Dr. Mersch received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, San Diego, and prior to entering the University Of Southern California School Of Medicine, was a graduate student (attaining PhD candidate status) in Experimental Pathology at USC. He attended internship and residency at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.
Are people who were abused as children more likely to become
criminals later in life?
According to a 2005 study sponsored by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), maltreatment in childhood increases the likelihood of arrest as a juvenile by 59% and as an adult by 28%. Abuse as a child also increases the prospect of arrest for a violent crime by 30%.
For females, being abused or neglected in childhood raises the likelihood of arrest by 77%. A related 1994 NIJ study indicated that children who were sexually abused were 28 times more likely than a control group of non-abused children to be arrested for prostitution as an adult.
A 1997 U.S. Department of Justice study sampled 1,000 urban youths in seventh and
eighth grades. Childhood abuse and neglect provided a 25% increased risk factor for serious delinquency (assaults, drug use), poor school performance, symptoms of mental illness, and pregnancy. Interestingly, the risk of lesser forms of delinquency (for
example, underage drinking) were not increased.
Child abuse is a serious national problem involving all economic, ethnic,
racial, and religious groups.
Children are abused predominantly by parents, but other caregivers (babysitter) are not infrequent offenders.
The major types of child abuse are physical, emotional, sexual, and neglect.
Child neglect is the most frequent type of child abuse and the most lethal.
If any suspicion of child abuse or neglect exists, a report should be filed
with the appropriate agency. Good-faith reports are immune from prosecution. A
local system for timely investigation and evaluation should be incorporated in
all cases of child maltreatment.
Prevention (education and counseling) is the best approach for the management
of child abuse and neglect.
For additional information on child abuse, neglect, and child
welfare, try the following sites:
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is the agency
within the Department of Health and Human Services that brings
together the broad range of federal programs and services that
address the needs of children and families.
The Children's Bureau is the oldest federal agency specifically
charged with the responsibility of looking after the well-being of
the nation's children. The bureau helps the states to deliver child-welfare services, such as the protection of children and the
strengthening of families (child protective services), family
preservation and support, foster care, adoption, and independent
living.
Search the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's
(NCMEC) database of current missing children cases and view images of
missing children. Their missing children forum, another site feature,
aids in finding missing and exploited children, supporting families
whose children are missing, and offering child-safety assistance.
Members can speak with each other and with NCMEC representatives
about the images in the forum's libraries.
One of the largest federal clearinghouses and the world's largest
resource for information and materials on substance abuse, the
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI) is
the information arm of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
(Department of Health and Human Services). Services offered by NCADI
include: an information services staff to respond to public inquiries
on alcohol, tobacco, and drugs (ATD); distribution of over 450 free
or low-cost materials on ATD, such as fact sheets, posters,
monographs, and video tapes; referrals to prevention, intervention,
and treatment resources; access to the Prevention Materials and the
Treatment Resources Databases; and federal grant announcements for ATD-related projects.
Visit the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Web
site, Justice Information Center (JIC), for a collection of
clearinghouses providing information on criminal and juvenile justice
issues. The categories offered are: corrections, courts, crime
prevention, criminal-justice statistics, drugs and crime,
international, juvenile justice, law enforcement, research and
evaluation, and victims. In addition, JIC offers "New This Week" and
"Current Highlights" pages.
The mission of the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and
Neglect
is to facilitate the secondary analysis of research data relevant to
the study of child abuse and neglect. The archive's primary activity
is the acquisition, preservation, and dissemination of high-quality
data sets related to the study of child abuse and neglect. Their Web
site provides a listing and brief description of all the studies in
the archive ,along with ordering information. Information on archive
publications and upcoming training institutes and workshops is also
offered.
The National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) serves
American Indian tribes throughout the country by helping to
strengthen and enhance their capacity to deliver quality child-welfare services. Among the activities in which NICWA engages are
community development, public-policy development, and information
exchange.
Previously, this organization was called the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information.
It's an excellent resource covering prevention, responding to child abuse, and supporting and preserving families.
Borderline personality disorder is a serious mental illness characterized by pervasive instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behavior. This instability often disrupts family and work life, long-term planning, and the individual's sense of self-identity. Originally thought to be at the "borderline" of psychosis, people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) suffer from a disorder of emotion regulation.
Dissociative identity disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder or split personality disorder) is a mental illness in which a person has at least two distinct personalities. Symptoms and signs include lapses in memory, feeling unreal, blackouts in time, hearing voices in their head that are not their own, not recognizing themselves in the mirror, and finding items in one's possession but not recalling how they were acquired. Treatment usually involves psychotherapy, medications, and sometimes hypnosis.
Rhabdomyolysis is a rapid deterioration and destruction of skeletal muscle. Some of the causes of rhabdomyolysis include severe burns, muscle trauma, coma, seizures, electrolyte imbalance, medications (statins), viruses, bacteria. Treatment of rhabdomyolysis depends on the cause.
Drug addiction is a chronic disease that causes drug-seeking behavior and drug use despite negative consequences to the user and those around him. Though the initial decision to use drugs is voluntary, changes in the brain caused by repeated drug abuse can affect a person's self-control and ability to make the right decisions and increase the urge to take drugs. Drug abuse and addiction are preventable.
Pubic lice (crabs) are parasitic insects found in the genital area, and are primarily spread through sexual contact. Symptoms of crabs include itching and visible nits (lice eggs) and crawling lice. Treatment includes using lice-killing shampoo and washing bedding and clothing in hot water.
Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) has many symptoms, signs, and causes. Therapy is one treatment option for antisocial personality disorder. It is closely related to other personality disorders (PD), such as borderline personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder.
Cerebral palsy (CP) is an abnormality of motor function and postural tone acquired at an early age (even before birth). Cerebral palsy is generally caused by brain trauma. Types of cerebral palsy include: spastic, choreoathetoid, and hypotonic. There is no cure for cerebral palsy, and treatment is generally managing the symptoms of the condition.
Learning disabilities can cause an individual to have trouble learning and using skills such as reading, listening, writing, reading, speaking, reasoning, and performing mathematics. There is no cure for learning disabilities. Parents and teachers working together to properly diagnose learning disabilities can properly plan a course of education. For some, medication may be appropriate as complimentary treatment.
Shaken baby syndrome is a form of child abuse in which violent shaking of an infant causes the brain to move inside the skull, causing bruising of the brain and tearing of blood vessels. The shaking results in bleeding around the brain, bleeding in the eyes, spinal cord and neck injuries, bruises, and rib fractures. Infants who survive may suffer brain damage and blindness.
Childhood depression can interfere with social activities, interests, schoolwork and family life. Symptoms and signs include anger, social withdrawal, vocal outbursts, fatigue, physical complaints, and thoughts of suicide. Treatment may involve psychotherapy and medication.
Compulsive gambling is a disorder that affects millions in the U.S. Symptoms and signs include a preoccupation with gambling, lying to family or loved ones to hide gambling, committing crimes to finance gambling, and risking importance relationships and employment due to gambling. Treatment may incorporate participation in Gamblers' Anonymous, psychotherapy, and medications like carbamazepine, topiramate, lithium, naltrexone, antidepressants, clomipramine, and fluvoxamine.
Domestic violence, or intimate partner abuse, is when one person in an intimate relationship uses any means to control the other person. It may take many forms, including emotional, psychological, physical, sexual, or economic abuse. Risk factors for domestic violence include drug and alcohol abuse, unemployment, and having a relationship with the victim. Part of treating domestic violence involves keeping the victim safe and developing a safety plan for home and the workplace.
Growth plate fractures and injuries occur in the area growing tissue near the end of the long bones of children and teens. Both boys and girls are susceptible to growth plate fracture and injury. Common causes include: a fall while playing sports or playing on furniture or playground equipment, overuse injury from sports, injuries from competitive sports, child abuse, frostbite, and juvenile arthritis. Growth plate fracture and injury are classified into five categories according to the Salter-Harris Classification.
There are many forms of sexual assault, including rape, attempted rape, child molestation, sexual intercourse that you say no to, inappropriate touching, and vaginal, anal, or oral penetration. Sexual assault can also be anything that forces someone to join in unwanted sexual contact or attention, such as voyeurism, exhibitionism, incest, and sexual harassment.
Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) is a mental illness (factitious disorder) in which a caregiver secretly abuses a child by faking symptoms in the child. Symptoms present in the child include suffocation, bleeding, poisoning, and induced seizures. Treatment involves maintaining the safety of the child and typically incorporates psychotherapy and psychiatric medications for both the perpetrator and victim.
Kids Health RSS
Healthy Living Tips
This site complies with the