The Implication of Child Sexual Abuse - Thesis Example

The Implication of Child Sexual Abuse Introduction Child sexual abuse is a form of domestic violence and this abuse involves coerced sexual acts in order for the abuser to acquire power over the child. This type of abuse not only involves forced sexual contacts, but also any form of contact that will demean and humiliate the child instigating shame and vulnerability. The acts of sexual abuse against a child might involve rape, exposure of a partner to sexually transmitted diseases. Child sexual abuse has become extremely prevalent in the modern world with more cases being reported every year. In most cases, this form of abuse is committed against children either by members of their own families or by individuals who know them very well. Sexual abuse not only involves the physical aspects but is also emotional or psychological, and it results in the traumatizing of those children who are its victims. Child sexual abuse takes very many forms and any child can be a victim at any time, hence to be able to prevent it, the people close to the child, especially the parents have to know the various warning signs. Victims of domestic violence vary in age, gender, and race and as a result of this; many children that live in homes that such abuse occurs have the likelihood of being traumatized for the rest of their lives (Rodgers, 2007). If a child in such a home is sexually abused, they tend to end up having either behavioral or emotional problems. Child sexual abuse has become a worldwide epidemic and the number of children being abused in the homes range between a quarter to a half of all the children in the world. Child sexual abuse is viewed by other people as an inclusive part of certain communities, especially the poor, but in the real sense, such abuse occurs in all communities irrespective of religious, social or cultural backgrounds. Implication of child sexual abuse In most cases of child sexual abuse, children are the direct victims because they live in the home where these incidents occur and because of the fact that it is the people who they completely trust that abuse them. In fact, a child who has been a victim of such abuse tends to develop a different perspective concerning it, feeling that he is being punished because he did something wrong.  As children become the victims of sexual abuse, they end up developing an array of negative feelings concerning it and this normally depends on the age of the victims (Aaron, 2012). The victims are often at a risk of having internalized behaviors like fighting, cheating, among others. These children end up being disobedient at home and in school this results in their having social problems that make them to be incompetent. They resort to violence as a means of solving conflicts and some are always willing to get involved in violent behavior. One of the main factors which influence the occurrence of sexual abuse with children as victims is the people with whom children live. Children are highly observant people, and it is a normal thing for them to imitate the behavior of the older people around them. If a parent, for example, abuses them sexually, then it is likely that when the children are older, they might also become abusive either to other children or to their own children. This is because these individuals will become adults with the belief that abusing their children in a sexual manner is not wrong. The home environment is the biggest influence that a child can have, and what goes on in that home is displayed by the character of this teenager. If the parents are sexually abusive towards their child, then it is likely that they will not notice the changes that are occurring in their child and this might lead to the child going as far as abusing drugs as a way of coping with the situation. In addition, a child might get involved in delinquency in order to express their feeling of internal conflict. Furthermore, it is a well known fact that some cases of depression in children come about as a result of their being sexually abused (Roy, 2002). Cases of drug abuse and juvenile delinquency tend to be profoundly influenced by the way in which the child, especially in their teenage, is coping with sexual abuse, since this is normally a very emotional stage of their lives. It has been found that in addition to the predictability of children’s experience of sexual abuse, the children who are the victims tend to differ and this is normally based on whether they have experienced any other form of abuse. It has come to be established that a number of children also come to experience more than one form of abuse other than sexual abuse. Studies have further shown that adolescents who have experienced physical abuse in addition to sexual abuse tend to have more problems than those children who have only been abused sexually (Felson and Lane, 2009). The violence that is often displayed by children who have been both physically and sexually abused is considered to be a form of expressing the internal turmoil that they are undergoing. This has led to many of these children becoming bullies, performing poorly in their academics and in some instances; they have ended up sexually abusing other children, especially those who are younger than them (Cheung and Boutté-Queen, 2010). Most of the children who undergo multiple form of abuse, the most prominent of which is sexual abuse are often more vulnerable towards the development of health and psychological problems. The psychological problems that develop in children that are victims of sexual abuse range from mild to extreme cases. There are some instances where a child can cope with the abuse through the rejection of all sexual contact in later life, even as adults. Some children often feel unworthy and as a result become involved in bad relationships where the cycle of abuse, both physical and sexual, continues. It has been suggested that there are some children who are more vulnerable to the effects of abuse than others. It has been found that the vulnerability of children to such abuse is often related to genetic factors as well as their developmental history. It has been found that those children who had achieved success in different aspects of their lives and had gained a high level of self confidence were better able to cope with sexual abuse than those children who were considered to be underachievers. Accomplishment in school is one of the factors which enable victims to persevere in their daily lives because academic success is normally a sign that a child is able to persevere when faced with numerous challenges. Thus, academically intelligent victims have the ability of being less vulnerable when faced with abuse since they are better able to deal with the stress that comes with it (De Bellis, Spratt and Hooper, 2011). The fact that some children have their accomplishments to draw upon in order to raise their self-esteem is a factor which enabled them to get over sexual abuse faster than those children who did not have any accomplishments to draw upon when thinking about themselves. The result of the few accomplishments that some victims of child sexual abuse experienced in school tends to contribute a great deal in the development of low esteem among them and this leads to their falling victim to instances of stress as well as depression (Jarvis, Copeland and Walton, 1998). There are certain instances where such children end up developing mental disorders such as anorexia in later life mainly because they believe that they were abused as a result of their not being good enough. Moreover, these children might take the opposite route and adopt bad eating habits which make them end up being obese, with their self esteem being even lower than it was after they experienced the sexual abuse. Gender is one of the biggest aspects to consider when attempting developing an understanding of the implication of child sexual abuse. Most of the literature that has been written over the years has tended to focus more on the female victims of abuse and this has raised the question concerning whether the effects of sexual abuse in both male and female children is similar (Schilling, Aseltine and Gore, 2007). Among female children, it has been found that there is an interaction between sexual abuse and their performance in academics where the children’s grades drop and they tend to develop suicidal thoughts. The drop in grades also takes place among male children but in contrast to females who become suicidal, among males, there is a tendency towards substance abuse, especially drinking during their teenage. Instances of underage drinking are extremely prevalent among teenage children who are victims of sexual abuse and this is normally done as a means of escape from the stressful conditions in which they are living. The ability of children from both genders to cope with the reality of being sexually abused varies between the victims although it has been found that male children are often better able to cope with the stress and get over it faster than female children (Acierno, Hernandez, Amstadter, Resnick, Kenneth, Muzzy and Kilpatrick, 2010). The ability to move on from sexual abuse by children heavily depends on the environment in which they live and as a consequence, if they live in an environment where the abuse is continuous, it is more likely than not that the children will not be able to cope well with the abuse. This might lead to the children either accepting it a basic part of their life or some might decide to commit suicide as a means of ending the sexual abuse against them, especially if the perpetrator is either a parent or a relative. In certain instances, however, there are some children who are able to rise above the sexual abuse and end up becoming successful in their lives without the incidents of abuse dominating their lives. The latter case is, however, not very frequent in many societies since sexual abuse tends to be extremely traumatizing for children and they often carry the scars for the rest of their lives. Conclusion It has been found that there is a direct relationship between children’s problems during their adolescence and sexual abuse. Several analyses have been done and they indicate that over the past two decades, those children exposed to sexual abuse are prone to emotional and social predicaments. Through various studies carried out, there has been an indication that male children’s behavior is external unlike female children behavior is internal. This means that male children tend to be aggressive and hyperactive meaning they become more active and antisocial while female children’s behavior tends to be withdrawn and anxious. Some research carried out has focused on the behavioral and psychological effects of sexual abuse on school going children. Findings from these researches indicate that children between the age of 6 and 17 are more exposed to sexual abuse and this greatly affects their psychological development. The exposure to sexual abuse may psychologically affect the child leading to: anxiety, loneliness, increased aggression, antisocial behavior, peer conflicts, low self-esteem, depression, school difficulties, fear, symptoms of trauma, and mood problems among others. This in the end results in psychological problems in a child that may need urgent attention. It is stated that even though a very large sample is needed to conduct research on child sexual abuse, future research needs to be conducted in order to find out the reasons why some abused minors are functioning better than others. Despite the fact that the results are constant with the view that the effects of abuse are overwhelming for many minors, they also indicate that poor results are not inevitable for victims of abuse. It is a fact that more information about what leads to the triumphant management among victims is desirable. This type of research is likely to be of great value to both those individuals who make a study of risk and hardiness and those who work on a daily basis with victims of sexual abuse and their families. In order to address the problems of child sexual abuse in society, there are many factors that have been put in place to curb these occurrences so as to provide a healthy and vigorous generation of children. These factors include; parent training, provision of foster care to those children who are abused, treating those children that have been victims of sexual abuse, and the provision of mental health services to both the children and their parents. Training programs offered to parents is the most common intervention offered to families and this is normally done in churches, homes, clinics or in community organizations. The training that is offered to parents at their homes turned to be more effective than the training carried out in other settings. This is because parents can practically apply what they learn almost immediately and there is also no cost incurred when the training is done from their homes and, in addition, it lessens stress. There are steps that should be followed which will intervene and stop child sexual abuse. The steps are; endorsing awareness of behaviors that lead to sexual abuse,  creating awareness on the consequences of child abuse, availing support, advice and help to victims, providing realistic ways of how one should intervene and endorsing information about all alternatives. An example of this is by engaging others like family members or friends, having direct communication between children and caregivers or parents, referrals whenever necessary, consulting experts as well as reporting to the authorities. 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"Young Womens Social and Occupational Development and Mental Health in the Aftermath of Child Sexual Abuse." American Journal of Community Psychology 40(1-2):109-24. Read More