You Carry the Cure In Your Own Heart
Emotional abuse of children can lead, in adulthood, to addiction, rage, a severely damaged sense of self and an inability
to truly bond with others. But—if it happened to you—there is a way out.
by Andrew Vachss
Originally published in Parade Magazine, August 28, 1994
The attorney and author Andrew Vachss has devoted his life to protecting children. We asked Vachss, an expert on the subject of child abuse, to examine perhaps one of its most complex and widespread forms—emotional abuse: What it is, what it does to children, what can be done about it. Vachss' latest novel, "Down in the Zero," just published by Knopf, depicts emotional abuse at its most monstrous.
Parade article cover photoI'm a lawyer with an unusual specialty. My clients are all children—damaged, hurting children who have been sexually assaulted, physically abused, starved, ignored, abandoned and every other lousy thing one human can do to another. People who know what I do always ask: "What is the worst case you ever handled?" When you're in a business where a baby who dies early may be the luckiest child in the family, there's no easy answer. But I have thought about it—I think about it every day. My answer is that, of all the many forms of child abuse, emotional abuse may be the cruelest and longest-lasting of all.
Emotional abuse is the systematic diminishment of another. It may be intentional or subconscious (or both), but it is always a course of conduct, not a single event. It is designed to reduce a child's self-concept to the point where the victim considers himself unworthy—unworthy of respect, unworthy of friendship, unworthy of the natural birthright of all children: love and protection.
The Entire Article can be viewed here. http://www.vachss.com/av_dispatches/disp_9408_a.html
© 1994 Andrew Vachss. All rights reserved.
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