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Effects of child abuse on society
Child abuse and its effects
Child abuse and its effects
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Many children suffer at the hands of adults - often their own parents. They are beaten, kicked, thrown into walls, and burned with cigarettes. They have their heads held under the water of toilet bowls, are scalded by hot water or they are forced to stand in freezing showers until they pass out. A child could be stuffed into running washing machines or sexually molested, suffer from neglect in the forms of starvation and lack of medical attention, and still go unnoticed by outsiders. In fact, it is estimated that about five children die every day in the U.S. from some form of child abuse. It is a sickening practice that has no set standard of rules to finish off the persisting problem. Different states have different methods and agencies to help prevent abuse in the home, some work quite well while others bomb - a dangerous gamble when it comes to the life or mental state of a child. The precise number of deaths each year is not known because of the extent of most fatality investigations that could be suspected as child abuse but are seen as open and shut death cases. A report from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, however, depicts more than three million reports of alleged child maltreatment practices in the year of 1995 alone. Many more children are living with abuse rather than dying from it, too. So what steps are being taken to protect our nation's children? All states have a Child Protective Services (or CPS) system. This is the governmental system responsible for investigating reports of child abuse or neglect. In state after state, the CPS agency lacks the resources to respond adequately to the overwhelming number of reports it is legislatively mandated to investigate. All fifty states have child abuse reporting laws requiring reports of suspected abuse to be made by specified professionals and others whose work brings them into regular contact with children. Any citizen may report suspected abuse as state laws provide for reports to be made to the CPS agency or its equivalent, or to a law enforcement agency. In most states, investigations are conducted by CPS personnel, although law enforcement officers may also be involved. The basic concern of child welfare workers is for the safety of the child. Assessment of the risks involved in leaving a child with its family must be made quickly because children cannot be removed from their families arbitrarily.
When children are hurt physically, emotionally, or sexually it is known to be child abuse. Children are known to be neglected when they are not getting the proper attention needed for children. When children are neglected or abused in any way it is the responsibility of others to report such acts to the authorities as to what they have witnessed first-hand or signs of abuse or neglect seen after the fact, these people who reports such acts are known as third parties. The proper authorities to report child abuse or neglect is called Child Protected Services also known as Child Welfare. After the abuse or neglect is reported the proper authorities will then investigate to see if the abuse or neglect is legit or fraudulent (Sedlak, 2001).
Child neglect and abuse is an unfortunate reality for many children today. It can have significant developmental impacts on children until they are an adult. Unfortunately it is not noticed until the damage is already done. Parents are the ones that are supposed to take care of their child. The consequences of a child getting mistreated young may endure long after the neglect occurs. People having children and not ready to be parents. Scaring the child for life because they decided that is was fun to beat on their child and abuse them mentally, and some even sexually. The effects can appear in all aspects of life, rather it is psychological or behavioral. There are three main effects of neglect and abuse that can range from minor physical injuries, not getting along with others, or can become aggressive and affect them later on in life.
There can be some improvements in how the police system is involved with the child abuse investigation, in order to allow the child welfare workers to focus on providing services to disadvantaged families. Since caseloads are high, most child welfare workers have limited time span to work and focus on the families’ issues such as, financial stability, social and emotional well-being of all family members. Implementing successful prevention strategies will require the need to provide assistance to the entire family and focus both on the child’s safety and well-being, as well as the parents’ emotional and economic well-being. Child welfare systems can provide resources such as child care services for single parents who lack education, which limits their employment. Such services can help the family become financially stable, and hopefully get out of living in poverty.
The controversial issue of whether or not Child Protective Services are doing their jobs properly, has grabbed nationwide attention. Child Protective Services is the name of a government agency in many states of the United States whose mission is to respond to reports of child abuse and neglect. Some of these cases may include physical abuse, sexual abuse, and mental abuse (Wikipedia). The child welfare system is corrupted. The parents and guardians who are accused of abuse are automatically labeled as guilty and will have to prove their innocence; instead of being innocent until proven guilty.
Child abuse in the United States is a growing epidemic. Every year the number of reported cases, and missing children go up. This is caused mostly by lack of education about the different types of child abuse, and the signs that go along with it. Communities need to provide more resources to better educate the public about the types of abuse, and the signs that go along with it. Child abuse and neglect can be lessened by more resources, more education and to reach out to others.
Child Protective Services For 30 years, advocates, program administrators, and politicians have joined forces to encourage even more reports of suspected child abuse and neglect. Their efforts have been successful, with about three million cases of suspected child abuse having been reported in 1993. Large numbers of endangered children still go unreported, but a serious problem has developed: Upon investigation, as many as 65 percent of the reports now being made are determined to be "unsubstantiated", raising serious civil liberties concerns and placing a huge burden on investigative staff. Unreported Cases Most experts agree that reports have increased over the past 30 years because professionals have become more likely to report apparently abusive and neglectful situations. But the question remains: How many more cases still go unreported?
The organization’s culture places an emphasis on a family centered framework that believes in eight principles. The first principle is that all children should be able to grow up in a safe and stable home. Secondly, it is implied most parents want to keep their children safe but some parents need to build on their family strengths. Thirdly, all families are different in culture, race and values. Fourth and fifth, when families are involved in CPS, CPS is responsible for finding permanency for the children and family engagement is more likely to occur if the family is involved in the process. Sixth, if parents are not able to protect their children from harm, CPS has the obligation to intervene for the child’s well-being. Next, if children have to be removed from their home, CPS should create and work on a permanency plan. Lastly, the permanency plan should be achieved as soon as possible (US Dept of Health and Human Services, 2013).
Shlonsky, A., & Gambrill, E. D. (2001). Child and Adolescent Safety: Risk Assessment in Child Welfare. In , Child Welfare for the Twenty-First Century (pp. 302-318). Columbia University Press.
Statistics show, “More than 3 million reports of child abuse are made in the US each year; more than 5 children die each day as a result of child abuse. About 78.30% are neglect , 10.80% are physical abuse, and 7.60% are sexual abuse.” (Helping Hand). These numbers are a result of cases not being investigated properly due to not having the manpower to investigate all reports. Due to high turnover rates in in DCS all new employees do not have proper training because of the need of having them out in the field to work cases that are already open. Also not all foster placements have a monthly visit by DCS case workers because of the high caseloads; they rely on foster parent
Each year, the CDC estimates, the United States spends $124 billion caring for abused and neglected children. " In reality the United States is spending increasing money on the cases of death of children each and every year, while in many cases one of the causes of the death can be failure of better training to agents of Child Protective agencies. Then again, the fact that the United States is loosing large amounts of money, it can directly effect the agencies pertaining to how they might be able to
The domains explored in this qualitative study help provide a wider, general understanding of the children’s broad ideas and assumptions about neglect of children. The researcher follows an interview guide consisting of specific questions addressing the domains to be explored, with probing questions used where appropriate to explore responses in more depth. Many qualitative studies use Ice-breaker activities to help children enter the theme of the study more easily (Harris, Doyle and Greene, 2011). Asking the children to draw a picture or write down the members of their family and taking time to interpret the result would ease them into the study.
Child abuse is a serious crime, that if violated can come with many consequences, and rules. Reporting child abuse is a mandatory law enacted in 1978 (but amended many times) stating that people must report child abuse immediately1. This law was created to identify children that are victims of child abuse. Relating to the law the Department of Human Services has responsibility to access and investigate suspected child abuse. "Each year Department of Human Services investigators conduct 20,000 investigations involving 30,000 children (in the state of California).2" There are a lot of cases reported each year, involving innocent children, abused by their parents. Although there are thousands of cases reported each year, thousands go unreported. "Child abuse has serious consequences which may remain as indelible pain throughout the victims lifetime3" Child abuse can have permanent negative affects on the child, permanent affects that the child will never forget. The abuse can also bring a better side to the child, making the child wanting to be more independent. Child abuse is very common, and can affect any child of any race, color or religion.
What is the different between child abuse and child neglect? Base on my opinion child abuse is basically when a child is being hit for no reason, verbally abuse and mistreat in a cruelly way. Child neglect on the other hand is when the parent/s or guidance abundant the child and do not provide for them. Child abuse and neglect have a negative impact on children emotionally and psychologically.
Child maltreatment is a widespread issue that affects thousands of children every year. There are four common types of child maltreatment; sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. All of these types of abuse are very serious and can have many consequences for the children and families. The most common consequence of severe child maltreatment is the removal of that child from their home (Benbenishty, Segev, Surkis, and Elias, 2002). Most social workers trying to determine the likelihood of removal evaluate the type and severity of abuse, as well as the child’s relationship with their parents (Benbenishty et al., 2002). When children are removed from their homes there are many options of alternative housing. The places they are allowed to live are a relative’s home, foster home, or a group home. In a study of children removed from their homes, 68% went to a foster home rather than a relative or another form of alternative housing (Faller, 1991). 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.
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.