Assessing Your Current Policies and Procedures
In order to create concrete and detailed Policies and Procedures at your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO), it is necessary to analyze what policies…
Home / Reporting / 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or abrasions ● Swollen areas ● Evidence of delayed or inappropriate treatment for injuries | ● Self destructive ● Withdrawn and/or aggressive – behavioral extremes ● Arrives at school early or stays late as if afraid to be at home ● Chronic runaway (adolescents) ● Complains of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.
Policies & Procedures
In order to create concrete and detailed Policies and Procedures at your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO), it is necessary to analyze what policies…
Training
Parents and other caregivers need to receive, at a minimum, the same level of prevention education as their child/youth. Parents can be strong…
Screening & Hiring
Screening means thorough reference and background checks, including review of criminal and sexual offender records, for all employees, staff,…
Reporting
Thinking of children or youth as capable of sexually abusing other children or youth can be difficult to consider and challenging to address. In…
Policies & Procedures
Policies for youth-serving organizations in Massachusetts should clearly identify the duties and responsibilities of all staff, reflect both Federal…
Policies & Procedures
Your Policies and Procedures must be adhered to by all staff and volunteers to maintain safety standards at your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO)….
Reporting
Recognizing Abuse & Neglect The minimum required safety elements for you to prepare leadership, staff, and volunteers to recognize, respond…
Safe Environments
Ensuring a safe environment for children includes targeting the five major areas of safety: visibility, access, supervision and communication,…
Training
The approaches in the chart below can provide frameworks that make your organization most effective when training adults and/or children/youth….
Screening & Hiring
Finding and retaining a qualified and diverse workforce is one of the greatest challenges for youth-serving organizations like yours. Given the…
Customized child sexual abuse prevention guidelines to meet the unique needs of any organization that serves children.
Learning Center Registration
Sign up for an account and start your learning experience.
Free Online Assessment
Let us help you find out where to start.