PRINTER'S NO. 1992
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
126
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY KIRKLAND, SANCHEZ, BURNS, KENYATTA, FREEMAN,
KINSEY, McNEILL, GALLOWAY, SCHLOSSBERG, SCHMITT, HANBIDGE,
NEILSON, MERSKI, HILL-EVANS, CIRESI, SCHWEYER, HOHENSTEIN,
BOBACK, HOWARD AND LEE, JULY 30, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH, JULY 30, 2021
A RESOLUTION
Recognizing emotional abuse of children and its deleterious
effect on all individuals in this Commonwealth.
WHEREAS, Dorota Iwaniec, Ph.D, has described emotional abuse
as "a persistent, chronic pattern of parental behaviour...which
over the years becomes internalised and gives rise to the
feeling that the child alone is to blame"; and
WHEREAS, Emotional abuse of children takes many forms and may
include rejection, isolation, terrorization, intentional lack of
acknowledgment, corruption, verbal assault and overpressure to
follow a parent's or guardian's demands; and
WHEREAS, Childhood emotional abuse can occur in unexpected
environments, perpetrated in homes, foster homes and group homes
as well as secure care and criminal justice facilities; and
WHEREAS, Approximately 3 million children in the United
States experience some form of maltreatment each year, while
research shows that nearly one in four of those children
experience psychological or emotional abuse exclusively; and
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WHEREAS, This figure may not reflect the full scope of the
problem as childhood emotional abuse can be difficult to detect,
define and measure, especially across generations; and
WHEREAS, Research published in 2001 estimated that
psychological maltreatment may have been significantly present
in the childhood histories of more than one-third of the general
adult population of the United States; and
WHEREAS, As a public health issue, childhood emotional abuse
bears personal and societal costs; and
WHEREAS, Victim advocate organizations consider the lasting
effects of emotional abuse, especially childhood emotional
abuse, to be the "most damaging form of maltreatment"; and
WHEREAS, Survivors may experience lifelong patterns of
depression, estrangement, anxiety, low self-esteem,
inappropriate or troubled relationships or lack of empathy, and
the societal costs are great; and
WHEREAS, The economic impact of child abuse and neglect is an
estimated $80.3 billion per year, with $33.3 billion in direct
costs for hospitalization, mental health care and law
enforcement, and $46.9 billion in indirect costs for special
education, adult homelessness, criminal justice services and
lost work productivity; and
WHEREAS, It is important to enact legislation that raises
awareness of childhood emotional abuse, makes detection easier,
facilitates home visiting and parent mutual support self-help
groups and provides proactive mental health services for victims
and abusers; and
WHEREAS, This type of legislation would break parents and
guardians, children and society from the intergenerational cycle
of abuse and create a healthier, safer future for Pennsylvania;
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therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize
emotional abuse of children and its deleterious effect on all
individuals in this Commonwealth.
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