Documentary Study – The Road Beyond Abuse

Documentary Study – The Road Beyond Abuse

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1. Some of the risk factors that Johnnetta and her sister Sonya faced include, first, a history of abuse in the family, which their mother had experienced as a child, and second, drug abuse by their mother. The third risk factor is living in a high-risk neighborhood, which made these two women vulnerable to abuse. According to a study by Greene et al., childhood maltreatment significantly impacts how abused children parent their children later on in life (11). This brings about intergenerational abuse. The second risk factor, drug abuse by the mother, put the two sisters at risk of neglect and abuse by the people their mother associated with. Further, due to neglect, the children, who depended entirely on the adults around them, were put at risk of abuse by people who knew they were helpless. Lastly, living in a high-risk neighborhood negatively affected the children because they were exposed to all types of crimes, including prostitution, drug abuse, and rape.
2. The teachers in Johnnetta’s life, when she decided to get her GED and later on in college, acted as protective factors in that they were caring and encouraging. Despite her shortcomings as an illiterate student, the teachers were patient with her and offered her as many resources as they could so that she could succeed.
3. One of the most important factors for a person who suffers trauma is their coping skills, which differ from person to person. Accordingly, some coping skills include being emotionally expressive, action-oriented, reflective, or reticent (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment para 4). I believe that Johnnetta had an action-oriented coping mechanism, while Sonya had an emotional one. However, Sonya might have had emotional dysregulation and could not regulate her sadness, anger, shame, and other emotions, which led to her self-medicating, mostly through drug abuse. Further, due to the choices she made to cope with her trauma, Sonya did not have any luck in obtaining protective factors.
4. Given a chance to help Johnnetta, I would have ensured that she and her sister were taken away from their home and placed in the foster care system. Even though growing up in the foster system is not the best option, it would have been safer for the girls, and they would also have gotten an education or, better yet, adopted by a good family.
5. Some risk factors Michael faced included drug abuse, domestic violence, and child abuse. Both of Michael’s parents abused drugs, which negatively affected Michael through neglect and child endangerment. The second risk, domestic abuse, negatively impacted Michael psychologically, putting him at risk of depression and PTSD. Child abuse also led to both psychological and physical damage to Michael, including heightened fear, shame, guilt, and low self-esteem.
6. Teachers in Michael’s life were protective factors in that they offered him support and the care he lacked in his life due to parental neglect. They also gave him the resources he needed to succeed in school and achieve his dream of becoming a nurse.
7. Given a chance, I believe I would have helped Michael as the judge in his case did. By recognizing the factors that contributed to Michael’s crimes at such a young age, the judge was able to help Michael by not sending him to prison but to a place where he could get the help he needed and continue with his life.
8. According to The Child Welfare League of America website, in 2020 alone, Georgia recorded 110,227 cases of child abuse. The website also reports that the children’s parents perpetrated 78% of these child abuse cases. The last statistic is that 52% of these abused children were female, while 48% were male children. The following is the link containing these statistics:

• https://www.cwla.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Georgia-Fact-Sheet-2022.pdf.

9. As a child, one of the risk factors I faced was environmental. For example, my generation is all about social media, and being an enthusiastic social media user opened me up to cyberbullying, social media addiction, isolation, and anxiety. As such, I suffered from low self-esteem.
10. The strategies that helped me cope included limiting my time on the platforms and curating my timeline so that nothing triggering appears and that all the content I see is positive.

Works Cited

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. “Understanding the impact of trauma.” Trauma-informed care in behavioral health services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US), 2014.

Greene, Carolyn A., et al. “Intergenerational effects of childhood maltreatment: A systematic review of the parenting practices of adult survivors of childhood abuse, neglect, and violence.” Clinical Psychology Review 80 (2020): 101891.

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After years of trying to figure out why things go wrong, experts decided to try to address why things go right, even in adversity, because some children have the ability to cope successfully even when they face poverty, abuse, war, violence, neglect, and numerous other tragedies.

Documentary Study – The Road Beyond Abuse

So what is it? How do they succeed?
This ability to succeed has been termed resilience and is associated with a series of protective factors that counter the impact of the risk factors in a child’s life. Often, a teacher is the most powerful protective factor in a child’s arsenal. The teacher recognizes the risk factors damaging a child and helps the child receive services, gives much-needed attention, addresses the child’s emotional needs, guides the family to types of assistance and support, and unfortunately, even helps to remove the child from life-threatening situations.
Often, we think that children in our area do not suffer from the same risk factors that affect children in larger cities and urban areas, but that is not true. “The Road Beyond Abuse” documentary is a perfect example of what can, and does, go on in the lives of children in the South. As heart-wrenching as this documentary is, it allows the viewer to see the impact a teacher’s care, concern, and investment can have on a child who has lived a broken life.
Follow the link, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY89RcH-g3M, to view the documentary and see 2 examples of adults who faced horrible risk factors as children, yet came out on the other side as a result of the protective factors that they received in the form of teachers. Do not take your job lightly – you change lives with each word, each glance, each hug, each moment.

After viewing the video answer the following questions in complete sentences and number your responses:
List 3 risk factors that Johnnetta and her sister, Sonya, faced. Why would these negatively impact a child?
How did a teacher(s) act as a protective factor in Johnnetta’s life?
Why did Sonya not cope? What went wrong for her? Did she have protective factors?
What would you have done for Johnnetta?
List 3 risk factors that Michael faced. Why would these negatively affect a child?
How did a teacher(s) act as a protective factor in Michael’s life?
What would you have done for Michael?
Find 3 statistics about abuse/neglect in Georgia from the past 3 years and cite your work (list the website where you found your information).
Did you experience any risk factors as a child? What were they? How did they impact you? Please do not feel pressured – only discuss what you feel comfortable discussing.
What helped you cope and be successful with your risk factors? Describe your protective factors.