Child Abuse - Research Paper Example

? THE LASTING EFFECTS AND REPETITIVE NATURE OF CHILD ABUSE Child abuse has been a recorded as an increasing health issue among families in recent decades. Most of the reported abuses were received by various organizations which come in contact directly with the victims, whether through medical, mental, or legal assistance. The collected data from these groups were able to establish the steady rise in the number of abuse cases in families, as well as the socio-demographic characteristics of the families where abuse is most-likely to happen. Reviewing these risk factors, child psychologists designed behavioral, psychological, and other forms of interventions that could help in the healing process of these abused children and turn them into much more productive adults. This process was deemed important since the lack of a successful intervention would not only create social deviants among these children, but also cause them to become potential abusers in the future, and perpetuating the cycle of abuse to their own families The Lasting Effects and Repetitive Nature of Child Abuse The concept of child abuse and its effects has been recorded for at least a few decades however there has been a slow progress in the development of effective intervention measures. In the last decade, the need to increase awareness with the potential impact of child abuse on various domains of development in children has been steadily rising ever since it was found out that various forms of child abuse not only affects a child physically but also emotionally, behaviorally, and psychologically (Kaplan, Pelcovitz & Victor, 1999). This made child abuse a major health concern because it causes enough harm to the abused that it could impair them physically, psychologically, and emotionally (Widom, et al., 2007). What is even more alarming is that if left untreated, victims of child abuse could also pass on the abuse to their own children, which could create an endless cycle of abuse passed down from parents to children (Aziz, 2007). Child abuse is an important component in family violence, mainly due to its lasting effects on children, whether the abuse is directed at them directly or to the other parent. Since children emulate parental behavior and consider this to be normal, this way of thinking would be harder to change as the children grow up into adulthood, unless interventions such as psychological counseling are administered early (Martin, et al., 2007). These children could end up getting into dysfunctional relationships and recreate their childhood lives, become delinquent members of the society, or simply choose to throw the abuse to themselves or anyone and anything weaker than them, which further perpetuates the cycle of abuse (Widom, et al., 2007). It is a necessity to understand how abuse is done and what its potential effects are to children in various developmental domains, as well as in designing effective interventions to heal the children since most psychologists and other members of the medical field have come to the agreement that child abuse have lasting effects on children and in succeeding generations. Literature Review Various publications regarding child abuse and maltreatment were released as early as the early 1970’s, however the increase in publications were fueled by the increasing number of child abuse cases, which prompted psychologists to understand what it is and why the phenomenon was on the rise. Records regarding the numbers of abuses were generated from various sources such as child protective services, law enforcement agencies, public health, hospitals, mental health, schools, and social service agencies, which were also most likely to notice, report, and take action on the abuse (Kaplan, et al., 1999; Martin, et al., 2007; Rodriguez and Eden, 2007). Common forms of abused mentioned were neglect, physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse, which were considered to form the majority of most abuse cases caused by various risk factors both within the family as well as in the community where these families lived. Collected data from these participating organizations showed an increasing trend in numbers of reported abuses, as well as establishing the demography of the families where the abuses took place. It is interesting to note that various factors were identified to increase the risks of abuse likelihood among children, and among these were the following: parents or caregivers were also child abuse victims themselves; parents’ satisfaction in rearing children; family income; substance abuse in one or both parents; effectiveness or lack of in parenting strategies; the nature of either or both parents’ work (civilian, military, etc.); the nature of neighborhoods or communities proximate to the family; and parent-children interactions (Aziz, 2007; Begle, et al., 2010; Jovanovic, et al., 2009; Kaplan, et al., 1999; Martin, et al., 2007; Rodriguez & Eden, 2007). Most of these studies were initially conducted with sample populations of children that were reported to have been abused, and their family histories, family background and other pertinent data were recorded and statistically-analyzed for comparisons and trends in occurrences. In a span of a few decades, these studies were able to establish which factors were highly contributory to the occurrence of child abuse, and these allowed other researchers such as child psychiatrists and psychologists to find out how the abuse could affect children, what could prevent the abuse from happening or continuing, as well as in designing what processes could help in the healing of the abused children, and if possible, their abusers. The researchers were able to record the effects of child abuse to victims. Various effects on children may include increased levels of anxiety, startle reactions, depressions, aggression, losing concentration and focus on academics, risks of self-mutilation or future substance abuse, low-self-esteem, memory impairment, and other interpersonal problems, all of which could contribute to further complications that could cause the cycle of abuse to occur to their own offspring should early intervention not given as soon as possible since children are considered incapable of dealing with the issues and the emotional scarring on their own (Jovanovic, et al., 2009; Kaplan, et al., 1999; Martin, et al., 2007; Rodriguez & Eden, 2007). Researchers deemed the importance of preventing these kinds of abuses and in immediately addressing the children’s distress through medical, behavioral, and psychological therapy since there is a high likelihood that undergoing abuse would prevent proper mental development of the children, as well as posing physical and psychological harm that not only perpetuates the cycle of abuse, but also cause these individuals to become deviant members of the society. These articles were mostly written in order to address the effects of abuse, its forms, as well as potential solutions in reducing the likelihood of abuse and providing healing to most of its victims. However, because these studies mainly focused on some theoretical effects, there is not much impact as it would it might have if these same researchers would also create follow-up studies on these children that they observed, and comparing actual numbers of abused children receiving early intervention to those who had none, to find out if there is a strong link between early intervention and the prevention of repetitive abusive behavior in the home. It is suggested that studies conducted in the previous years also try to find out if these children were able to grow up into adults and assess whether the abuses they experienced affected their lives negatively or positively, so as to bring closure to the reports. Theoretical Framework The phenomenon of childhood abuse has been known to be explainable using two models: the developmental-ecological model and the cumulative risk model (Begle, Dumas & Hanson, 2010). The developmental-ecological models explains how child abuse is perpetuated as well as the risks associated with its prolonging by bringing the concept of abuse into the family setting through either the child’s parents or the caregiver, through immediate interactions with the child, and is further instilled into the family via larger domains such as the community settings, the family’s resources, ties to the neighborhood, among others (Belsky, 1993, as cited in Begle, et al., 2010). On the other-hand, the cumulative risk model indicates that increasing the risk factors such as caregivers or parents that were victims of abuse, shortage in family resources, the nature of the community, etc. can perpetuate child abuse through the accumulative effects of the presence of each risk factor in the child’s family (Appleyard, et al., 2005, as cited in Begle, et al., 2010). In addition, every risk factor contributes to higher probabilities of abuse occurrence, and as every risk factor enters the family, there is an increased risk of child abuse happening inside the household. Both theories were able to explain in predicting when and in what circumstances will childhood abuse be more likely to happen, and in turn could help counselors and psychiatrists in creating effective intervention strategies both in preventing further abuse as well as in healing the abused children’s trauma and preventing them from perpetuating the abusive cycle. While both theories may be different, both are able to explain how the cycle of abuse enters into the child’s family, what keeps the abuse from happening, what could further increase the probability for abuse, as well as in predicting what are the demographic factors that have strong links with the perpetuation of abuse. These models were able to predict which settings increase the likelihood of abuse, such as: abused children becoming abusive parents; low family income; disorderly communities; low parental satisfaction; child-parent interactions, family size, among others (Begle, et al., 2010). Conclusion Based on the information regarding child abuse and its potential effects, it is concluded that an effective way of preventing further occurrences in the future is to study the whole concept of child abuse thoroughly, its manifestations in families, how to prevent and reduce the likelihoods of it happening, as well as putting emphasis on its major effects on children with or without early intervention. In the process of creating this research, the importance of tackling child abuse in a multi-factorial and multi-disciplinary way was given attention to since there have been recognitions of the different factors that could increase the likelihood of abuse to happen in households with certain characteristics. In addition, during the course of the research, the importance of early intervention has been established to have a significant role in the lives of the abused since having it or lacking it in the beginning could cause developmental problems in the children, since it is expected that children are not fully equipped physically, emotionally, and psychologically to handle the lasting effects of abuse, and it is through interventions that the children could fully understand, handle, and cope with the negative emotions that they have experienced. Lastly professionals such as psychologists, pediatricians and other physicians, social workers, and law enforcement agencies play important roles in alleviating the effects of abuse among children, and it is through their help and assistance that balance among children and their families can be achieved, which would be impossible without their intervention in the cycle of abuse. Thus, it is through different perspectives that child abuse and its effects can be understood for its effective prevention. References Aziz, F. (2007). Child abuse. Journal of Ayub Medical College Abbottabad, 19(3):1-2. Begle, A., Dumas, J., & Hanson, R. (2010). Predicting child abuse potential: an empirical investigation of two theoretical frameworks. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 39(2): 208-219. Jovanovic, T., Blanding, N., Norrholm, S., Duncan, E., Bradley, B., & Ressler, K. (2009). Childhood abuse is associated with increased startle reactivity in adulthood. Depression and Anxiety, 26(11): 1018–1026. Kaplan, S., Pelcovitz, D., & Victor, L. (1999). Child and adolescent abuse and neglect research: a review of the past 10 years. part i: physical and emotional abuse and neglect. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 38(10):1214-1222. Martin, S., Gibbs, D., Johnson, R., Rentz, E., Clinton-Sherrod, M., & Hardison, J. (2007). Spouse and child abuse by army soldiers. Journal of Family Violence, 22:587-595. Rodriguez, C., & Eden, A. (2007). Disciplinary style and child abuse potential: association with indicators of positive functioning in children with behavior problems. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev, DOI 10.1007/s10578-007-0077-2. Widom, C., White, H., Czaja, S., & Marmorstein, N. (2007). Long-term effects of child abuse and neglect on alcohol use and excessive drinking in middle adulthood. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 68:317-326. Read More