Impact of Neglect on Children and Young People

Hildyard and Wolfe’s (2002) summary of the literature on child neglect stresses, as is apparent when considering Dylan’s life, that neglect affects all aspects of children’s development — physical, socio-emotional, cognitive and behavioural. This finding is supported by a study of frontline practitioners’ experience of neglect (Action for Children, 2009). The practitioners indicated that in their experience neglect impacts on poor attainment at school, emotional and mental health problems, poor social skills, isolation and poor physical health. The effects of neglect continue to manifest themselves in adolescence and can persist into adulthood, having a wide-ranging impact. For example, the study by Currie and Widom (2010) of the long-term consequences of child abuse and neglect highlights that neglected individuals were more likely than a control group to be unemployed or in menial or semi-skilled jobs, with women being particularly vulnerable.