Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment - Research Paper Example

Child Abuse Over the recent years, cases of child abuse have been on the rise. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act defines child abuse as “at a minimum, any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.” It further states that under normal circumstances, a child is anybody below the age of 18, or as has been specified by the state child protection laws. . There is a misplaced perception among the masses that child abuse is only sexual in nature. But emotional neglect of the child’s needs and desires by parents or guardians also constitutes child abuse. Childhood is very fragile and emotionally sensitive in nature. It is during this tender age that a child’s perspective and sense of self worth is formed. Thus, child abuse can have detrimentally and long lasting effects on the overall health of a child. Child abuse is more prevalent in developing and under developed countries than the developed ones. In the face of grim poverty and starvation, children often become the innocent victims of multiple forms of abuse. In some countries, instances of child abuse are also driven by local myths and traditions. For example, in South Africa, it is believed that sexual intercourse with a virgin would cure a man of HIV. The practice of child abuse has existed in some form or the other since time immemorial. It was a normal practice for early Greek and Roman civilizations to abandoned deformed or unwanted children, and to offer children as sacrifices to appease the gods. Similar practices were performed in Carthaginian, Roman, Greek, and Aztec societies. In Roman society the father had absolute authority over his child’s life. Sexual abuse of children was also common, but it was never perceived as being illegal or even immoral. It was rather a traditionally accepted phenomenon. But as humankind has progressed as a civilization, attitudes regarding child abuse have drastically changed and rightly so. Child abuse is now recognised as a grotesque social crime, one that can leave ugly scars on a child’s life. Not only does it ruin the innocence of the chid, it also leads to psychological problems in adult life. Traditionally, child abuse has been categorised in the following ways- neglect, physical abuse, psychological/emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. Of the total reported cases of child abuse, neglect represented 54% of confirmed cases of child abuse, physical abuse 22%, sexual abuse 8%, emotional maltreatment 4%, and other forms of maltreatment 12% (National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse). Neglect can imply a situation where the parents fail to satisfy the basic needs of the child including physical, emotional and educational needs. Physical Abuse refers to any act of physical violence committed against a child. Psychological or emotional abuse denotes a pattern of behaviour hat impedes a child’s psychological growth and development. This includes perennial criticism of the child, rejection and all other activities which would adversely affect a child’s sense of self worth. Sexual abuse, which has a rather hazy definition, involves any sexual act between an adult and a child. The more explicit form of sexual abuse occurs when a child is abused for the sexual gratification of an adult. The more subtle form of sexual abuse, though just as serious, is when “an adult indecently exposes their genitalia to a child, asks or pressures a child to engage in sexual activities, displays pornography to a child, or uses a child to produce child pornography.” (Martin et al, 383). Studies have revealed that nearly 15% to 25% of women and 5% to 15% of men were sexually abused when they were children. (Kevin et al, 391). Of these reported cases, 30% of the offenders are relatives of the victim, another 60% of the offenders are friends and acquaintances, while the rest 10% are strangers. As these statistics reveal, in majority of the cases the offenders have familial relations with the victim. It is precisely this fact that prevents a lot of cases from being reported. A child finds it extremely difficult to blame a relative as he has conventionally been taught to respect and uphold such relations. Thus, he finds himself extremely distressed and gravely confused. Child Abuse becomes especially difficult to track as it mostly happens within the domestic space. It can very conveniently be masked by the parents in the name of maintaining order and discipline. Physical abuse is relatively easy to identify as it involves visible injury marks like unexplained and inappropriate bruises. Physical abuse can also give way to behavioural abnormalities ranging from shyness to rebellion. The same symptoms are exhibited in the case of emotional abuse. Sexual abuse can also have superficially visible signs, like swelling and infections in the genitalia, bleeding and bruising. A Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) in a child is the strongest indication of sexual abuse. On the emotional front, a sexually abused child’s mood swings between aggressive and passive. He may also develop an abnormal curiosity about issues related to sex and might show withdrawal symptoms. Besides that, an abused child might also find it difficult to perform routine duties and actions. Psychologists have often attempted to analyse the complex issue of child abuse. Their have been various studies to comprehend the psyche of both the offender and the victim. They have succeeded in drawing certain patterns pertaining to the causes of child abuse. Surveys conducted have shown that parents with a history of drug abuse are more prone to abusing children. Researches also found specific relationships between alcohol and physical abuse, and between cocaine and sexual abuse. (Famularo et al, 475) Also, children growing up in families with domestic violence are more likely to be victims of child abuse i.e. if a parent who abuses his or her spouse is more prone to be an offender (Famularo et al, 475). Some psychologists have also been of the view of that physical punishment can also lead to child abuse as it becomes especially difficult to draw an absolute line of differentiation between the two. According to the National Association of Social Workers, even the mildest forms of physical punishment can impede a child’s sense of self worth and justify the use of violence. But this view has been criticised by many psychologists as it amounts to completely banning punishments. As has been mentioned earlier, child abuse can have deep seated serious effects on a person’s life. A person with a history of any form of child abuse is at risk of having psychiatric ailments, depression, anxiety, a detached outlook and several other developmental symptoms. Studies have demonstrated that 80% of abused and maltreated infants exhibited symptoms of disorganized attachment (Carlson et al, 135). Children who have been sexually abused often turn out to psychologically imbalanced people who are unable to lead normal lives themselves. It has been found that such children show suicidal and antisocial behavior, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety and alcoholism Besides these emotional and psychological impacts, children with a history of abuse also tend to suffer from some form of chronic physical disease. They usually suffer from some type of chronic head, abdominal, pelvic, or muscular pain with no identifiable reasons These theoretical effects of child abuse would become clearer if a true case of a survivor was to be studied. The following are selected excerpts from an interview with a sexual abuse survivor. Hollie Marshall, a 27 year old female was repeated raped by multiple people (including her own brother) between the ages of 5 and 13. Her mom was suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), and her dad was an alcoholic. Thus, she was devoid of any form of human companionship. She had horrific flashbacks and nightmares about her childhood even till her late teenage. As she she says, “I think I went "out of my head"...or I would've gone mad”. She was clinically diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, for which she is still receiving psychiatric treatment. Besides the emotional trauma, she suffers from a few physical ailments even now. She states, “I am deaf because of the abuse I sustained. I also have had to go through many types of physical therapies because my bones aren't healthy. In addition, I became anorexic because I felt I needed to be fit and perfect in order to be loved”. It took 5 years of therapy and constant medication including anti depressants to make life tolerable for Marshall. (Healthyplace.com) Thus, we see that child abuse is grave social problem, one that threatened to affect the very normalcy of a person’s life. Its potency is only aggravated by the fact that it happens at a very tender and unassuming age, wherein children do not even possess the cognitive ability to understand what has happened to them. And even if they do recognise the problem, they are too shy or apprehensive to report it to anyone. Further, if the offender is a relative or an acquaintance, the child is emotionally stifled. With the advancement of psychological researches, it has been possible to devise certain treatment techniques to heal the ugly scars of child abuse. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy is specifically employed for victims of child abuse. Therapy is usually a long process, where the victim is encouraged to be more social and also deal with their traumatic past. This mode of therapy is more successful in the case of sexual abuse. (Cohen et al, 737). But in general cases, psychiatric help proves to be a blessing, as it gives the victim a new leash of life. Works Cited Carlson, V. et al. Child Maltreatment: Theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995 Cohen, J.A et al. "Psychosocial Interventions for Maltreated and Violence-Exposed Children". Journal of Social Issues(2006): 737–766 Famularo, Richard et al. "Parental Substance Abuse and the Nature of Child Maltreatmeny", Child Abuse and Neglect: The International Journal (1992) Vol. 16, No. 4, 475-83 Healthyplace.com “Sexual Abuse Survivors” 07 May 2009 http://www.healthyplace.com/abuse/transcripts/survivors-of-sexual-abuse/menu-id-52/ Kevin, M. et al "The prevalence of child sexual abuse: Integrative review adjustment for Potential response and measurement biases". Child Abuse & Neglect (1997): 391–398. Martin, J et al . “Asking about child sexual abuse: methodological implications of a two- stage survey”. Child Abuse and Neglect (1983), 383-392 National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse. “Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics” 05 May 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/19980515052303/http://childabuse.org/facts97.html Read More