Child Abuse Essay, Research Paper
By definition, child abuse is the deliberate and willful injury of a child by a caretaker hitting, beating with an object, slamming against a wall, even killing. It involves active, hostile, aggressive treatment. The key word in the definition of child abuse is deliberate. Why would anyone deliberately harm a child? The physical destruction of a child is the extreme reaction of parents to the stress of having children. If child abuse is a factor of the stress one experiences due to raising a child, then why don’t parents take a class or talk to a professional on how to manage their stress? They don’t want help. They don’t believe that they have a problem. Most people aren’t aware of the fact that deliberately hitting a child is considered to be a felony in all fifty states.
There are four different forms of child abuse. They are Physical Abuse (child beating), neglect, and emotional; Sexual Abuse; Incest; and Exploitation of child pornography.
Physical abuse occurs when a caretaker deliberately beats a child. Some examples of physical abuse include burning with a cigarette, striking a child and scalding with hot water. According to social agencies, beatings of children have been multiplying over the past twenty-five years or so. The increasing number of reports could mean that, in recent years, social workers, health professionals, and other experts have become better able to recognize cases of mistreatment. Some 60,000 cases of physical abuse are reported annually.
Many battered children must endure a second terrible problem- neglect. Neglect, which occurs when parents or others who are responsible for a child’s welfare-stepparents, relatives, or guardians- fail to provide for the child’s basic needs in any number of ways. Physical neglect occurs when the caretaker fails to provide adequate food, clothing, and shelter; when they refuse to seek health care or delay in doing so. Also when they abandon the child, either permanently or temporarily; or when they kick a child out of their home or when they refuse to let their runaway child return to home. There is educational neglect when parents do not force their children to attend school. Either they do not enroll the child in school at the age required by law, or they allow their children to be chronically truant from classes. Another form of neglect is emotional neglect, which occurs when parents or guardians behave in a way that deeply disturbs a young child. It is when they fight or beat each other in front of the child; when they give permission for their child to use drugs and alcohol or when they themselves are under the influence or drugs and alcohol. Physical neglect also occurs when a caretaker refuses to give a child needed care for psychological problems. Then there is moral neglect, when parents let their children run loose in the streets at all hours so he or she risks getting in trouble with the law. Moral neglect also occurs when the parents allow- or even encourage- the child to perform criminal acts. Of the various types of neglect, physical is said to be the most common. The DHHS study reports that some 571,600 American children suffer from physical neglect. Educational neglect is next, just over 292,000 children. Emotional neglect is third with 223,000 victims.
Sexual abuse, which is also known as sexual molestation, is defined as the exploitation of a minor for the sexual gratification of an adult. Its victims range in age from infants to young people well into their teens. It has many different forms. One form of sexual abuse is exhibitionism. This occurs when a person exposes theirself to a child. Another form is when an adult forces a child to perform a sexual act. The third form occurs when a child is raped and then left in a remote area to die. These are just a few types of sexual abuse. The American Humane Association studied reports from child protection agencies across America in 1984 and concluded that some 100,000 American children were sexually abused that year. Sexual abuse is the least frequently reported type of child abuse.
Another form of child abuse is incest. Incest can be defined as sexual acts between two people who are so closely related that the law forbids them to marry. The Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Program reported that they handle about five hundred cases of incest each year. In a great majority of incest cases, the victim is a girl. Her assailant is usually a male adult, uncle, cousin, or brother. Most often, he is the child’s father or guardian. Studies have shown that 40 percent of all women who use drugs have incest in there past.
The fourth form of child abuse mentioned above is Child Pornography. Child Pornography is nothing new, it’s been around for centuries. This form of child abuse first began in foreign countries. In the 1970’s sales of child pornography in the United States boomed. Most of the children in child pornographies are runaways that find themselves broke. Most are willing to engage in pornography for as little as five to ten dollars. The business of child pornography has sickened every thoughtful American. The acts are vicious and the damage to the children great. There is also a great possibility that, raised in sexual cruelty, they themselves will become sexually abusive parents. A terrible tradition has been started.
Who is a child abuser? Abused children are found in all types of homes-in the poorest neighborhoods, in middle-class and wealthy neighborhoods in all parts of the country. No one can define one group of people to be child abusers. However, the greatest numbers of cases of maltreatment are seen in families with annual incomes of $15,000. The rate of maltreatment in these families is five times higher than in higher-income families. Reports have also shown that the rate of physical abuse and neglect is higher in families with four or more children. A family’s ethnic background or race has no bearing on the amount of abuse suffered by the child. By far the greatest number of beatings come from parents who have trouble handling the problems in their lives. About 80 percent of all abusive mothers were at one point and time abused children; 90 percent had suffered mistreatment of some sort during their childhood. For these same reasons, people can expect most of today’s abused children to grow up and abuse their own children. Abuse does not just mean that the child is likely to become an abusive parent. There’s another great danger. Studies show that abused children have the habit of getting into trouble with the law. A study of ninety murders in Texas and Minnesota prisons reported that all had been victims of child abuse.
There are no statues that clearly distinct between what is and what is not considered to be child abuse or neglect. Therefore, police and other public officials must take each case separately into consideration. All states have three sets of laws relating to child abuse and neglect. One law requires all physicians and other public officials to report to the local police any situation in which they suspect that a child has been intentionally abused or neglected. The other two deal with the criminal code by which an accused child abuser is punished. Child abuse is considered a felony, which is punishable by imprisonment for years. Yet, by the time most families in trouble come in contact with the law it is too late to help, and the children whom might have had a chance at home have already lost out. People believe that it is better for an abused child to be placed in foster care. Yet, foster care in some cases may be more harmful to the child’s health. Despite a department policy that children should not be put in homes with more than six children sixteen percent are. One fourth of all abused children in foster care return to their parents. Yet, after the child has been in foster care for eighteen months the chance of them returning to their parents drops drastically.
Each year at least seven hundred American children are killed by their parents. It has been estimated that some ten thousand are severely battered every year: 50,000 to 75,000 are sexually abused: 100,000 are emotionally neglected: and another 100,000 are physically, morally, and educationally neglected. Yet, there are many organizations promoted to prevent child abuse. Some of the organizations include Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and Big Brother/ Big Sisters of America. There are also thousands of thoughtful and concerned Americans working to halt the spread of child abuse. There are things people can do, so let’s put an end to this horrible problem that haunts many American children.
526a
Becerra, Rosina and Giovannoni, Jeanne “Defining Child Abuse” 1979
Chase, Naomi “A Child Is Being Beaten” 1975
Check, William Encyclopedia of Health ” Child Abuse” 1989
Dolan, Edward “Child Abuse” Revised Edition 1992
Fontana, Vincent ” Somewhere A Child Is Crying” 1994
By definition, child abuse is the deliberate and willful injury of a child by a caretaker hitting, beating with an object, slamming against a wall, even killing. It involves active, hostile, aggressive treatment. The key word in the definition of child abuse is deliberate. Why would anyone deliberately harm a child? The physical destruction of a child is the extreme reaction of parents to the stress of having children. If child abuse is a factor of the stress one experiences due to raising a child, then why don’t parents take a class or talk to a professional on how to manage their stress? They don’t want help. They don’t believe that they have a problem. Most people aren’t aware of the fact that deliberately hitting a child is considered to be a felony in all fifty states.
There are four different forms of child abuse. They are Physical Abuse (child beating), neglect, and emotional; Sexual Abuse; Incest; and Exploitation of child pornography.
Physical abuse occurs when a caretaker deliberately beats a child. Some examples of physical abuse include burning with a cigarette, striking a child and scalding with hot water. According to social agencies, beatings of children have been multiplying over the past twenty-five years or so. The increasing number of reports could mean that, in recent years, social workers, health professionals, and other experts have become better able to recognize cases of mistreatment. Some 60,000 cases of physical abuse are reported annually.
Many battered children must endure a second terrible problem- neglect. Neglect, which occurs when parents or others who are responsible for a child’s welfare-stepparents, relatives, or guardians- fail to provide for the child’s basic needs in any number of ways. Physical neglect occurs when the caretaker fails to provide adequate food, clothing, and shelter; when they refuse to seek health care or delay in doing so. Also when they abandon the child, either permanently or temporarily; or when they kick a child out of their home or when they refuse to let their runaway child return to home. There is educational neglect when parents do not force their children to attend school. Either they do not enroll the child in school at the age required by law, or they allow their children to be chronically truant from classes. Another form of neglect is emotional neglect, which occurs when parents or guardians behave in a way that deeply disturbs a young child. It is when they fight or beat each other in front of the child; when they give permission for their child to use drugs and alcohol or when they themselves are under the influence or drugs and alcohol. Physical neglect also occurs when a caretaker refuses to give a child needed care for psychological problems. Then there is moral neglect, when parents let their children run loose in the streets at all hours so he or she risks getting in trouble with the law. Moral neglect also occurs when the parents allow- or even encourage- the child to perform criminal acts. Of the various types of neglect, physical is said to be the most common. The DHHS study reports that some 571,600 American children suffer from physical neglect. Educational neglect is next, just over 292,000 children. Emotional neglect is third with 223,000 victims.
Sexual abuse, which is also known as sexual molestation, is defined as the exploitation of a minor for the sexual gratification of an adult. Its victims range in age from infants to young people well into their teens. It has many different forms. One form of sexual abuse is exhibitionism. This occurs when a person exposes theirself to a child. Another form is when an adult forces a child to perform a sexual act. The third form occurs when a child is raped and then left in a remote area to die. These are just a few types of sexual abuse. The American Humane Association studied reports from child protection agencies across America in 1984 and concluded that some 100,000 American children were sexually abused that year. Sexual abuse is the least frequently reported type of child abuse.
Another form of child abuse is incest. Incest can be defined as sexual acts between two people who are so closely related that the law forbids them to marry. The Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Program reported that they handle about five hundred cases of incest each year. In a great majority of incest cases, the victim is a girl. Her assailant is usually a male adult, uncle, cousin, or brother. Most often, he is the child’s father or guardian. Studies have shown that 40 percent of all women who use drugs have incest in there past.
The fourth form of child abuse mentioned above is Child Pornography. Child Pornography is nothing new, it’s been around for centuries. This form of child abuse first began in foreign countries. In the 1970’s sales of child pornography in the United States boomed. Most of the children in child pornographies are runaways that find themselves broke. Most are willing to engage in pornography for as little as five to ten dollars. The business of child pornography has sickened every thoughtful American. The acts are vicious and the damage to the children great. There is also a great possibility that, raised in sexual cruelty, they themselves will become sexually abusive parents. A terrible tradition has been started.
Who is a child abuser? Abused children are found in all types of homes-in the poorest neighborhoods, in middle-class and wealthy neighborhoods in all parts of the country. No one can define one group of people to be child abusers. However, the greatest numbers of cases of maltreatment are seen in families with annual incomes of $15,000. The rate of maltreatment in these families is five times higher than in higher-income families. Reports have also shown that the rate of physical abuse and neglect is higher in families with four or more children. A family’s ethnic background or race has no bearing on the amount of abuse suffered by the child. By far the greatest number of beatings come from parents who have trouble handling the problems in their lives. About 80 percent of all abusive mothers were at one point and time abused children; 90 percent had suffered mistreatment of some sort during their childhood. For these same reasons, people can expect most of today’s abused children to grow up and abuse their own children. Abuse does not just mean that the child is likely to become an abusive parent. There’s another great danger. Studies show that abused children have the habit of getting into trouble with the law. A study of ninety murders in Texas and Minnesota prisons reported that all had been victims of child abuse.
There are no statues that clearly distinct between what is and what is not considered to be child abuse or neglect. Therefore, police and other public officials must take each case separately into consideration. All states have three sets of laws relating to child abuse and neglect. One law requires all physicians and other public officials to report to the local police any situation in which they suspect that a child has been intentionally abused or neglected. The other two deal with the criminal code by which an accused child abuser is punished. Child abuse is considered a felony, which is punishable by imprisonment for years. Yet, by the time most families in trouble come in contact with the law it is too late to help, and the children whom might have had a chance at home have already lost out. People believe that it is better for an abused child to be placed in foster care. Yet, foster care in some cases may be more harmful to the child’s health. Despite a department policy that children should not be put in homes with more than six children sixteen percent are. One fourth of all abused children in foster care return to their parents. Yet, after the child has been in foster care for eighteen months the chance of them returning to their parents drops drastically.
Each year at least seven hundred American children are killed by their parents. It has been estimated that some ten thousand are severely battered every year: 50,000 to 75,000 are sexually abused: 100,000 are emotionally neglected: and another 100,000 are physically, morally, and educationally neglected. Yet, there are many organizations promoted to prevent child abuse. Some of the organizations include Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and Big Brother/ Big Sisters of America. There are also thousands of thoughtful and concerned Americans working to halt the spread of child abuse. There are things people can do, so let’s put an end to this horrible problem that haunts many American children.