What a shooting does to kids
Three children caught up in Sunday’s fatal police shooting in Tauranga may suffer from alarming memories, nightmares, and anxiousness following the ordeal.
That’s the view of Professor Karen Salmon, Victoria University of Wellington director of clinical psychology.
The three children were held hostage, one who police say had a machete held to their neck, during a 15-hour stand-off that only ended when police stormed the property and shot the man. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Salmon, like others to, said she was unable to comment directly on the specific case but could shed some light on general trauma situations and their effects on children.
She said children who have been in a situation where they believe they are going to die, or who have witnessed a close relative’s death, ‘‘are especially vulnerable to post-traumatic stress’’.
She said a range of behaviours can follow in the wake of a trauma incident, including alarming memories, nightmares, being alert or jumpy, appearing
spoke preoccupied, clinging to anyone familiar and feelings of anxiousness, sadness and a loss of interest in usual activities.
Around 20 per cent of children who have been exposed to traumatic event can exhibit these post-traumatic stress problems, she said, but that figure rises if the child has experienced other difficult events or if the person they see harmed or killed is a close family member.
‘‘Of course it is very understandable for anyone who experiences or witnesses violence to respond with post-traumatic stress, and for some children, fearful feelings and thoughts decrease over time,’’ she said.
‘‘Whether this happens will again depend on a whole lot of things, but especially the warmth, love, and support that they receive from people around them in the aftermath and into the future, and the wellbeing and reactions of other close relatives.’’
She also said it was possible for a child’s world view to shift ‘‘to see themselves as very fragile and the world as completely frightening’’.
‘‘Beliefs such as these can have a profound influence on the child’s current and future behaviour, their feelings, and their relationships.’’
Judi Jacobsen and Megan Longman, registered social worker and counsellor respectively at Child Play Works, said that while they too were unfamiliar with the specifics of this incident, both have experience of working with children who have suffered trauma.
‘‘What we do know is that after the experience of trauma, children will very often behave in ways which indicate they are struggling to come to terms with what has happened.’’
They said often a child’s initial concern will be centred around their physical and emotional safety.
‘‘Given the police video report on this very distressing situation, it would be safe to assume these children have experienced severe trauma,’’ they said.
Typically, they said children who have had such an experience tend to either externalise or internalise their trauma.
‘‘Externalising is evident in such things as acting out and aggressive behaviour, anger, selfharm or threat of self-harm, ‘‘ they said. ‘‘Internalising is evident in such things as anxiety, withdrawal, regressive behaviour, generalised fear, depression. In addition, there will potentially be sleeping and eating problems, school and/or academic problems.
‘‘In addition, if the person responsible for the trauma has a role of caregiving in the child’s life, then the impact on the child is compounded.’’
Salmon said that moving forward, the children should be given some control over when and if they want to talk about their experience, and said returning to regular routines can also be helpful.
‘‘If the post-traumatic stress difficulties have not decreased after a few weeks, then there are effective trauma-focused approaches for helping children that can be delivered by clinical psychologists,’’ she said.
Jacobsen and Longman said they would recommend an intervention focused on play, a ‘‘natural and inherent way of communicating and processing trauma’’.
They warned however that the process could take time as children need to feel safe with any therapist before long lasting work can commence.
‘‘If left untreated, post traumatic stress disorder can develop, and this can be the cause of ongoing, long-term emotional harm and behavioural problems in a child’s life.’’
Dianne Lummis, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist and President of the New Zealand Association of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists, said there would be no quick fix and making the children feel safe and secure is a crucial first step. However, she was optimistic about the effectiveness of treatment.
‘‘Children can go on to lead great lives, but the support needs to be long term and ongoing.’’