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Abuse and Heredity

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Abuse and Heredity Research question: Is child abuse hereditary?
There are many types of abuse such as alcohol abuse, drug abuse, domestic abuse just to name a few but of all the types of abuse there is one type of abuse that is probably one of the easiest to pass down and that is child abuse. Child abuse is easy to pass down because we look to what we know when were not certain what to do. The term for passing down child abuse is known as intergenerational abuse. There are four methods of child abuse and they are physical, sexual, neglect, and emotional abuse (Baltes, Smelser, Pg 1672). In the study of a sixteen year old mother who had been abused her whole life, it was found that the mother resorted to spanking her five month old …show more content…

Capaldi and Pears studies show that abuse is found in low socioeconomical environments and also with relatively young parents (2001, pg 1442). Bensley says one process of intergenerational abuse is the normative beliefs regarding appropriate parenting behaviors, which she describes as believing that certain abusive behavior are normal ( Bensley, Ruggles, Simmons, Harris, Williams, Putvin, Allen, 2003, pg 1323). Which supports the idea that an abusive parent justifies abuse as a legitimate punishment ( Bensley, Ruggles, Simmons, Harris, Williams, Putvin, Allen, 2003, pg 1331). Graur identifies 3 different cause of child abuse and neglect, the first cause is called the “economic theory” which says economic depression or socioemotional difficulties cause rejection behaviors on the part of the parent (1996, p.55-56). The second cause is called the ecological theory which says any disorder affecting society will also affect the family (1996, p. 56). The third and final cause of neglect found by Graur is called the personality theory which states that traits such as low self esteem, sadness, and previous experiences affect the way a parent acts towards a child (1996, p.56). In the article titled Child abuse there are 4 main cause of child abuse identified, the first has to do with life history and personality meaning their own experiences as a

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