
Code of Conduct
Getting Started on Your Code of Conduct: Creating a Risk and Strengths Assessment
Every YSO has certain risks associated with its activities, functions, and responsibilities—and thinking about those risks is an important part of…
Screening & Hiring
Conduct a Risk Assessment
To strengthen your screening and hiring process, you can use the questions in Thinking About Risk to make decisions about what additional background…
Training
Training Parents & Other Caregivers
Parents and other caregivers need to receive, at a minimum, the same level of prevention education as their child/youth. Parents can be strong…
Policies & Procedures
What are Policies and Procedures?
Policies and Procedures are an essential backbone of your prevention strategy at your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO), providing an overarching…
Sign Up to Access Your Learning Center
Customized child sexual abuse prevention guidelines to meet the unique needs of any organization that serves children.
- Evidence-informed guidance
- Actionable prevention steps
- Keeps track of your progress
- Tailored learning tracks
