Child Abuse in America - Research Paper Example

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Child abuse and the injuries, which result from this abuse have not been well understood in the country. Failure to recognize child abuse and failure to put in place the relevant laws early in time may be a factor which has fueled child abuse in US. It is believed that child abuse in USA kills more than accidents with many children dying on each new day. In 2005 for example, 1,460 children succumbed form neglect and child abuse, 564,500 suffered from neglect, 83,500 were abused sexually abused, 149,000 were abused physically, and 64,000 were abused emotionally and psychologically.

The history of child abuse can be traced back to the ancient days in all ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Long time ago, children were seen as property and their parents could treat them as they felt like as they were mere properties. Child abuse had been on record in United States since the early 17th century when a man was tried for punishing for murder after he has punished a young child which led to the child’s death. The colony of Virginia also passed many laws to protect young children from mistreatments and abuse. It is estimated that thousands of children are physically abused by close relatives or parents each year.

Among various forms of social menaces, child abuse is one of the most obnoxious menaces that stand in the way of a child’s physical or emotional health and the environment. Child abuse consists of different acts of commission or omission that hinders the child’s physical or emotional health and development. ...
Child abuse includes various damages done to a child which cannot be reasonably explained and might include damages often represented by injury or an array of injuries which appear to be non accidental in nature. Child abuse is a depressing, dark reality and an epidemic in the life of the Americans, but till today, it is not quite clear of how the spread the problem is. Many children in the Unites States suffer from child abuse epidemic with 3.3 million child abuse being reported in 2010. This makes the United States have the worst record among the industrialized nations where it is estimated that five children are lost every day because of deaths caused by child abuse. Child abuse has been categorized under four categories which include sexual, physical, neglect and psychological maltreatment (Kolk & Crozier, 2001). A research conducted by Dr. John Leventhal of Yale University in 2006 indicated that children at a tender age of under one were high prevalent for child abuse. During that year, the country recorded 58 cases where 100,000 infants were hospitalized for child abuse. In 2006, around 4,600 children were hospitalized in USA for injuries related to child abuse (Kolk & Crozier, 2001). Six out of every 100,000 kids who were under the age of 18 were also hospitalized for child abuse related injuries a situation which made it quite horrifying. In the last decade, over 20,000 have been reported to have dies of child abuse a number which is estimated to be a quadruple of the US soldiers who have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Literature review Different forms of child abuse Child abuse may be of different forms. There may be physical abuse which includes actions such as hitting, slapping, pinching, hair pulling, ...Download file to see next pagesRead More