Why Do Parents Abuse Children?

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Stories crowd the internet of children dying or being hospitalized by abuse. There is one question that stands out that many have tried to answer. Why do parents abuse their children? Child maltreatment can occur across cultural, socio-economic, racial, religious and ethnic groups (Goldman, Salus, Welcott, Kennedy 1).
There are thousands of reasons why parents abuse. This one, though, is a shocking way to do it. “Twelve percent of those who spanked fifty or more times in the last year admitted abuse”(Locke 1). Parents start with spanking just for discipline, then they start beating their child for unnecessary reasons with objects like whips or branches. Many parents do not realize what they are doing until they are called out for it. This is one of the physical ways parents abuse.
Parents can have a strong belief in religion. Parents can be so strict on their beliefs that they abuse. Few Christians take the verse “parents who spare the rod, spoil their child” too literally (Locke 2). The grandmother, in Flowers in the Attic, was very religious and believed God said to punish every little thing. “People make the rules for society not God” (Bloom Flowers in the Attic). The grandmother abused her daughter and grand-children because she interpreted the text wrong. This is yet another reason why parents or grandparents abuse.
“Kids with single parents are one hundred and twenty percent more at risk of experiencing some type of maltreatment overall” (Goldman, Salus, Wolcott, Kennedy 3). Parents who experience a divorce are more likely to go through more stress than parents who don’t divorce. Single parenting contains a lot of stress which can be taken out on the kid in a more physical way. The parents are quick to anger and most of ...

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...cipline is through abuse. This is one of the most popular reasons. Abuse is passed down through generations and it is difficult to stop the pattern.
Another reason parents abuse their children is age. Teenage mothers are more likely to abuse than older mothers. Young mothers do not receive a lot of moral support and the stress factor is unbelievably high. The mothers abuse to get their anger out. The age of a child is another reason. A young child will be abused more than older children. There is no specific reason for this, but abusive parents still do it.
Parents abuse their children for many different reasons. For some parents, it is the only type of discipline they know how to enforce. Some may live in poverty, and there are even those parents that had children too young. No matter what situation an abusive parent is in, stress appears to be the main factor.

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