Child Abuse and Emotional Abuse - Essay Example

Child Abuse and Emotional Abuse Violence is defined as a “behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something (Oxford Dictionary, 2009). Violence of different types and the problems associated with violence are a common observation in society. Efforts to protect, defend and compensate the victims of violence are made by every healthy society. These efforts may be in the form of new laws or changes made to the previous laws, providing education about the rights of individuals or in some cases punitive actions for those committing violent actions against others. A number of problems associated with violence have been identified during the past decades. Our lifestyle and the changes that are brought to our lifestyle with the passage of time and advent of new technical advances, keep on changing the extent, methods and effects of violence on our society. Different violence problems are seen in our society. The problems of ‘Emotional abuse’ and ‘Child Abuse’ will be discussed here. When child abuse and emotional abuse are compared, we can see that child abuse can have various manifestations which are visible to an observer when observed closely and can therefore be detected, even if an attempt to hide it is made. On the other hand, emotional abuse of an individual does not leave any footprints which could be detected in case of suspicion. Moreover, emotional abuse is most often considered as ‘acceptable’ by most of the people, so this is the most under reported form of violence. In my view, child abuse can more easily be controlled by implementation of effective policies as compared to emotional abuse, which is not only difficult to detect but also difficult to control. Abuse is said to have occurred if a person fails to act towards another person with the level of care appropriate for their relationship. Child Abuse is a very common happening in the society. The highest numbers of abusers are the child’s own parents. Child abuse may be classified into four main classes; physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. The most common type of child abuse is considered to be ‘neglect’. The type of abuse which harms a person’s body is known as physical abuse. It may include things like hitting, kicking, punching, pulling hair, slapping, burning and in some cases poisoning. Emotional abuse takes place when a child’s feelings or self-esteem are hurt. This may include things like using cruel words, locking the child in a dark close etc. According to some experts, this is the most destructive form of abuse. Neglect refers to the act of choosing to ignore a child’s basic necessities. Sexual abuse includes any action that is related to sex, and therefore is harmful to a child. For most of the experts sexual abuse is the most under-reported form of child abuse (Havelin, 2000). Hidden emotional abuse is painfully common but rarely addressed. The problem of emotional abuse is such that it takes place all around us. Emotional abuse of adults by other adults has different signs and symptoms as compared to the case when children are emotionally abused by adults. Emotional abuse among adults has become so common that it is normal for grown-ups to think of it as being acceptable. Those who suffer from both physical and emotional abuse even fail to recognize the presence of emotional abuse. But the fact is that emotional abuse can be as damaging an experience as physical abuse. A number of feelings have been associated with the existence of emotional abuse which may include embarrassment, confusion, worthlessness, instability, low confidence levels, identity doubts, depression , isolation, self-blame, humiliation and pessimism. In more complex cases, those who are emotionally abused may develop suicidal ideation, bottling up of rage and substance abuse. The consequences of emotional abuse do not stop here. There is a high possibility that this abuse after being experienced by a person is passed-on to other adults and even children (Browne, 2007). Emotional abuse of a child may be defined as an ill-treatment of a child which is persistent and severe enough to cause adverse effects on child’s emotional development and well being. Unlike other forms of abuse, e.g sexual abuse which is a hidden or secret activity, emotional abuse of an individual is an observable activity. As a result of emotional abuse, children may be conveyed the message that they are worthless and they will only be valued if they meet the needs of another person (Meadow et al, 2007). Among the various forms of abuse, perhaps the most complex to define, identify and recognize is emotional abuse. The total impact of emotional abuse is not manifested as a single event or incident. Instead, continued emotional abuse manifests itself with cumulative, serious and life long suffering on part of the individual emotionally abused. A number of components of emotional abuse have been identified which may include; Rejection – In this form of abuse, the guardian refuses to acknowledge that the child has any worth. The needs of the child are not considered important. Isolation – In this form of abuse, the opportunity to socialize with other members of the society is not given to the child thus hampering his social development. Terrorizing – In this form of abuse, an environment full of fear and terror is created by the guardian with the sole purpose of achieving ‘control’ over children. Ignoring – In this form of abuse, the guardian fails to provide the required emotional stimulation and responsiveness to the children. Corrupting – In this form of abuse, the child is guided into believing that anti-social behavior is the right behavior and any destructiveness is acceptable. Multiple prevention strategies are required to overcome the problems of emotional abuse and child abuse. I would suggest that providing new parents with education and the skills required to be good parents is of utmost importance and special arrangements should be made for the education of new couples. The transition from single life to married life and later on from married life to parenthood poses considerable challenges for new couples. Firstly, all new couples should be guided into understanding the basic rights of their spouse. Limits of normal behavior should be known by both individuals. To prevent emotional abuse, both members should be guided to first identify what emotional abuse is. The couple should be educated about the possible adverse effects of emotional abuse. Moreover, they should be guided about the available methods to seek help if a member suffers from emotional abuse imposed by the other. There is a need to let new couples develop skills to identify the needs of their newborns. Every child brings with it a new set of challenging conditions which parents have to cope with. The new parents should be guided about the behavior of young children. First, they should be educated to identify child abuse, if it ever occurs. Then, they should be educated about the possible adverse effects of child abuse. Methods of dealing with young children’s arrogance should be taught. Special training should be given about applying corrective measures, if at some point in life the parents find that their children need correction. Children or adults suffering from emotional or any other kind of abuse should be taught about their real rights as individuals. After clearly knowing their rights, the likelihood of ‘keeping quiet’ about any violent behavior is much reduced. Children should be taught methods of prevention and escape from child abuse. Moreover if such incident occurs, the children should be well aware where to seek help. Similar is the case of emotional abuse that is endured by adults. Special institutions should be set up for the purpose of helping those who are sufferers of any forms of abuse. Access to such institutions should be readily available. Children should be taught how to identify abuse. After identification, they should be guided about different possible methods by which they can get rid of abuse. And if they find no escape, they should always report it to the concerned authorities. A major problem is the identification of true cases of emotional or child abuse. There may be incidents when a false report has been made about child abuse or emotional abuse for purposes which are not for the benefit of individuals. Trained professionals should be employed for the detection of abuse, if it has occurred. These trained professionals should be well aware of the status of the society regarding different crimes of abuse. This will not only help the victims, but will also break the cycle of child abuse which may get transferred into the next generations. If there is a suspicion that someone is involved in child or emotional abuse, the case should be followed thoroughly. Complete investigation should be made about the possible motives of the crime. Those involved in acts of abuse should be treated accordingly. Corrective measures should be taken for the correction of perpetrators which may include medical treatment if they need medical assistance or punitive action if they deserve (Lock et al, 2001). The criminals should not be given any favors or merciful verdict. The reason for this is that, if one criminal is forgiven for a crime, the others involved in the same crime, start to expect the same, which ultimately sets up a vicious cycle. If the above mentioned suggestions are forced into action, I’m confident that the problems of emotional abuse and child abuse will slowly start to diminish in volume, and over a period of few years considerable decline in the rate of occurrence of these crimes will ensue. In my opinion, the reason for this is that, we as a social entity lack the knowledge of our rights considerably. Moreover, the helpless children start to accept their condition of being helpless as they see no escape to the problem of their abuse when they are repeatedly abused. If they are taught that it is not right to accept the abuse and that it should be reported, they will be more likely to report any and all kinds of abuse which they suffer from. Similar is the problem of emotional abuse in children as well as in adults. In intimate relationships, the offending partner continues to violate the individual rights of his partner without any hindrance since such matters are never reported. But, if the partner undergoing emotional abuse is well aware of what is happening to him/her, the likelihood that such abuse will be reported is very high. Moreover, the abusers continue their abusive actions until they are not punished. If the rights of a child are violated, the abuser deserves punishment for this action. In my opinion, such abusers should always be punished. Some people may argue that such punishments are inhumane or cruel. But the question is, if the rights of a criminal are violated by punishing him, what about the rights of the child who has suffered abuse because of the actions of this criminal? Has the child got no rights? Therefore, I can confidently say that my recommendations will definitely work to bring down the rates of emotional and child abuse in our society. Conclusion Violence in all its forms is highly unacceptable. Emotional abuse and child abuse are two most commonly encountered problems in our society, where violence comes into play. Whereas the possibility of detecting child abuse in expert hands is considerably high, the chances of detection of emotional abuse are very low. Therefore a high level of suspicion is mandatory for detection of this kind of violence. Once detected, appropriate measures should be taken immediately not only for the correction of the offender, but also to prevent and lessen the possible loss of the sufferer. Proper education to identify, detect and correct this violence against innocent individuals is necessary to lessen the incidence of this crime in our society. Those who commit such crimes should be offered help if they need it, they should be warned of the possible damages which may occur to other individual’s personalities and if they insist on doing such crimes again and again, they should be subjected to punitive action to break the viscous cycle of emotional or child abuse. References "violence." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 13, 2010 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-violence.html Meadow, S. R., Mok, J. Y. Q., & Rosenberg, D. (2007). ABC of child protection. Malden, Mass: Blackwell Pub, p64. Browne Miller, A. (2007). To have and to hurt: Recognizing and changing, or escaping, patterns of abuse in intimate relationships. Westport, Conn: Praeger, p77-79. Lock, S., Last, J. M., & Dunea, G. (2001). The Oxford illustrated companion to medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p172. Havelin, K. (2000). Child abuse: Why do my parents hit me? Perspectives on relationships. Mankato, Minn: LifeMatters, p9. Read More