An Annotated Bibliography on Child Abuse in America - Coursework Example

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Sexual abuse deprives children of their childhood. Society assumes immense responsibility to do what it can to prevent child sexual abuse and rescue them from further abuse in case prevention fails. Issues in the adjudication of cases of child sexual abuse include children’s competence to take an oath and to testify it, the believability of children’s testimony, and the accommodation of young witnesses in the courtroom. Despite the lack of ability of law to solve the issue of child abuse, law does play a cardinal role in the efforts of child protection. Courts need to coordinate to address such issues.
Child abuse costs about $220 million daily and affects over a million children in a year. The direct cost of child abuse in 2012 was $33,333,619,510 whereas the indirect cost was $46,926,791,578. Sources of direct cost include acute medical treatment of children, mental health care system, child welfare system, and law enforcement. Sources of indirect cost include special education, early intervention, emergency housing, mental health care, juvenile delinquency, adult criminal justice costs, and lower worker productivity. With proper planning and implementation, it is possible to prevent the child abuse and neglect and accordingly, save all the costs associated with it.
Childhood abuse and trauma have serious consequences. It causes numerous psychiatric disorders and symptoms in childhood and adulthood including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, borderline personality disorder, learning disorders, somatization, substance use, sexual behavior problems, and dissociative disorders. Child abuse is also a cause of criminal behavior, and difficulties of general health. The family structure and maltreatment of children are related to each other. The immense impact of child abuse on the behavior and emotional ...Download file to see next pagesRead More