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The effects of child abuse and neglect
The effects of child abuse and neglect
The effects of child abuse and neglect
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Social Problem Definition and Analysis
INTRO:
Child abuse and neglect are a serious problem in the United States. Every day, many children’s well-being and safety are harmed by the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and neglect that their parents and caregivers inflict upon them.
DEFINITION:
There have been and currently are numerous definitions of what constitutes child abuse and neglect and they vary across time and space. Up until the 1880’s, children were the property of their families and, as such, it was only up to the families to decide how to care for them and whether they would live or die. Today, although it is recognized that parents and caregivers have the right to raise their children according to their own views and beliefs, when those views and beliefs come in conflict with the protection of children from harm or access to basic needs, society has the right to intervene for the welfare of the minors.
In the United States, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) provides the most basic and universal definition of child abuse and neglect. Under this definition, abuse is “any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker that results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation” and neglect is “an act or failure to act that presents an imminent risk or serious harm”. Under this definition, a child is anyone under eighteen years old who is not emancipated.
Although there is a main federal definition of child abuse and neglect, other more in-depth definitions exist within states that, while having variation within them, also share some commonalities. Within these commonalities, child abuse and maltreatment is separated into 4 categories: physic...
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...Child Abuse and Neglect. (2008, April). . Child Welfare Information Gateway.
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http://www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics
National Network to End Domestic Violence | Family Violence Prevention & Services Act. (n.d.). Web. 18 March 2015.
http://www.nnedv.org/policy/issues/fvpsa.html
PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT: POLICY DIRECTIONS FOR THE FUTURE. (2001). . Washington, DC: U.S. Government.
PROTECTING CHILDREN, STRENGTHENING FAMILIES: REAUTHORIZING CAPTA. (2008). . Washington, DC: U.S. Government.
Summary of Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003 (CAPTA Reauthorization). (n.d.). Web. 12 March 2015.
http://www.naswdc.org/advocacy/issues/letters/070103_abuse.asp
The Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003. (2003, June 25). . Children's Bureau.
When children are hurt physically, emotionally, or sexually it is known to be child abuse. Children are known to be neglected when they are not getting the proper attention needed for children. When children are neglected or abused in any way it is the responsibility of others to report such acts to the authorities as to what they have witnessed first-hand or signs of abuse or neglect seen after the fact, these people who reports such acts are known as third parties. The proper authorities to report child abuse or neglect is called Child Protected Services also known as Child Welfare. After the abuse or neglect is reported the proper authorities will then investigate to see if the abuse or neglect is legit or fraudulent (Sedlak, 2001).
The United States defines child maltreatment as “any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious injury or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm” (McCoy & Keen, 2009, p. 63). This legal definition is better understood by the idea that a caregiver repeatedly fails to provide the most basic care necessary for a child. Although abandonment is often the first thing that comes to mind when one hears the word “neglect...
CAPTA focuses on the issue of child abuse and neglect within the U.S. CAPTA was one of the first major federal policies put into effect to address the issue of child abuse and neglect in the U.S. Prior to the development of this act, information is very limited on how child abuse really affected the children in the U.S. Within the first year of CAPTA 60,000 reports of child abuse and neglect were made and within a few years, these numbers had made a large jump to over a million reports in 1980. In 1990, 2 million reports were made, and in 2000, reports were somewhere around 3 million (CAPTA Reauthorization, 2016). In 2005 alone out of every 1000 children 12 children from birth to 18 had experienced some abuse and neglect. The 2005 report stated that 62.8 percent were cases of neglect, 16.6 percent were cases of physical abuse, 9.3 percent were cases of sexual abuse, 7.1 percent were cases of emotional, 2 percent were cases of medical neglect or abuse, and 14.3 percent were other situations of neglect or abuse. Overall that year 1,460 deaths were reported from child abuse and neglect (Goldman & Salus, 2003). But in 2010, 698,000 reports were confirmed of abuse and neglect, which is a dramatic decrease due to the policies
In 1974, the United States Congress passed an act that would provide the necessary laws and regulations that would protect those who have become victims of child abuse and neglect. According to this policy was meant to: “provide financial assistance for a demonstration program for the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect” (CAPTA of 1974 P.L. 93-247). This law became known as Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act was first amended in 1974 and became known as CAPTA. However, over the years CAPTA has been amended several times. When CAPTA was amended on June 25, 2003 it became part of the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003. The most recent amendment of the law was on December 1, 2010 (Public Law 108-36) (About CAPTA: A Legislative History). By definition, which was established in 1974, CAPTA is defined as “the physical or mental injury, sexual abuse, negligent treatment, or maltreatment of a child under the age of eighteen by a person who is responsible for the child’s welfare under circumstances which indicate tha...
Stoltzfus, Emilie. (2009). The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA): Background, Programs, and Funding. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from Website: http://www.napcwa.org/Legislative/docs/CAPTACongressionalResearchReport.pdf
Sedlak, A. (1990) Technical Amendments to the Study Findings--National Incidence and Prevalence of Child Abuse and Neglect: 1988. Rockville, MD: Westat, Inc. Wiese, D. and Daro, D. (1995) Current Trends in Child Abuse Reporting and Fatalities: The Results of the 1994 Annual Fifty State Survey.
End Domestic Violence. (n.d) Retrieved Feb 09 2014, from Aid To Victims of Domestic Violence Web Site: http://avda-tx.org/
Child abuse in the United States is a growing epidemic. Every year the number of reported cases, and missing children go up. This is caused mostly by lack of education about the different types of child abuse, and the signs that go along with it. Communities need to provide more resources to better educate the public about the types of abuse, and the signs that go along with it. Child abuse and neglect can be lessened by more resources, more education and to reach out to others.
Child abuse and neglect is a very serious issue that can not be taken lightly. We need to provide continuing public education and professional training. Few people fail to report because they want children to suffer abuse and neglect. Likewise, few people make deliberately false reports. Most involve an honest desire to protect children coupled with confusion about what conditions are reportable. Educational efforts should emphasize the conditions that do not justify a report, as well as those that do.
A child’s guardian or parent ignores the signs of an abused child, which leads to a malfunction to the child. The guardian or parent fails to seek a psychological therapist which can help intervene to cause less psychological problems. The mistreatment that the child received affects a child’s mentality, brain size, and development due to the lack of a psychological therapist. The abuse that a child receives causes a child to malfunction, since they felt that they were not protected and were harmed. Although people state that one knows the meaning of abuse, yet they lack the extent and limitations of the term “abuse.” According to the article of “Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect”, the definition is clearly stated by the government of what should be considered abuse and neglect which consists, “Any recent act or failure to act on
Child abuse and neglect are “social” issues that were addressed by the author. While children are in foster care, they may become victims of maltreatment: child neglect, child emotional, physical and sexual abuse. The terms neglect refers to when parents fail to provide a child’s basic needs and provide satisfactory level of care (Downs, Moore and McFadden, 2009). An example of a child being neglected is when parents or c...
...or state organizations to provide these additional services for families, they are in need of government funding. “States can use about 10% of federal dedicated child welfare funds flexibly for family services and supports, including prevention or reunification services…”. More funds are needed for the organizations to provide services to all members of the family, both directly and indirectly involved. The Nurse-Family Partnership program found a “48% lower level of abuse and neglect for children served through the program than children in the control group”. So having access to these services has shown a reduction in child abuse. As discussed in class, the goal is always to keep the child in the home. This article is aiming to do that but need funds and additional resources in order to accomplish this. (Pew Charitable Trust, 2008)
Although each state has its own definitions of child abuse and neglect, the federal government has provided a standard for which individual state definitions can be determined. This standard, provided by the Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), defines the term ‘child abuse and neglect’ 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.” Within this over-arching definition, most states identify four major types of maltreatment, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and psychological maltreatment or emotional abuse. With regards to disability, the federal standard provided by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines a ‘child with disability’ as “ a child with mental retardation, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious emotional disturbance, . . . orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities, and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services .”
Funding is awarded to support ongoing research programs to identify, prevent and treat child abuse and neglect and to collect and distribute data. Projects that are currently funded are Child Welfare Information Gateway website, the National Resource Center for Child Protective Services, National Quality Improvement Center on Differential Response, annual publication of Child Maltreatment and the initiative on Supporting Evidence-Based Home Visitation to Prevent Child Maltreatment.
The Center of Disease Control and prevention defines child abuse as any act or series of events that results in harm, potential harm or threatens the child’s safety (Webb, 2007). While many people believe that child maltreatment is simply physical many other forms of maltreatment occur; sexual abuse, neglect and abandonment are also common forms of abuse. Domestic Violence is also included in the definition of child maltre...