Child Abuse and Neglect

Research performed by some authors has also shown that children who are abused have the tendency of becoming abusive parents themselves. Some abused children find it difficult to build a healthy relationship with people resulting from their abuse experiences. Child abuse is everywhere in the world, it occurs in all cultures, races and it is a problem that attention has not being fully focused on, therefore child abuse should be prevented and stopped. Child abuse is described as a harmful behavior on the children whether physically or mentally. The most common type of abuse is the physical abuse, this is because it is easily identifi... ... middle of paper ... ... for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 Jan. 2014.

Child abuse in the United States continues to be a serious and escalating problem. Child abuse may set a young person onto a non-normative developmental pathway toward a range of many psychosocial, emotional, and behavioral problems. Child abuse in particular the physical and emotional abuse is associated with an increased risk of very aggressive and violent behavior. Child abuse is also positively correlated with conduct problem behavior, including aggression around the age of 17 (Maughan, D., & Moore, S. C. 2010). The purpose of this literature review is to show that there is a direct cause and effect relationship between child abuse and he likelihood of that child being involved in the justice system.

N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2014. Saisan, MSW, Joanna, Segal, Jeanne, Ph.D., and Smith, Melinda, M.A.,. "Child Abuse & Neglect: Recognizing and Preventing Child Abuse."

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.

Trauma is an overwhelming experience that causes injury to a person's psychological state of mind. Complex trauma, on the other hand, is a term used by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). In which an increased emphasis is placed on the impact of multiple traumatizing events that occur during child development stages. As well as an increase in sensitivity of those traumas involving close personal relationships, such as caregivers and siblings (Forkey 3). Children exposed to complex trauma suffer from detrimental short-term and long-term effects on every aspect of their child development.

Web. 13 March 2014. Goldman, J., Salus M. K., Wolcott, D., Kennedy, K. Y. “Child Welfare Information Gateway.” childwelfare.gov. Office on Abuse and Neglect, Children’s Bureau.

“The Effects of Family and Community Violence on Children.” Annual Review of Psychology 51 (2000): 445 – 479. PsychINFO Web. 30 Jan. 2014. Margolin, Gayla, and Katrina A. Vickerman. “Posttraumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents Exposed to Family Violence: Overview and Issues.” Professional Psychology Research and Practice 38.6 (2007): 613 – 619.

Child neglect occurs when the caregiver fails to act responsibly by not providing the right care and attention that is considered to be necessary to meet the developmental needs of a child. Child neglect usually begins when the child is of early age, its negative effect on developmental abilities and limitations building up over time. The most common form of child neglect is failure to supervise the child properly, whereas physical neglect is the second most common form of child neglect. Emotional neglect could lead to the development of behavioral, cognitive or mental disorders and it is considered to be the most difficult type of maltreatment to capture (Hildyard & Wolfe, 2002). Evidence for the negative impact of neglect on early cognitive and academic development was broght by early American studies.

Reunification with a parent is the most common goal that is set forth by Child Protective Services even though recurrent abuse is likely to happen based upon the prior type of abuse and the age of the child (Connell et al., 2009). Child maltreatment is becoming a prevalent problem that has numerous consequences for both the child and family. The Center of Disease Control and prevention defines child abuse as any act or series of events that results in harm, potential harm or threatens the child’s safety (Webb, 2007). While many people believe that child maltreatment is simply physical many other forms of maltreatment occur; sexual abuse, neglect and abandonment are also common forms of abuse. Domestic Violence is also included in the definition of child maltre... ... middle of paper ... ...l parents as soon as the home is safe again.

In addition, single parents are at risk to abuse children along with substance abuse (Gosselin, 2014). Also, poor parent-child relationships and disabilities increase a caregiver’s risk to abuse (Gosselin, 2014). Abusers usually will manipulate the child into keeping child abuse a secret from others (Gosselin, 2014). There are many reasons to why the child will feel helpless to tell on the abuser including embarrassment, no one will believe them, and threats were made towards the child if they did open (Gosselin, 2014). Children under the age of one are at the highest risk of abuse (Gosselin, 2014).