Child abuse - Research Paper Example

? Child Abuse Child abuse is a very serious aspect in the society today, with prevalence of the vice constantly increasing. Cases of child abuse occur on a daily basis, while some of the cases are not visible, as they occur in home settings. In general, many agencies and governments have voiced their concerns regarding child abuse and have suggested drastic measures. However, most people do not realize the severity of child abuse and even some do not realize that they are actually abusing children. This paper analyzes the different forms of child abuse as well as their occurrence and causes. It also discusses the effects associated with child abuse and recommends some mitigation measurers. Introduction Child abuse is the physical and mental harm, sexual abuse, deserted treatment or ill-treatment of a child below age 18 by an individual who is in charge for the child’s wellbeing under conditions, which signify threat to the child’s health, and welfare. Child abuse occurs in various forms including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse as well as neglect. Examples of physical abuse include shaking, kicking, punching stabbing, or biting of a child. Sexual abuse entails assault with genital contact, intrusion or penetration and other forms of sexual activities in which the molester uses children to obtain sexual gratification. This may also include child pornography and sexual exploitation. (English, 1998). The neglect actions includes failure to give basic needs like shelter, clothing, affection, attention, inadequate supervision, abandonment or even food and also delaying or refusing to give health care. Isolating, corrupting, rejecting, terrorizing or ignoring a child entails the emotional abuses (English, 1998). There were about 3.3 million referrals for suspected maltreatment to child protective service agencies in 2005. From the estimates, the confirmed maltreatments were about 899,000 cases in the United States. The number of victimization was high for children below the age of three with slightly more than half being girls. Approximately 906,000 similar cases occurred in 2004. In both years, neglect was the overall prevalence followed closely by physical abuse. However, these stand for just a fraction of all neglect and abuse cases per year since many cases goes unreported to protective agencies (Herrenkohl et al, 2008). Causes and Risk Factors of Child Abuse There are several causes and risk factors associated with child abuse. Particularly, parental and caregiver attributes are most common for instance poverty, parental unemployment, and drug abuse. In addition, other risk factors include prevalence of mental disorders in parents or caregivers as well as constant criminality in the family. For instance, parents who engage in criminal activities might mistreat their children to conceal their identity. Other factors that might cause child maltreatment include poor health, lower education, and hopelessness in the family (Herrenkohl et al, 2008). Another factor that can contribute to physical abuse is the domestic violence between the child’s parents or caregivers. This is not only likely to affect the child’s psychological health but it is also evident that male batterers are more violent to their children compared to their non-violent counterparts. In addition, several reports deem that mistreatment of children is high among the women who are victims of domestic violence compared to those who are not victims. Moreover, poverty is also a contributing factor to physical violence since there is an increased use of corporal punishment. According to several studies, family stress due to unemployment can cause child abuse. Neglect is also likely when the family cannot offer the basic needs. However, not all poor people mistreat their children (English, 1998). There are several characteristics of maltreating parents or caregivers, including poor impulse control, low self-esteem, depression, aggressiveness and anxiety. In addition, other factors contributing to child-rearing problems are inappropriate expectations of the child, negative attitudes and inaccurate knowledge of child development. On the other hand, there is a strong link between child mistreatment and substance abuse by the parent or caregiver. According to estimates, 50% and 80% of the cases in the child protective services are handling substance-abuse problem (English, 1998). Effects of Child Abuse Child abuse has numerous effects to the victims. Among the effects are hindering the child’s developing a sense of security and belief in a just, safe world due to its disruptive and threatening nature. Consequently, this explains the constant feelings of anxiety or fearfulness among the mistreated victims. The survivors experience more disorders including phobias, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or panic disorder (Briere & Elliott, 1994). In addition, it is clear that there are low self-esteem, impaired trust, self-blame, and chronic self-perceptions of helplessness and hopelessness, in abused children. It is common that these cognitive changes go on into adolescence and adulthood (Briere & Elliott, 1994). In addition, various features are common in physically abused children problems with peer relations. These include a diminished capacity for empathy toward others and aggressiveness toward peers and adults. According to 40 Studies of neglected toddlers, reports show that there was weak trust. This could bring about feelings of lack of love and neglect as well as hinder the development of social skills required for healthy relationships with peers and adults (English, 1998). In addition, the child’s self-awareness could be highly vulnerable due to maltreatment of the child. Consequently, there could be obstruction in child’s development of a sense of self by severe child maltreatment. This could to lead to overreactions to stress or painful effects to individuals because they lack self-soothing or comforting ability. In addition, this could cause problems in separating self from others. For instance, it is hard for adults molested early in life to experience their own internal states independent of the reactions or demand of others or even to relate with others independent of their own experiences or needs (Briere & Elliott, 1994). Management and prevention of Child Abuse Due to the detrimental effects of child abuse, it is appropriate to develop various strategies that address transformation in the family set ups, addressing various family-based problems. This is because most of the causes and risk factors of child abuse rests upon the family dynamics. The best intervention strategies are those that would improve parental proficiency, avert dysfunctional parenting approaches, transform parental ascriptions and encourage cooperation between partners. These strategies would decrease family risk factors correlated with child abuse. In order to attain the best results of these interventions, various aspects should be present. These aspects include comprehending the incidence and frequency of intentioned child effects, understanding the frequency of family risk factors and use of valuable and ethnically suitable family intercessions (Sanders et al, 2003). Regardless of the various risk factors that numerous victims of child abuse encounter, research indicate that frequently many children are resistant to the harmful effects of aggression exposure. This resistance capability comprises attributes by a child that are intrinsically protective as well as having acess to the sources and systems of support that encourage and help in maintaining a procedure of curing and cognitive wellness (Herrenkohl et al, 2008). Tomison (2002) adds that several studies examining the major aspects rendering susceptibility to child abuse and neglect have constantly identified some children who are capable of attaining constructive results in the midst of misfortune. This means that there are some children, who are naturally resilient in spite of facing maltreatment and being highly susceptible. This resistant factor occurs in the presence of risk factors coupled with the protective factors that accelerate adaptive upshots. Another mitigation strategy is having realistic expectations, which entails exploring with parents their anticipations, postulations and convictions concerning the causes of children’s actions. It also involves selecting objectives that are developmentally suitable for the child and sensible for the parent or caregiver. This is because parents who susceptible of mistreating their children are more likely to have impractical anticipations of children’s potentials. Developmentally suitable anticipations should occur in the framework of parents’ precise expectations regarding complex and prosocial actions instead of through the more conventional age and stages methods to teaching concerning child development (Sanders et al, 2003). It is also possible to mitigate the occurrence of adverse effects caused by child abuse through early intervention strategies, which enhance health and development of the child. Various early intervention initiatives and programs help in generating growth-promoting conditions for young children. Often, various biological susceptibility or unfavorable life situations threaten the development of such children. The major aim of early intervention strategies is to promote and influence good behaviors in children, parents and caregivers. This behavior transformation would ensure that there is an ample environment for the growth and development of the concerned children (Tomison, 2002). Another strategy is teaching definite child management approaches that are substitutes of harsh and unproductive discipline procedures for instance yelling, intimidating or using physical punishment. Various productive methods of behavior change revealed to parents, include choosing ground regulations for specific conditions; pre-planned ignoring; talking about regulations with children; handling offences through directed conversation; offering clear, calm, age-suitable instructions and demands; logical outcomes as well as calm time (Sanders et al, 2003). At the service level, the most appropriate mitigation measure would be the formation and enhancement of various Child and Family Centers. These Child and Family Centers are multi-service society centers that undertake a holistic means of mitigating child abuse of promoting a healthy society as well as offering assistance to families on a various aspects. The main aim of establishing Child and Family Centers is to encourage families to seek help in order to mitigate various family problems before the onset of a disaster (Tomison, 2002). Despite all the above interventions, it is vital to seek legal sanctions against the crimes of child abuse. However, Tomison (2002) argues that one disadvantage of implementing a legalistic method is that there have been efforts to limit definitions of child abuse in order to reduce intimidation and the stigma linked with being a perpetrator. This approach is inconsistent with the restorative concern to broaden definitions of what comprises abuse and to augment the recognition of both vulnerable and abusive families in order to provide help. Conclusion There is an increased prevalence of child abuse occurring in various forms including sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect as well as emotional abuse. these forms of abuse causes detrimental effects to the child including retarded development, aggressiveness, poor academic performance, lack of self-awareness and physical harm. The most prevalent causes and risk factors of child abuse include parental attributes such as aggressiveness, drug abuse by caregivers, domestic violence as well as poverty in the family. Mitigation strategies aimed at reducing child abuse should focus more on prevention rather than cure. There should be integration of several approaches including parental training and creation of child and family centers. References Briere, J.N. & Elliott, D.M. (1994). Immediate and Long-Term Impacts of Child Sexual Abuse. Sexual Abuse of Children, 4, 2, 54-69. English, D.J. (1998). The Extent and Consequences of Child Maltreatment. The Future of Children: Protecting Children from Abuse and Neglect, 8, 1, 39-53. Herrenkohl, T.I. et al. (2008). Intersection of Child Abuse and Children’s Exposure to Domestic Violence. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 9, 2, 84-99. Sanders, M.R. et al. (2003). The Triple P-Positive Parenting Programme: A Universal Population-Level Approach to the Prevention of Child Abuse. Child Abuse Review, 12, 3, 155-171. Tomison, A.M. (2002). Preventing child abuse: Changes to family support in the 21st century. Child Abuse prevention issues, 17, 1-24. Read More