Alex Dave, Safeguarding Education Officer, LGfL-The National Grid for Learning, examines the reasons why adolescent neglect often goes undetected and unreported, indicators that can flag neglect and what schools can do.
Neglect – ‘the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development’. Department for Education (DfE)
We often associate neglect with younger children, however, in reality, neglect is prevalent in teenagers but is often misunderstood and can remain unrecognised, and therefore under-reported. In a recent study of serious case reviews by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (2022) 13.4% of children aged 11-17 surveyed, described severe maltreatment, and 18% of those fatally or seriously maltreated, were older than 14 years and had experienced neglect. Yet, do our records in secondary schools evidence that adolescent neglect is being regularly identified?
Consider the following:
“Shaz is 14 years-old. She lives with her mother and younger brother. At points, her father has lived in the family home, but her parents’ relationship has been characterised by conflict and multiple separations. At 13, Shaz began displaying sexualised behaviour at school and was excluded on three occasions for fighting. A few months ago, she disclosed that she had engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse with an older male. Shaz has also recently been arrested for shoplifting.”
When reading the above, it would be easy to attribute Shaz’s behaviour to being a ‘rebellious teenager’. But in reality, neglect may be the root cause of Shaz’s behaviour. Are we always as curious about adolescents’ behaviour as we need to be?
What does neglect of an adolescent look like?
Neglect is when a child’s care needs are not met. Entering adolescence, what care needs does a child have, and where does the boundary of their naturally increasing autonomy and agency, meet parental responsibilities?
A child’s needs change significantly between the start of puberty and early adulthood. A healthy parent-adolescent relationship reflects this change, with an increase in autonomy as the young person matures. Parents still play a critical role and are still responsible for keeping their child safe, providing boundaries and guidance, and physical care needs such as warmth, connection, and access to essential items.
Without effective parental boundaries in place in earlier childhood, young people may seek high levels of risk taking behaviour which could result in under age sexual activity, criminal behaviour and alcohol and drug use. This may also expose them to greater contextual risks including exploitation and serious youth violence.
If a young person is allowed to go out whenever and with whomever they like, without any parental consideration for their safety, this may be identified as supervisory neglect.
When a young person does not have access to resources necessary to maintain good personal hygiene, this may be an example of physical neglect.
Adolescence is also a time for the development of the ‘social brain’ and of personal exploration. Most teenagers become increasingly interested in what their peers think of them. In her book, ‘Inventing Ourselves: The secret life of the teenage brain’, Sarah Blakemore states, young people are literally ‘inventing themselves’ during adolescence – deciding on their moral and political beliefs, music tastes, fashion tastes, social preferences etc.
However, the way in which this happens is dependent on how the child has been cared for earlier in their life. Our social and emotional development is sequential. Therefore, if there have been omissions in attachment caregiving for an adolescent, this can result in social and emotional difficulties such as the development of unhealthy relationships, seeking high levels of external validation, ‘people pleasing’ and various mental health difficulties.
What indicators may identify a young person is experiencing neglect?
Neglect is often complex – it occurs in many different ways for many different reasons, so identifying it takes skill. Context is everything. Usually neglect occurs as a result of other dynamics in a family’s life, so its presentation can be hidden within the tangled web of other factors such as: mental health issues, poverty, single parent households, domestic abuse etc. Sometimes this myriad of factors can act as a distraction, causing professionals to lose focus on the child and masking the neglect.
The following are regularly reported as concerns linked to neglected young people:
- running away from home
- substance misuse
- offending or antisocial behaviour
- gang involvement
- vulnerability to criminal and sexual exploitation
- concerning sexual behaviour
- mental health issues
- bullying and being bullied
- problems with school engagement
Often we do not make the link between these behaviours and neglect, which leads to an ineffective response, and the under-reporting of incidents of neglect in older children.
What can schools do?
Neglect must always be actively considered when concerns arise – ensure all school staff understand what neglect may look like for young people and respond accordingly. Improved awareness and identification means we can better support young people affected by it.
Neglect identified in adolescence is often chronic and regularly accompanied by trauma. Understanding trauma and how this affects brain function and behaviour is vital. Neglected young people are frequently blamed for their behaviour. Adopting a trauma informed approach recognises the child’s lived experience of trauma, avoids re-traumatisation and offers support and skills to address the trauma, build their sense of safety and trust, and eventually empower them to move forward with their lives.
For more information, support and training about neglect, please visit https://neglect.lgfl.net
