Psychological Effects of Child Abuse
“Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul.” ― Dave Pelzer, A Child Called "It" As a child, I remember the unconditional love I was given. My mother took me everywhere she went and made sure I did my school work, and my father made sure I burned off all my energy while he was coaching my peewee soccer team. I am one of many kids that get the attention they need from their parents but in the world there are children who don’t even experience life fully before they are enduring their own personal nightmare. Child abuse happens to many children around the world in multiple forms, it also takes on multiple forms of psychological effects.
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David Pelzer was just a little boy when his abuse tarted, just a mere four years old. Upon reading his book, A Child Called "it", he described how hi mother abused him. His mother was an alcoholic and had no feelings for her sons. David 's mother ended up starving him, forced him to drink ammonia, stabbed him in the stomach, as well as burned him on the stove. Where was his father at? Was he a part of it? He might as well have been because he did nothing but watch as his wife did this to his son. How could a mother do this to her child? David 's mother took the frustration and psychotic behaviors out on him when the alcohol kicked in. David eventually got out of that house and put into foster care, but that wasn’t the end of his mothers abuse. The abuse just transitioned to David 's brother when he got put into the system. Don’t think of what happened to David, that’s in the past for him now. Just remember that David was a mere four year old boy who didn’t have a ray of sunshine in his life, now imagine that happening to other children. What effect will this abuse have on their self conscious?
Sexual Abuse/Rape. "Sexual abuse describes any incident in an adult engages a minor in a sexual act, or exposes the minor to inappropriate sexual behavior or material" When women across Australia where surveyed to see how many have been victims were sexually abused, more than one third of women in Australia have been victims. The limbic system has a sensitivity level 50% more than what it should be after experiencing being sexually abused, the same goes for victims of
According to Papalia and Feldman, an estimation of a tragic 905,000 cases were received by child protective services in response to about 3.3 million referrals regarding maltreatment within six million children in the year of 2006. One of the six million children include, David Pelzer. David, in his awe-inspiring novel, A Child Called It, takes the reader upon an unfortunate path as he reflects upon the deplorable life struggles he experienced from the cruel actions of his abusive alcoholic mother. Despite the never ending struggles throughout his daily life at such a young age, David learns to become resilient as time progresses. Keeping in mind that writing this autobiographical
Imagine being a child stuck in a dark hole alone, and having to face terror for many years. Well A Child Called It shares the everyday battles of a child, David Pelzer, and it reflects the inhumanity of someone who’s supposed to be loving and caring. The story of the abused child, Pelzer, not only tells the insanity of humankind, but show how easy it is for child abuse to be hidden behind walls. At a very young age Pelzer started to suffer and live such a miserable life. Pelzer faced battles where he not only learned to stay strong, but survive the games from the abuser, his mother, the abuser. Throughout the book, Pelzer shares his experience as an abused child, and reveals such extreme mistreatment from his abuser. In this case, as a reader,
In the heart-rending novel, A Child Called “It” author Dave Pelzer tells the horrendous abuse his own mother made him suffer through at the young ages of four to twelve years old. This story is officially considered non-fiction, an autobiography and a memoir. Before being rescued in 1973, Pelzer lived in Daly City, California with his parents, Stephen Joseph and Catherine Roerva, and his brothers; Richard, Robert, Steven, and Kenneth. In the younger years of his life, his mother was a caring, loving woman who treated him as a real person, and absolutely adored her family, until one day Pelzer remembers she suddenly became monstrous towards only one family member, which was, himself. She would find any reason to punish Dave and not her other children. Although Pelzer’s mother,
In the story, A Child Called It, by Dave Pelzer narrates his traumatic childhood abuse through the lenses of a mere ten year old child.The book accounts of terrifying, disturbing tortures inflicted on a young boy who is starved, stabbed, smashed face first into mirrors, forced to eat crap from his brother’s diaper, forced to drink ammonia/chlorine, and burned over a stove by an alcoholic, insane mother. Dave is the oldest of his brothers and the only one to receive abuse from his mother.The abuse started as Dave was four years old with minimum punishment and quickly escalated to life threatening punishments as the years passed. The punishments grew to physical and emotional abuse and neglect from his mother. The neglect escalates to rarely
Adults abused as children need to confront the abuse they have experienced. To face and admit that they have been abused, adults should no longer live in denial. As children, they were constantly in denial because they did not realize they were being abused by the people they loved and trusted. Denial, a defense tactic, helps children feel safe away from painful, unpleasant memories. Growing up in denial will result adults abused as children avo...
Dave Pelzer’s book, “A Child Called It” (1995), discussed unforgettable accounts of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California’s history. The book is a captivating, yet intimidating journey through the torturing childhood of the author, himself. The child, David (Dave) Pelzer¸ was emotionally and physically tormented by his mother who was unstable and addicted to alcohol. He was the victim of abuse in his own home, a source of ridicule at his own school, and stripped of all existence. This book left me in suspense as I waited with anticipation for the end of this little boy’s struggle to live. Throughout this paper, I will focus on the events that took place in this book and discuss my personal feelings and the effects this story
March 5, 1973 started out as another horrible day for Dave Pelzer, his mother screaming at him to begin his chores. Dave was no ordinary child, he was abused horrifically by his mother. On this same day he was released from the clutches of his mother into police custody. Dave then uttered the words “Im free?” (pg 14) in displief that he was free from the evil in his life. This quote in the book shows how life altering his mother’s anger was on Dave. High levels of child abuse occur every year and have had mental and emotional effects on children, this essay is going to argue how cruel and life altering child abuse is. Foster Homes have saved children from child abuse for years, more than 6.6 million children suffer from child abuse each year.
According to Tennyson Center for Children, “A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds in the U.S.” (“Child Abuse in America”). One cannot fathom the idea of why anyone would intentionally hurt the innocent children of today’s society. Child abuse happens with children of all ages, gender, and religions. Likewise, the world can be identified as a harsh place, where child abuse occurs around the world, and is even evident in the United States. There are many factors that contribute to this repulsive behavior. Physical, sexual, and psychological cruelty are effects of child abuse.
Psychological maltreatment is also often referred to interchangeably as emotional or mental abuse. This refers to any form of maltreatment that can be categorized as an individual being subjected to the activities of another individual that frequently result in any form of mental trauma of the victim. Psychological maltreatment can be seen as one of the most serious and slightly overlooked problems in modern society (Lesson & Nixon, 2010). In general, psychological maltreatment is considered any kind of abuse that is emotional opposed to physical in nature. Nevertheless, there is much controversy regarding the true definition and consequences of psychological maltreatment. As of now, psychological maltreatment is one of the most difficult forms of maltreatment to detect and
Some of the effects included drug and alcohol use, the feeling of worthlessness, isolation, depression, sleepiness, and suicidal thoughts long after the abuse ended.
Abuse in child can differ from physical, emotional, mental, sexual and neglect. The effects of child abuse vary between children these effects can be long lasting. Some of these problems can be psychological such as anxiety, depression, academic problems in school, withdrawn and difficulty connecting with others, and can even experience flashbacks and post-traumatic stress. They also have physical effects such as bruises, sprains, fractures, poor hygiene and inappropriate dress. Children living in an environment that is full of fear and violence develop poor coping skill some of these coping skills can be eating disorders, drug use risky sexual decision and self-harm. Some children fall into a cycle of abuse and become abusers themselves. Each child can experience one or more
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 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.
Child abuse is one of the highest growing social problems in the United States. A social problem is, “a condition that a significant number of people believe to be a problem. A condition in which there is a sizable difference between the ideals of a society and its actual achievements” (Coleman et al. 2006:2). However, society has changed the way it views the issue, and is working towards finding a solution to this awful problem. Child abuse encompasses four main areas: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Child abuse is considered a sociological phenomenon because it is a learned behavior. Learning the social patterns as to why people abuse will give a better understanding to its reasons, and also the development of society in the way that it views children. 3.6 million children were victims of abuse in the year 2006. Sixty four percent were victims of neglect, sixteen percent suffered from physical abuse, and eight percent were sexually abused. Also in 2006, 1,530 children died as a result of abuse; an average of four children everyday (Child Welfare Information Gateway 2008).
Child abuse has cruel consequences for victims. Child abusers inflict physical, sexual, and emotional effects on defenseless children every day. For over decades, child physical abuse has been a momentous problem not only in Egypt, but also all over the world. Child physical abuse is problem which from long time but the abuse increased in the last 3 decades when everything in live is getting worse and no one have patience. There many causes of child physical abuse, but there is main causes. Tress, tiredness, loneliness or feeling sick can cause parents to hurt their children. Many people who perpetrate physical abuse were abused when they was children. The major causes all over the world are alcoholism, drug abuse; domestic violence and lack of education Often people who perpetrate physical abuse have less impulse control than normal people. The effects of child abuse are many and varied, the personality of the child and the presence of caring adults are two of them. The adults may bring a young pure child to the hospital and the blood getting from everywhere with a lot of injuries. Around the world the children who get physical abuse and go to hospital, there is common symptoms of their bodies as black eyes, Broken bones that are extremely hurt, Human bite marks and marks on hand and all over the whole body. When the parents hurt their children, the children when they grow up they will also bear their children, so parents should treat their children well and avoid abusing them physically to do not create generation full of abusers. According to The family and protective services of Texas, led by police department (NRHPD) formed and program called Family Resource Program (BC2) after a reaction to a 54...