According to National Child Abuse Statistics, “A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds” (“National Child Abuse Statistics”). Child abuse is defined as the physical, emotional, or sexual mistreatment of children. It is the main cause of many psychological and emotional problems within the development of children. The early abuse of a child has been known to lead to many long term negative consequences. Child abuse nationwide is a problem that has only recently began to receive the acknowledgment it deserves. The effects of child abuse, both short-term and long-term, are very detrimental towards the development of children, which leads to problems in the future. In the early 1900's, children were viewed as mini adults, which led to several problems within the development of children. As a result of the these problems, many specialists in the field of Psychology began to perform various studies regarding how a child's early influences impacted their growth and development. Although extremely diverse in nature, the various studies determined that a child's early influences greatly impacted the success of each child. It was also noted at this time, that should any negative influences within a child's life be experienced it would lead to problems within a child's lifetime. All early influences within a child's development were necessary in order to see the growth that a child would endure throughout life. One of the major contributors to the field of Child Development was Erik Erickson. His theory of Psychosocial Development is one of the most popular theories of development and personality. It depicts the impact of social experiences throughout a child's lifespan. He believed that personality develops in a sequenc... ... middle of paper ... ...May 2011. "Child Abuse Background and History - Divorce & Family Law Center." Divorce, Child Custody, Child Support, Marriage, Adoption - FindLaw Family Law Center. Web. 22 May 2011. "Child Maltreatment." National Association of Counsel For Children. Web. 22 May 2011. "The Debra Luptak Story: The Worst Child Abuse Case in Recorded History." Get Paid to Write Articles | Make Money Online - Expertscolumn.com. Web. 22 May 2011. Dunning, Lisa. "Psychological Effects of Child Abuse." Denver Marriage Counseling, Colorado Family Therapy, Centennial Child Therapist. Web. 22 May 2011. "Erik Erikson." My Webspace Files. Web. 22 May 2011. "Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect." Child Welfare Information Gateway. Web. 22 May 2011. "National Child Abuse Statistics | Childhelp." Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse | Childhelp. Web. 22 May 2011.
Erik Erikson developed the psychosocial theory, and “he describes our social experiences during our whole life span using eight different stages” (Cherry 2015). The first four stages are “trust vs. mistrust; which describes how the child needs to be able to trust their adult figures, autonomy vs. shame and doubt; which is about person control, initiative vs. guilt; which is about children learning to lead others, industry vs. inferiority; which is about gaining a sense of pride in things” (Cherry 2015). The final four stages are “identity vs. confusion; which begins the sense of self, intimacy vs. isolation; which explores personal relationships, generativity vs. stagnation; which focuses on career and family, and the final stage being integrity vs. despair; which describes reflecting back on life” (Cherry
Child abuse in general is quite complex and at the same time one of the most challenging social issue facing people all around the USA. Child abuse cases have been recorded in all the states of the USA. The cases occur in all areas be it cities, small towns, suburbs, and even in rural areas. The vice also happens in all types of families regardless of the ethnic origin of the family or the even family income (UNICEF, 2015). It is thus important that effort is put into reducing cases of child abuse.
Kalichman, Seth C. Mandated Reporting of Suspected Child Abuse, Ethics, Law, and Policy. Washington DC: APA, 2005.
Both Erik Erikson’s (1963) theory and Mary Ainsworth and John Bowlby (1973) theory support the idea that early life experiences impact the person across their lifespan. Both theories believe that personality begins to develop from a young age and therefore occurrences in early life can have lasting impacts on the developmental of an individual. An individual’s social and psychological development is significantly influenced by early life and childhood experiences. The experiences an individual has as a child impacts on the development of social skills, social behaviours, morals and values of an individual.
The mistreatment of children is classified by four types of actions: physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect. Although, in recent years several steps have been taken to prevent the maltreatment of children it seems that child abuse is still prevalent in today's society. Countless children around the world suffer from some form of abuse and in many cases the same child experiences more than one. There is no exact number of victims because it difficult to measure the exact amount of children going through abuse. Child abuse almost always occurs in private, and because abuse is often hidden from view and its victims may be too young or too frightened to speak out, experts in child welfare suggest that its true prevalence
Child Abuse is a worldwide issue, children are being abused on a daily basis. Child abuse occurs more often than people think. Child abuse comes in many forms such as: emotional, physi-cal, sexual, neglect, and verbal abuse. In the study by Carpenter, Shattuck, Tyrka, Geracioti, and Price (2011), the reader can see how child abuse can alter the whole way someone looks at the world. Child abuse is a serious problem that affects even the victim 's family or friends. Victims of child abuse show many signs of the trauma they have faced.
The field of developmental psychology is always being questioned and therefore expanded. Thousands of renowned psychologists have contributed to this process, two of which being Erik Erikson and Lawrence Kohlberg. They both left a hand print on the large and expanding wall of psychology; however they dabbled in very different aspects of development. Their similarities and differences aid in the determination of which gave more to the field of developmental psychology and in doing so gave more to the institution of psychology as a whole.
Erik H. Erikson was a significant psychologist that greatly changed the field of child development. In the 1950’s, Erikson advanced a Freudian approach in development. He viewed that social development as a series of eight challenges that people have to overcome. Each challenge has an outcome that’s either favorable or unfavorable. The outcome drastically affects a person’s personality. For example, in a favorable outcome, the result can leave a positive feeling. With a positive outlook, it’s easier for a person to cope with challenges in life. An unfavorable outcome can leave a person at a disadvantaged for the future. During the first couple challenges, Erikson believed that the caregiver has a great impact on a child’s development (Romero).
Child maltreatment can affect any child, usually aged 0-18, and it occurs across socioeconomic, religious, ethnic or even educational backgrounds. Arguably, child abuse and neglect is a violation of basic human rights of a child resulting from social, familial, psychological and economic factors (Kiran, 2011). Familial factors include lack of support, poverty, single parenthood, and domestic violence among others, (McCoy and Keen, 2009). The common types of child maltreatment include physical abuse, emotional maltreatment, neglect, and sexual abuse among others. Abuse and neglect can lead to a variety of impacts on children and young people such as physical, behavioral as well as psychological consequences which will affect the development and growth of the child either positively or negatively based on the environment and agency. More so, emotional, cognitive and physical developmental impacts from child neglect in the early stages of childhood can be carried on into adulthood. Research findings reveal that the experience of maltreatment can cause major long-term consequences on all aspects of a child’s health, growth as well as intellectual development and mental wellbeing, and these effects can impair their functioning as adults. Commonly, the act of abuse/ or neglect toward a child affects the child’s physical, behavioral development and growth, which can be positive or negative, depending on the child’s environment and agency. Another way to understand how the act has affected the child is to look at the child for who they are, and interviewing and observing their behaviors of their everyday life.
The effects of child abuse are multiple. The pain and trauma the abused child goes through is just a small part of how this cauldron of hidden depravity in our society affects all of us. Wrecked lives can be seen in persons of all ages and in all walks of life. Society as a whole is also effected by child abuse both in negative and positive ways. In this essay I will present some of the factor and results of this violent behavior on individuals as well as our culture.
Child abuse has become a chronic and common issue in the country today. In the United States of America, an estimated three million children are victims of abuse every year. Whether the abuse is physical, emotional, sexual, or neglect, the scars can be deep and can have a negative effect on a child’s education. According to academic research preformed at Brown University in April 1996, it was noted that abused children have a harder time maintaining good grades in school due to their stressful home lives, which leads to a lack of focus in the classroom. These issues are severely hurting the education of many children which damages their conscious development. Unstable households are the number one cause of children not performing at the level of proficiency in the classroom. (Family Mobility Helps) There are four different types of abuse, but the effects are similar, which is physical, or emotional harm placed upon the child. There are certain types of abuse that are often harder to identify. Neglect is the most common form of child abuse. Family members and caregivers are the abusers in most cases. Research has shown there are three major reasons why abuses children suffer academically. The reasons are withdrawal, poor communication/social skills, and behavioral problems. Child abuse does not only hurt a child’s education, but can lead to deaths. Therefore prevention is the key to the success of a child’s future. (Rynders)
A major American society issue is child abuse and it just keeps increasing with each new generation. We need to always be on the lookout for signs and symptoms of child abuse and report it to proper authorities. “Approximately five children die every day because of child abuse” (Ho, Gross, & Bettencourt, 2017). “One out of three girls and one out of five boys will be sexually abused before they reach age 18” (Gosselin, 2014). And, 90% of child sexual abuse victims know the perpetrator such as a family member” (Ho, Gross, & Bettencourt, 2017). As healthcare providers, we are these children’s option to live another day because more than four children die daily from neglect and child abuse (Ho, Gross, & Bettencourt,
A 19-year-old new mother, named Sheryl asked her boyfriend to watch her 8-month-old baby while she went shopping. Her boyfriend kindly agreed assuming that the baby would fall asleep, and he would continue watching the game. However like most newborn babies, Sheryl’s child was a little fussy and was crying. That caused Sheryl’s boyfriend to get annoyed and agitated. He went over to the baby, picked him up and shook him hard. When Sheryl came home she found her baby injured, unfortunately what happened to Sheryl’s baby it’s something that happens to many children in America every day.
Child abuse is a very serious problem that continues to happen all over the world. The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, defines child abuse as a failure to act as a parent or caregiver which results in physical/emotional harm, sexual abuse, and in some cases death. There are many different types of child abuse such as emotional, physical, neglect, and sexual. With each type of abuse there are warning signs you can spot before it is too late. When a child is abused there is a huge possibility that it can cause them to have many long term effects.
Every individual breathing in this world is generally assumed and anticipated to experience a childhood filled with joy, laughter, and smiles. However, pain, tears, and silence are the memoirs of some children due to child abuse. Child abuse is an issue that has become an epidemic, developing into children’s most unwelcomed nightmares that haunts them on a daily basis. Child victims of abuse can consider the cruel acts being done to them as their preeminent complication of their lives causing them to become unstable. These children tend to lose control over their own lives, bodies, and minds creating catastrophic obstacles to build up in their lives and causing themselves to become weakened and vulnerable due to being confronted by fear that they cannot endure. The many lives of abused children are misguided as they mature because the events that they encounter during their early childhood years influence the construction of their future and behaviors. Child abuse is the barbarous act of maltreatment directed towards children that includes physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual molestation which all serve as elements towards leading to the destruction of their lives.