Child abuse has been defined as, any intentional act that results in physical or emotional harm to a child. This could cover any behavior from assault, to neglect, to molestation. (Encarta 1) In 1995, a study was done by the National Center on Child Abuse & Neglect. They concluded that in the United States alone, approximately 3 million children are victims of some sort of maltreatment each year. This means that an unimaginable amount of our county’s adolescents are being seriously mistreated, and the numbers are rising steadily. While the specific definition of child abuse may differ from state to state, the effects unfortunately do not. Physical maltreatment, neglect and sexual abuse create immediate problems for children, as well as long term damage. Some common effects on sufferers of abuse include, a lowered sense of self worth, an inability to relate to others, short attention span and often they develop learning disorders. More detrimental cases can develop severe depression or anxiety, schizophrenia, violent behavior and an increased risk of suicide. (Encarta 3) In some cases, abused children learn how to cope with their experiences and grow to healthy adults, but most are not that lucky. Most victims of abuse are forced to deal with the results for their entire lives.
Dare to envision a young child who is helplessly beaten, who starves every night because her mother decided to spend the money on her drug habit, or visualize a child that is always covering up for his mother because the police are questioning why he is always home alone. These things are not uncommon, child abuse and neglect happen in staggering numbers all over the country. Cases of child abuse and neglect are reported every ten seconds in the United States. This is an ongoing issue, that not only affects the present, but it will increase complication in the future as well. There are many things that are a result of child abuse that follows them through into their adulthood such as, poor physical health, poor emotional and mental health, social difficulties, cognitive dysfunction, high-risk health behaviors, and behavioral problems. It also increases the chance of imprisonment, substance abuse and a higher chance of being involved in crime. These problems are not only a dilemma for them but it also has a negative effect on society.
Child Abuse is behavior by and adult that harms a child’s physical, mental, or emotional health and development. Some types of child abuse are neglect, and physical abuse. An example of neglect would be medical neglect. This is where the child does not get the proper medical attention needed. Some examples of physical abuse would be sexual and physiological.
The abuse of children is not new. It dates back to biblical times. During recent years, child abuse has had a rise in the public eye. According to the nationally known website Childabuse.com, there are four types of child abuse: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect (Childabuse), each with its own unique set of characteristics, each affecting a child differently, and each noticeable, stoppable, and preventable.
Most people don’t know much about Child Abuse, or the types of Child Abuse. One type of Child Abuse is called Emotional Abuse. Emotional Abuse is when people say something that is cruel, or intimidating. Another type is Physical Abuse which is when there is hitting, or beating involved in the abuse. A third type is Sexual Abuse which is when the abuser try’s doing things sexually with the child. The final type is Verbal Abuse which is when the abuser criticizes the child with hurtful words.
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.
n percent of children that are found abused are placed into foster care. The other ninety percent of children that are found being abused or neglected do not receive help. The goal of foster care is to help provide a stable, safe, and nurturing environment. “Foster care is the temporary placement of children and youth with families outside of their own home due to child abuse or neglect (Foster Parent Information par. 2)”. Children should have the opportunity to leave a harmful environment and to be placed somewhere safe and protected. Although many children are abused every day, only around 10 percent of children that are found abused are placed in foster care (Doyle pg.2). While in foster care, children are protected from abuse and neglect, provided with a stable family environment, and also offered essential health care needs like Medicaid for example. Even though it is never an easy decision to remove a child from their home, it is more safe and beneficial to bring the child to a safer and stable family environment. Foster care is beneficial to children because it protects children from abuse and neglect, creates a stable family environment, and provides essential health care.
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.
According to the Webster dictionary, child abuse is define as a physical maltreatment or sexual molestation of a child. Maltreatment of children occurs all the time, in the form of socio-economic, cultural, racial, religious and ethnic groups. When looking at child abuse there are no specific factors that can be said to directly say what causes the abuse or neglect of a child/children. Meaning no one has still yet to find why people do what they do. One fact knowing is, sometime the individual environmental, social and contextual factors can affect the behavior of individuals, families and communities, which may increase that risk. There are several forms of abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. In modern time other
Child abuse in America is an ongoing problem and something needs to be done. There are approximately one million children abused annually in the United States. (Table 339) Cases of child abuse and neglect are reported every ten seconds, and researchers believe that there’s three times that amount that goes unnoticed. (Child Abuse: Know the Signs and Stop the Violence Against Children.) Something needs to be done for these children who are too weak and too powerless to help themselves.