Addressing Global Problems at Family Level-A Case of an Abused and Neglected African Child

Family mental health is critical determinant of future of wars, turmoil and their consequences while parenting justified parenthood through realization of noble roles in respect of child development and growth that features child re-socialization and projection to independence, learning to co-exist peacefully with family members and society, and problem-solving to achieve defined goals in life.

As the family continues to play its development role -both moral and physical support in the life of a child, the community too begins to identify its development concerns and expectations of that child. This, though, as for families, can be for the good or worse. Responsibility on the part of the family and community and eventual decisions made, thus, contribute to mental wellness of the child, free from abuse and neglect.


For example, absence of love, trust, and feeling of security on the part of the child influence later development outlooks and, in years to come, it is society that either benefits or suffers. Some of the outcomes can be aggressiveness, fears, anxieties, and broken ambitions that, with time, go behavioral in the forms of substance abuse, irrational alliances or relationship to seek security, underachievement, anti-social behaviors, authoritative and abusive parenting, poor role modeling of parents –as some turn criminals, prostitutes or get diseased; and breakdown of the social fabric with violence in homes and in the wider society.
From the level of a family such outcomes later are manifested in communities -at places of work or in very important political positions -and these become corrupt national leaders, or military aggressors of nations in which masses suffer from acts of violence and psychological trauma.

The challenges of children growing in broken families include; the big burden to achieve life goals on their own -with no hope of parental intervention; no guidance to making wise health decisions, to ensure personal safety and healthy social assimilation.

That, generates high pressure and chronic stress to achieve, to break development barriers mentally, socially and institutionally; and child develops along the fear of dropping out of school due to inability to pay fees on his or her own –catapulted by failure to concentrate and excel academically, to attain a good career, inability to solve problems associated with choosing and having healthy relationships, and inability to manage chronic stress that characterizes his or her family environment –which shapes child's future into adulthood and in responsible social positions that the future provides. The child continues to live a life without social support and lack of confidence to seek it to viably building resilience required to succeed in life.

It was concluded from an intervention in the life of an abused child that the amount of resilience resulting from positive reinforcement from friends, teachers and inspiring leaders or roles models from media products, supported adaptability or coping -and some kind of positive spiritual inclinations greatly catapulted abused and neglected children through traps of childhood suffocation, underachievement, psycho-pathological enclaves and demeaning parental hostilities. It should be noted that involvement of in godly activities worked best for them in situations –where the victim trusted no one -including those who really loved them.

In addition to community intervention at village level, or at national level, or regional and global forces of peace restructuring, reconciliation and actual provision of physical needs to children goes a long way towards pacification of the individual or society, ensuring access to development needs and support information to successful yet sustainable human development –as critical means to control and prevent global wars and psychological trauma.

Graduate Peace and Conflict Studies Program
Makerere University
P.O. Box 7062, Kampala-Uganda
jwaiswa@arts.mak.ac.ug