Social Concern Analysis

For my last social concern article and soon to be my presentation. I decided to address a concern that has been one of my general life concerns and also one of the many reasons I decided to go into the human services field. One of the greater things that came from being an abused and neglected child. I was able to witness firsthand what it was like to show every possible symptom of abuse/neglect and simply be overlooked by everyone I come in contact with.

I hope through proper education and my own life experiences this may be something that will be easy for me to spot. However, for many children, myself included, our oddities and inconsistencies are considered just that. When in reality something a lot more sinister is at play. As I child I was subject to many forms of

We overlook the symptoms of neglect. This is a mistake because children that are neglected are more at risk for being physically and sexually abused. What an astronomical problem we are facing. Either too much is reported or not enough. In 2005 an estimated 3.3 million cases of abuse were reported in the U.S. of those children 899,000 were confirmed to be victims of abuse or neglect. (Sharples, 2008)Those are not good numbers in either direction there should not be 899,000 cases of abuse and neglect but at the same time there should also not be 2.4 million cases reported that turned out to be nothing. Another theory to consider is that the person who suspects abuse does not call to avoid splitting up the family and ultimately placing the children into care. The stigma around foster care is not always perceived in the best light. This is something I had not considered when it came to my own childhood. I grew up in a small town and often times I had a teacher my brothers and sisters had previously. Perhaps my teachers thought I was better off with my sibling then in foster