Child Abuse is an extremely significant conflict around the world; it is the physical maltreatment or sexual molestation of a child. There are 4 main types of victimization against children. Those containing physical, emotional, sexual abuse and neglect. Physical abuse is when a parent or guardian wounds their child in the form of injuring them or in any other manner causing them agony. Emotional abuse also recognized as mental abuse is when they mentally upset a child’s feelings that may generate trauma. Sexual abuse can probably be characterized as someone forcing a child in an act of unwanted sexual relationships. Neglect is the form of not providing a child with their basic physical and emotional necessities. Most people are forming organizations to prevent from future child abuse occurring but most people are also not getting involved in such dangerous crimes. Usually more than 90% of abusers tend to be people children know, love, or trust, according to Bright Futures 4 Kids.
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.
Every year more than 3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States involving more than 6 million children. There can be no single factor identified as the cause of child abuse. However it appears to be influenced by the parents' histories, psychological resources, and economic status.
Smith, M., & Segal, J. (n.d.). Child Abuse & Neglect. : Recognizing, Preventing and Reporting Child Abuse. Retrieved January 14 2014, from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/child_abuse_physical_emotional_sexual_neglect.htm
Numerous teachers, family doctors, social workers, among other professionals will be faced with child abuse and have the responsibility of reporting mistreatment. Therefore, it is important for these specialists to be able to recognize signs of child abuse and neglect (Pala, et al, 2011). The World Health Organization Consultation on Child Abuse Prevention currently recognizes four types of child abuse: physical, sexual, emotional, and neglect. Dr. Bengü Pala and his colleagues found that neglect accounted for up to 71% of the child abuse cases in 2008 around the world. They defined neglect as a parent or caregiver’s precedence of failure to provide for the development and welfare of the child ...
Child abuse and neglect continuously influence a sizeable number of children and families in this country. During 2002, over 896,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect, averaging about 2,400 kids each day (Children’s Bureau 2012). Furthermore, during the same year, 60.5 percent of child victims nationally experienced some sort of neglect. While 18.6 percent of those children were physically maltreated, 9.9 percent suffered from sexual assault, along with 6.5 percent who were emotionally harmed (Children’s Bureau 2012). With the help of CAPTA, strong importance is being put on collaborations between child protective services, mental health, and other agencies, so that these statistics could be minimized within time.
Today child neglect is the largest part of child abuse in the United States, and almost two-thirds of all reported cases in child protective services is neglect (Dubowitz). Before the 1970’s child abuse mostly referred to physical abuse; however, now it encompasses physical, emotional, and sexual abuse as well as neglect (Compton’s). Physical abuse is when a child is hurt by getting hit, punched, kicked, or any other form of beating by an adult (Compton’s). This abuse will only harm the child physically and though it is horrific and can lead to long term effects it will normally only lead to violence. Emotional abuse is when an adult is hateful to the child by calling him names, and another form of emotional abuse is when an adult is punishing a child in a way that will cause him mental trauma (Compton’s). Emotional abuse is terrible for the child’s self-esteem however they can go and learn that they are important to the world by their contributions. Sexual abuse is when a child is touched inappropriately or molested (Compton’s). This is detrimental to a child but in most cases the child will block this out for when they grow older it is like it never happened which will cause no harm to their mental state. Neglect is when an adult will not seek medical help for their child and will not provide them with food, shelter, clothing, or emotional support (Sullivan). This is where the real trauma takes place on a child. The child will not suffer from being hit but they suffer from starving until someone is kind enough to feed them or they die from malnutrition. The child will not suffer from a parent calling them names but they might never know if their parent knows their name or cares to even speak to th...
The effects of child abuse can be long lasting or maybe even fatal. “The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect estimates that 2.9 million children are abused or neglected by parents or caretakers each year” (“Child Abuse” Encarta). This fact is very disturbing to the many of us that don’t know child abuse was this common in the U.S.
Child abuse is any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or an act of failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2012a) (Olson, Defrain, & Skogrand, 2014, p. 437). Abuse can happen to anyone at any time, even children of all ages. The abuse can be given by anyone. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nearly 1,500 children died from abuse or neglect in 2003, in the latest year for which reasonably reliable statistics are available (March 2006) (Dudley, 2008). That is four children every day and that estimated number is probably low
In American society today we fail to address several issues that need to be addressed. Unfortunately, child abuse is one of the major issues that our country is plagued with, yet we neglect to bring this to the attention of the entire nation. It is often over looked because everyone has a different view of what exactly defines child abuse. The International Child Abuse Network (ICAN) uses four basis categories to docunment the child abuse cases. They are: emotional abuse, neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. I will be describing the first three.