Emotional Abuse
Additional Information
Caring Lawyers Representing Children and Their Families in Emotional Abuse Cases
As a parent, leaving your child at a daycare facility can be difficult. It’s hard to trust that others will take good care of your child. While you hope your fears of abuse and neglect are unfounded, the unfortunate truth is that daycare abuse is surprisingly common. Even if the employees of the facility don’t physically or sexually abuse your child, emotional abuse can be just as damaging and leave your children with emotional scarring that may last a lifetime.
If your child has suffered emotional abuse at the hands of daycare employees, those responsible must be held accountable for their actions. While your priority is, of course, getting your child to a safe environment, one of your next steps should be contacting a daycare abuse lawyer who can help you get the justice you and your child deserve in the form of financial compensation for the future counseling, medical bills, and emotional trauma suffered by you, your child, and your family.
Forms of Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse of children can take many forms, including:
Ignoring the child
Belittling or teasing the child, especially when other children or adults are around
Terrorizing the child
Rejecting the child
Overly criticizing the child
Bullying the child
Isolating the child
Locking the child in dark rooms or closets
Emotional abuse can occur on its own, but it more often accompanies sexual or physical abuse as a method of guaranteeing the child will “keep quiet”.
The Signs of Emotional Abuse in a Child
The signs of emotional abuse can be more difficult to detect than physical abuse, as it doesn’t result in visible bruises, welts, or other injuries. Regardless, parents who know what to look for can spot the signs. Common indicators of emotional abuse include:
Difficulty sleeping or bedwetting
Mood swings and personality changes
A sudden loss of interest in games and activities
An unexplained sudden onset of nightmares
Excessive fear or aggressive behavior
Suddenly becoming secretive and “hiding”
Speech disorders or an unwillingness to speak
Anxiety and fear of having done something bad or wrong
Self-destructive behavior and comments
Lack of healthy love and affection for you as parents
Refusal to spend time with and play with other children
Excessive shyness
A common result of emotional abuse is a feeling of abandonment and isolation, and in many cases, it involves a feeling of betrayal. All these and more are emotions and sensations that no child should be forced to experience.
Who Can be Held Liable?
Despite the wide range of daycare facilities available (such as institution-based centers, home care, camps, preschools, and more), liability usually falls with either:
The private individual responsible for taking care of your child,
An employee of an institution or organization assigned to care for your child, or
The institution itself for negligent hiring and supervision policies regarding their staff.
A skilled Phoenix child abuse attorney can investigate the circumstances surrounding the abuse and determine who can be held legally accountable and then take the needed legal action.
What to Do If Your Child is Being Emotionally Abused at a Daycare Facility
If you suspect your child is being emotionally abused, it’s always better to take proactive action and deal with it by following these steps:
Remove the child from the abusive environment and file a complaint.
Speak with friends and family to see if others have noticed the same changes in your child, recording notes as legal evidence.
Speak with other parents of children at the facility to see if they notice similar changes in their own children.
Contact a daycare abuse attorney to help investigate, review your situation, and file a civil lawsuit to recover damages to compensate you, your child, and your family for the emotional damage created by the abuse.
Why Choose Us
The Husband & Wife Law Team of Mark and Alexis Breyer are devoted parents of eight children, which gives them a personal perspective on how much children mean to their parents. With over 20 years of practicing law and protecting the rights of innocent victims, our team is dedicated to helping families recover from traumatic injuries and experiences. We provide caring, compassionate, and effective legal counsel for concerned parents.
Mark Breyer is an award-winning lawyer who has been featured on the news to speak about child abuse cases and provide legal advice, and he personally meets and works with every client. We offer a free consultation, and our cases are taken on contingency – meaning you won’t owe any legal fees unless we win your case. Contact us today to get started.