Child Abuse as a Social Phenomenon - Essay Example

Child Abuse Childhood is a universal feature of all human societies readily considered as a natural stage ofdevelopment. In fact, it is a social category emanating from societal attitudes, values, and beliefs. The United Nations convention on the rights of children (CRC) defines a child as any human being below the age of 18. Most societies contend that children are fundamentally different from adults, and are innocent and entitled to protection (Newton et al. 16). As such, laws to protect these innocent and defenseless members of the society from dangers like exploitation and neglect are very necessary. Thus, this research focuses on child abuse within the purview of developmental psychology. Child abuse is a social phenomenon. Most definitions of child abuse have emphasized on the physical injury inflicted on the children. Child abuse is violent acts done against children by deviant adults. The perpetrators of child abuse are deviant either by way of mental instability or by way of lack of sexual control. Child abuse has various categories: physical, which entails hitting, burning or beating a child. It could also be emotional which entails shaming or constant blaming of a child. Child abuse can also be sexual entailing rape, premature exposure to sexual stimulation or incest (Fontes 178). Neglect also amounts to child abuse whereby a child cannot access medical care, affection or certain basic needs. Threat of harm also amounts to child abuse where the child has exposure to risk such as immobilizing mutilation or general injury to a child’s development. Child selling which involves trading for physical or legal custody of a child without applying legitimate adoption process is also child abuse. Statistics on child abuse According to WHO, approximately 20% of women and 5-10% of men report having been abused while they were children while 25-50% of children report instances of physical abuse. In America, scientific studies reveal that 40% of women and about 30% of men remember accounts of molestation at some point in their childhood. Molestation, in this case refers to actual physical contact not just exposure to sexual abuse. Half of these abuses are incestuous while the other half by caretakers. In fact, majority of those assaulted remember in detail, their ordeals do not register as mere fragments of memory (Newton et al. 8). Other western nations have frantic studies. A recent Canadian research reveals that 2000 adults relate to incidences exactly as those found in the United States. In non-western countries, the sexual molestation of children is also a common phenomenon. In India for instance, child marriage is a long-standing practice (Connolly &Hill 52). Moreover, the Indian subcontinent has groups like Baiga who still practice actual incestuous marriage between fathers and daughters and between mothers and sons. This defeats the anthropological axiom that no tribe permits incest and that if so society would stop functioning. Childhood in china had the same rituals as India with pederasty of boys, marriage of young girls to their brothers. One Japanese research found that daughters sleep with their fathers over 20% of the time from age 16. Incredibly, Japan is one of the most endogamous societies in the world with incestuous marriage accepted in court. Moreover, there are some rural areas where fathers can marry their daughters when their mother dies. This is according to the feudal family traditions. Why tackling child abuse is important I believe that addressing the problems of child abuse sits deep within societal objectives. The history of human society is founded upon abuse of children like family therapists contend, child abuse often helps to hold families as one and as a way of solving emotional problems. However, it is within my interests and the interest of society to protect these children. The saddest part of it is that child abuse comes in a way that the caregivers have stakes in the abuse of these children consciously or otherwise (Fontes 180). Moreover, adults abuse children out of coercion and the need to exercise power over someone are dominant human traits. Children are abused because their abusers want to dominate them. Similarly, those in power resort to violence in order to sustain themselves in those positions. Thus, a poor parent or a desperate caregiver tries to demonstrate their power by means of violence against children. This is very saddening therefore given that the caregivers and the parents are the ones suppose to guide and protect the children. Psychological importance This topic is of great psychological significance to society as a whole. The main emotional mechanism operating in all abuses towards children involves the use of children as poison containers- receptacles into which grown-ups portray their disowned parts of consciousness. They want to control these feelings through another body without imposing any danger upon themselves (Connolly &Hill 78). Consider a typical incestuous culture of the Bimin-Kuskusmin of Guinea where mothers sleep naked against their children until the age of four. This was in line with the post-partum taboos that inhibited mothers from sleeping with their husbands. This led to among other abuses, maternal incest. Boys in many New Guinea groups today are so traumatized by the erotic experiences and assaults on their bodies while they were young. Moreover, these instances of sexual abuse against children cut across the world. Children are to absorb these injustices against them to appease the bad feelings of the adults. Children were useful poison containers when adults were anxious about success. Success stirs up a certain superego reprisal and children are to appease this ego. Early states even practiced child sacrifice used by mainly the rich to reduce their guilt whenever new ventures began. Belief has it that the social construction of the family should provide protection to the children especially the nuclear family. However, research challenges this notion and instead suggests that the family is the main theatre for sexual abuse and other abuses. Each family has to coin its own ways of successfully raising their children. Among other social causes of child abuse (Newton et al. 12), single parent families and mobility of families are vital. Mobility of family here refers to less contact with the extended family. This makes it difficult for parents to learn about child upbringing from close quarters. Breakup of marriages and violence within the family also causes deep harm to the children and may result into vulnerability to abuse. Conclusion It is truism that most of the behavior that we hold as loathsome and harmful to children is encouraged by the culture. This does not underscore the fact that child abuse causes a lot of harm to our children. Worse still, the abused people end up retaliating on their own children making them the highest percentage of people who end up in prison. Such people also resort to drug abuse reinforcing the fact that it is a psychological process. The voices to save these innocent individuals in society are numerous but it is incumbent upon each individual to look out for the welfare of children. Works cited Connolly, M., Crichton-Hill, Y., & Ward, T. Culture and child protection: reflexive responses. . 2006. London, Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Fontes, Lisa A. Child Abuse and Culture: Working with Diverse Families. Princeton, N.J: Guilford Press, 2005. Sound recording. Newton, Sydney, and Julie Gerrits. Child Abuse. St. Catharines, Ont: Crabtree Pub. Co, 2011. Print. Read More