The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Abused children need counselling, says expert

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Friday, Jun 27, 2008
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Abused children need counselling, says expert

M. P. Praveen

They see people with mistrust, apprehension

KOCHI: Children subjected to child labour are vulnerable to developing long-standing personality disorders, C.J. John, senior psychiatrist, said.

He said that children who have experienced physical and sexual abuse were likely to develop a mindset of looking at life and people with mistrust and apprehension.

Some may lack confidence when faced with challenging situations. Some others would develop personality aberrations and turn abusers themselves. “The chances for this are very high,” Dr. John said.

Such children were prone to taking to the world of crime such as drug trafficking, he said. Murukan, a former inmate of a children’s shelter home and who now runs the Theruvora Pravarthaka Association, said: “Many of my friends at the shelter home are now accused in criminal cases”.

Dr. John warned that by adopting a passive attitude to child labour, society was promoting the development of characters that could affect the tranquillity and peaceful atmosphere of society.

Special needs

He stressed the importance of schools, to which children rescued from child labour are sent. These are children with ‘special needs,’ he said.

At the same time a sense that they were no different from other children should also be instilled in them. But not many schools do that, he said and blamed this indifference to society’s general apathy towards the issue of child labour.

“These children start studies with a negative mindset and a minimalist objective,” he said. They often think that they would not be able to aspire for bigger things by pursuing studies.

Mr. John also felt that those imparting counselling to rescued children should possess the right skills.

“Counselling children, especially those who have been abused physically and sexually, is a delicate job calling for special skills,” he said.

No fixed standard

That there is no fixed standard in providing counselling is at the root of the problem. Mr. John felt it was high time that the government thought of setting standards and putting in place a registration system.

“Those who meet the set standards and skills only should be allowed to register as counsellors,” he said.

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