It has been found that sibling physical abuse occurs much more frequently than abuse by parents. Sibling abuse is defined as the physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse from one sibling to the other. It is estimated that 53% of children physically abuse a sibling each year. Older siblings are much more likely to abuse the younger siblings, especially older male siblings, while younger female siblings are most likely to be victims of sibling abuse. Sibling abuse often goes undetected or slips under the radar because parents think it’s normal, or choose not to take action. A parent’s reaction is vital in sibling abuse, as it gives a chance for remediation and healing for both the perpetrator and the victim.
Literature Review
Sibling abuse is
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Within sexual abuse, sibling incest is said to be the most common type of sexual abuse committed by immediate family members. According to Kiselica and Morrill-Richards, the United States Department of Health and Human Services stated that roughly 0.12% of children are sexually abused by an adult member of their family. In addition to this, 2.3% of women have been sexually victimized by one of their siblings (2007). The impact of sibling sexual abuse and incest is often very underestimated by todays world. Its also very difficult to recognize, a big setback is that there is no environment that increases or decreased the risk of sibling sexual abuse, however, the symptoms of sibling sexual abuse can be quite telling. Symptoms include fear, anger, guilt, humiliation and shame. Children who experience sibling sexual abuse often carry troubles in to adulthood especially in adult sexual relationships.
The impact of sibling sexual abuse and incest is often very underestimated by todays world. Its also very difficult to recognize, a big problem is that there is no environment that increases or decreased the risk of sibling sexual abuse. Symptoms of sibling sexual abuse include fear, anger, shame, humiliation, and guilt. Children who experience sibling sexual abuse often carry troubles in to adulthood especially in adult sexual relationships.
Especially in the book Miss America by Day, it mentioned about one of the maltreatments called incest (Maltreatment is intentional harm to or endangerment of a child, Incest is a sexual relations between persons closely related.). Like in the situation of Marilyn, author of the Miss America, she went through incest with her father at the age of five to eighteen, so until she became an adult it was very hard for her to tell her own story to anybody because she was afraid nobody would believe in her. Like the Child, Family, School, Community says, “the closer the victim and offender are emotionally, the greater trauma the victim experiences.” I agree with this statement, it is true that the closer the offender to the victim which the greater the trauma victim experiences. Some of the maltreatments are temperament of the child, marital distress, unemployment, lack of community support, and cultural values such as tolerance of violence can be considered as maltreatment. Other symptoms are poor social skills with peers of their own age(s), unable to trust other people, feel depression, commit suicide, have self-destructive, and confusion about their sexuality. It also said that high percentage of drug abusers, juvenile runaways, and prostitutes have been sexually abused when they were children. But for Marilyn Van Derbur felt very depressed and had temperament, but she coped with her pain by socializing and acting out as if nothing happened to her because she has to keep it as secret from everybody else ( Child, Family, School,
A real life example of someone abusing brother could be an older sibling who takes care of you when your parents are gone, or even corrupt police. When I was little, my cousin lived with me and my other siblings, but when my parents left to work or a party, he started to be mean to me and started calling me names and demanded me to do things for him. Another example is when me and my friend knew a guy, whom we visited often who was a regular employer who then became a police officer. He was the nicest guy I’ve ever met, but once he became a police officer, he changed a lot compared to that of his earlier self. Once he became an officer, he started to feel powerful and became commanding and acted like he knew about the world, and knew better choices for us. It was really upsetting, so we stopped visiting because we knew if we kept sticking around conflicts might start happening between us. Just like real life, stories about the abusing of power can be real and there are many ways people can abuse their power and use them to their
Mayer, Adele. Sexual Abuse: Causes, Consequences and Treatment of Incestuous and Pedophilic Acts. Holmes Beach: Learning Publications, 1985.
Tidefors, I., Arvidsson, H., & Ingevaldson, S. (2010). Sibling incest: A literate review and clinical study. Journal of Sexual Agression, 348-358.
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
Child sexual abuse is defined as “the involvement of a child in sexual activity that he or she does not fully comprehend, is unable to give informed consent to, or for which the child is not developmentally prepared, or else that violates the laws or social taboos of society” (Ajduković, Sušac, and Rajter 470). In Bastard out of Carolina, Ruth Ann “Bone” Boatwright started experiencing sexual child abuse from her stepfather at the age of twelve, which changed aspects of her life forever. Coincidentally, it was proven through research that young girls between the ages of 13 and 16 suffered sexual abuse by adult men that they knew previously (Ajduković, Sušac, and Rajter 475). While it could be a family member, an acquaintance, or a friend, the feelings of betrayal remain the same.
Gilmartin, P. (1994). Rape, incest, and child abuse: Consequences and recovery. New York, NY: Garland Publishing, Inc.
Child neglect is the most common form of maltreatment towards children, which may lead to various short- and long-term physical, psychological and social consequences. It is known to coincide with other forms of abuse and difficulties. Infants and toddlers are often the main victims of neglect.
Abusive Relationships Ending an abusive and long term relationship may seem a bit challenging to some people; especially when THAT person doesn’t know when to stop or take a “NO” as an answer. Being in a relationship requires from both sides to be patient, comprehensive, caring, communicative, loving, respectful, and loyal. Imagine having it all with your significant other, all those special components that build a strong relationship and having to end it because of the bad treatments. How do you know when you’ve had enough? How can it stop?
Research has indicated that about thirty percent of individuals, have experienced sexual abuse during their childhood (Zierler et al., 1991). In addition, it is estimated that about one in twenty cases of sexual abuse get reported (Finkelhor et al., 1990). Despite cases of sexual abuse predominantly occurring during childhood, this type of abuse also occurs during adulthood, or during both stages of development (Finkelhor et al., 1990). In addition, sexual abuse does not affect one particular gender. However, young girls and older females are more likely to experience sexual abuse, than young boys or adult males (Zierler et al., 1991).
Abusive Relationships & Teens Abusive relationships aren’t something we usually associate with teens. However, they are a serious issue. Most of us, though, don’t have a clear idea of what abuse between partners really looks like. How can we tell if a friend ends up in such a scenario? Much less, ourselves?
Falling in love with someone is supposed to be one of life’s greatest gifts. People fall in love, get married and have children. Sometimes life is not that simple for some people. Sometimes during this great time in their life, their partner becomes physically, mentally, and sexually abusive. So one would ask, why not leave and get out of the relationship? It is not that simple for the victim. Fear of their partner’s actions, concerns about their children, and their deep attachment to their partner are factors that cause people to stay in abusive relationships.
More importantly, “60 percent of children who are sexually abused do not disclose and most are acquaintances but as many as 47 percent are family or extended family” (The Scope of, 2016). The prevalence of child sexual abuse is difficult to determine because it is often not reported; experts agree that the incidence is far greater than what is reported to authorities (Child Sexual Abuse, 2012). Startling statistics represent the depth of the issue. Globally, prevalence rates show that a range of 7-36% of women and 3-29% of men experience sexual abuse in childhood (The Scope of, 2016). “The U.S Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau report child maltreatment 2010 found that 9.2% of victimized children were sexually assaulted” (Child Sexual Abuse,
“Child abuse results from a complex combination on personal, social, and cultural factors. These may be grouped into four primary categories: (1) intergenerational transmission of violence, (2) social stress, (3) social isolation and low community involvement, and (4) family structure” (“Child Abuse” Encarta). Interim transmission of violence is displayed when the abused children become abusive parents. “Some studies have shown that 30 percent of abused children become abusive themselves and others show that most of the abused do not become abusive adults” (“Child Abuse” Britannica). Social stress is a common cause of child abuse in a family. The conditions of social stress include unemployment, illness, poor housing conditions, a large family, death of a family member or close friend, or maybe even the presence of a new baby or a disabled person in the home.
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.