AN ASSESSMENT OF CHILD ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH OF VICTIMS

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on investigating the impact that Child Abuse has on the Mental Health of Victims using five (5) secondary schools in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State. The study was guided with five research objectives; Find out the incidence of child abuse among secondary school students, assess the prevalence of child abuse among secondary school students, examine the impact of child abuse on academic performance and behavioral problems of secondary school students, determine if child abuse affects the student’s interaction with their peers and classmates and find out the roles of social workers in addressing child abuse among secondary school students. The study uses the survey design and the population of the study was the 174 secondary schools Local Government Area. However the study selected 5 schools out of them as sample through the simple random sampling technique. Primary data was collected through the use of questionnaire, presented and analyzed by means of simple percentage. The findings show that child abuse negatively affects the behaviour, interactions, psychological wellbeing and overall mental health of the students. It was recommended that; Government should implement child abuse prevention programs and policies that aim to educate students, parents and teachers about what constitute an abuse, the signs of child abuse and how to prevent it.