Charlie Bothuell V, a 12 year old boy who lives in Detroit, was locked in the basement of his home by his step-mother and tortured by his biological father who made him do ridiculous amounts of strenuous exercise on a daily basis. He was also denied basic necessities such as food and water. Charlie recently told police that his step-mother barricaded him behind boxes and told him 'not to come out, ‘no matter what he hears’, and threatened “to make him disappear’. The exact exercise regime was 200 sit-ups, 100 pushups, 100 jumping jacks, 25 curls on each arm with a 25-pound weight and thousands of revolutions on an elliptical machine in under and hour. It was also discovered that Charlie’s dad assaulted him with a bloody PVC pipe. Charlie revealed that he was abused the entire two years that he lived with his father. Both adults claim that the allegations are untrue, however doctors agree that Charlie’s injuries are consistent with abuse.
Charlie was found by the FBI, hiding and hungry in a storage closet in the basement that would normally only be accessed by maintenance workers, after being missing for 11 days. His biological mother tells interviewers that she sent Charlie to live with his father because his school grades were declining and the father wanted to home school him. Apparently the father kept very strict rules and those expectations may have opened the door to the abuse that took place.
‘Charlie has never said anything about any
Again, we can only imagine what the home life was for the father-turned-abuser pre-divorce but marital problems do further incline a person to abuse. In trying to understand the psychology of abuse and crime we must consider as many options that seem plausible, those which hold some amount of validity in the actual abusers life as certain details will vary case to
According to Albert Roberts’ Handbook of Domestic Violence Intervention Strategies, “Theorist who advocate this approach believe that abusive situations may be the result of the interaction among personal, situational, social, political, and cultural factors (Roberts, 35). There have been three consistent risk factors for someone to become an abuser. These three include, growing up without a consistent father figure, witnessing domestic violence when they were children, and having been physically or sexually abused (Roberts, 35). An example for the micro system includes drug or alcohol use. An example of a macro system risk factors could include the way society gives a sense of male entitlement or ownership over a woman (Roberts,
Charlie’s sister didn’t appreciate Charlie in the beginning of the book, but came to love him and trust him as she did when she was younger. During the time Charlie’s sister was involved in an abusive relationship, Charlie unwittingly informed his parents of
As we recount this story, we may be wondering to ourselves, “What causes someone to become a child abuser?” It is not known as of today, and might not ever be known because child abuse happens to people across the board, and there is no clear p...
Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (1994) reviewed 15 batterer types previously established in the literature to develop three descriptive dimensions used to differentiate among batterer subtypes. These dimensions measure the severity of the marital violence, the generality of the violence, and any psychopathology or personality disorders the batterer may have (Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart, 1994). Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (1994) used these three dimensions to theorize three batterer subtypes: family only, dysphoric/borderline, and generally violence/antisocial.
In several cases the cause of the abuse can be linked to family relationship issues. In the novel Sickened, by Julie Gregory, Gregory recounts her childhood with a mother who was diagnosed with Munchausen By Proxy. She tells the readers that her “mother married at the tender age of nineteen.” Marrying him when she was young caused them to argue with each other and they did not have a genuine relationship. Soon after her first husband’s death it seemed as though she was very desperate to find another husband because she felt isolated and alone, she craved the attention of being in an intimate relationship. Her crave for attention was the fuel for her desire to make Julie sick. A parent is also more likely to mistreat their children if their spouse has very little, or no, input in the family’s activities which leaves it to the abusive parent to control everything. In another situation where family relationships could be an issue, a woman named “Shannon Hudson had been trying to break up with the boys’ [her sons’ abusive] father when he shot her three times. Then shot himself” (Burling A1+). The abuses that lead up to the husband getting angry and frustrated with his wife caused the violent act that was a result of their relationship failure.
For Charlie, Ignorance is bliss. He realizes that his so called ? friends? were just using him to entertain their perverse humor. Also, he was also fired from the job that he loved so much because his new intelligence made those around him feel inferior and scared.
Charlie was innocent, he didn’t have many social experiences. Think back when the first time Charlie saw Laura’s dead body. “Why would you bring me here? I shouldn’t be here. I have to go back home. You have to tell someone about this.” His anxious shows he didn’t want to participate this mess, in part, he’s smart enough to know it would be a trouble, but he’s also full of fear. After Jasper’s persuasion, Charlie decides to help him find the real murderer. Craig Silvey gives us a huge surprise at the beginning of the book, we might think it’s a story about children’s adventure. On the contrary, as things happened, we come to realize it is not just a simple story, it’s more about a horrific thing. When Charlie run into this horrific thing, he is feared. Maybe, it’s more appropriate to
exposed to family violence: I. Overview and issues. Couple And Family Psychology: Research And Practice, 1(S), 63-73. doi:10.1037/2160-4096.1.S.63
Psychological maltreatment, like many other forms of abuse can also be passed down through intergenerational transmission. It is not unlikely for parents to psychologically mistreat their children due to their own past or childhood experiences with psychologically abuse. For example, it is not uncommon during the course of an investigation of physiological maltreatment that it is discovered that the perpetrator had their own form of abuse history in the past. Often time’s people look at psychological maltreatment as a consequence resulting from some other form of abuse, mainly physical and sexual, but tend to overlook the fact that it may also occur as an individual form. Psychological maltreatment can take more than one form. During the course of researching for this paper I learned that there are three typical forms of behavior in which people follow when displaying this type of abuse against children. The three types are acting in an aggressive, rejecting, and lessening
One of the main ideas that cover the link between crime and the role of the family was that single parenthood is a risk factor. It was suggested that father absence in childhood was a cause of crime but this may not be as relevant in today’s society as divorce is much more common and it may have been more about the social exclusion the children experienced from the outside world because of their parents divorce (ref). Both Loeber and Stouthamer-Loeber (1986) along with Farrington (1991) researched into the affect of the number of siblings in the family on the likelihood of committing crime. Both pieces of research found that if the family contained more children, money was short creating chaos and mischief was generally less detectable (ref). Altogether this can lead to children not being able to distinguish good behaviour from bad due to lack of punishment/operant conditioning which may carry on to them performing the same behaviours (such as using violence to get their way) in the outside world, making them more likely to commit crime. Another way OC affects the likelihood of committing violent crime is if violent behaviour was observed within the family in childhood. For instance many studies have been conducted into this topic and findings generally conclude that if children witness or experience violent physical or sexual abuse within the family it is
Abuse may not outwardly begin as a physical action against the victim. “Approximately two-thirds of Americans say it is hard to determine whether someone has been a victim of domestic abuse” (Break The Cycle). The abuser typically starts by attacking the victim mentally and emotionally. Beginning signs that one could be in an abusive relationship is if the suspected abuser shows signs of possessiveness, extreme jealousy, or insecurity over the relationship. More expressive signs of violent behavior would be an explosive temper, unpredictable mood swings, or constantly putting down his/her partner (Break The Cycle). By expressing these characteristics, an abuser will begin to isolate the victim from his/her family and friends. Once he or she has managed to create an attachment between the victim and themselves, the physical violence might begin to take place. After an attack, oftentimes the abuser will excessively apologize to the victim in an attempt to earn back their trust. Victims are often embarrasse...
The main themes of this argument are the political and social attitudes of the subject and how the trends of Domestic Violence and Abuse persuade communities and individuals to feel about the matter; also how different locations and situations have an impact on how and why Domestic Violence and Abuse occurs. Why men feel they cannot report their cases of Domestic Violence and abuse to the police, how this crime type is measured and the historical and cultural relativity to Domestic Violence and abuse. Other themes will include the economy and the views of the Criminal Justice System.
When dealing with families who are entering the child welfare system, social workers need to examine the entire family, their history that contributes to the current problem, and the societal context of their homes (Popple & Vecchiolla, 2007). There are many proposals for why child maltreatment and Belsky outlines three explanations and a fourth theory for why parents maltreat their children.
As stated by Collin-Vézina, Daigneault, and Hébert, being abused by an identifiable person not only includes the loss of trust in that person who abused the relationship, but it also includes other adults who may have knew of the abuse and did not provide safety precautions to prot...
He was so closed off from the rest of the world and he felt isolated and alone. The family participated in religious services a few times during the movie, and even Charlie took communion. He was no stranger to the world of spirituality. Even though he participated in religious ceremonies with his family, when he met his friends he finally realized the meaning and purpose of his life. Eventually, Charlie started to participate in life and not just watch others live. As a result, he was released from the shell that kept him trapped inside. At this point, it was clear to Charlie that there was something more to him. He was alive. This becomes clear in the tunnel scene at the end of the movie when he states, “I can see it. This one moment when you know you’re not a sad story. You are alive, and you stand up and see the lights on the buildings and everything that makes you wonder. And you’re listening to that song and that drive with people you love most in this world. And in this moment I swear, we are