Physical abuse damages brain development

Internationally known parenting expert Stephen Bavolek is best known in the United States and Europe for his Nurturing Parenting program. He was awarded a three-year grant in the 1980s to study the opinions and parenting approaches of parents who themselves were abused. The Nurturing Parenting Program was the end result.

Abused children so often grow up to become abusers. Abused children also are at high risk of developing addictions and resorting to criminal behavior. That's because abuse shapes not just a child's psychological makeup, but the actual chemical makeup and physical structure of their brains, Bavolek said.

"Nurturing Parenting is a philosophy and a program designed to empower human beings with empathy — by far the most important aspect of it is empathy. We're predisposed to be in long-term, nurturing relationships, and when deprived, the ‘self’ doesn't develop normally" and is unable to relate normally to others.

"It involves education on three levels — cognitive, behavioral and neurological, as in changing the way the brain functions. We know, from research done in the last 20 years, that the brain normalizes abnormal behavior. Children who were maltreated develop a brain function that says malfunction is normal. Kids who are abused develop diseased neural networks — too much cortisol and other key hormones that prohibit development of positive, normal brain chemistry," Bavolek said.

Because brain chemistry and neural structure are affected by abuse, even parents who recognize their abuse or potential for it have a tough time changing their thought patterns and behavior when stressed, he said.

And it's not just physical abuse that's dangerous. Neglect and emotional abuse can be just as destructive. Too many parents expect their children to be their caretakers, so the children learn they are powerless and unlovable.

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