Risk Factors Of Child Abuse

Introduction 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. Child abuse happens when an adult be it a parent, caretaker or a member of the family intentionally hurts a child or an adolescent physically, emotionally, sexually or fails to adequately supply for the material needs of a given child

These are known as the risk factors for child abuse. Research shows children in certain families and neighborhoods may be at higher risk of being victims than those from different families or neighborhood. Such families and neighborhoods usually have some common characteristics that may encourage child sexual abuse. All these are simple risk factors that parents and care givers in the USA needs to carefully consider (Cheah, 2008). The risk factors for child sexual abuse can be classified into three broad categories: the Perpetrator’s, family and community risk factors. Perpetrator risk factors are those factors associated with adult who may commit such an abuse. They include drug and alcohol abuse, acceptance of violence, prior sexual abuse, suicidal tendencies, exposure to explicit sexual content and poor social skills among others (Finkelhor et al, 2014). Family risk factors are those factors associated with the child’s family. They include common conflict and physical violence in the family, history of child sexual abuse in the family, poor child adults relationship especially those of the opposite sex and supportive family environment to such abuse. Community factors include poor neighborhoods, lack of support from the legal system, community tolerance towards sexual violence and high levels of crime in the neighborhood (Finkelhor et al,