Child Abuse And Its Effects On Children

Within the United States, child maltreatment is becoming more and more commonly reported as there is over 3 million reports each year. Due to the constant increase of child maltreatment reports, society has become more aware of the issue, which has led to awareness campaigns. (Payne, 87). Even with societies’ knowledge of such abuse there are still serval child maltreatment cases that are not reported. The children that are victims of maltreatment pertains any sort of harm to the child whether it is by injury, neglect, physical, emotional, or even sexual abuse by someone who holds a major role in the child’s life, a parent or guardian figure (“What is Child Abuse”).

Back in the day there were not as many child protecting laws and assisting facilities like there are today. In 1960’s there was very little information as it relates to child abuse. A Canadian psychologist by the name of William L. Marshall said, “you could read all the information in one morning. With the lack of information there was no way for individuals to readily identify what constituted as child abuser. Child abuse before 1875 was in fact the era before child services were created to protect the children.

Of all the reported American child maltreatment in 2013, 79.5% of victims experienced neglect, more than four times the victims that were physically abused (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). Neglect is one of the most common forms of child maltreatment and public awareness of this problem was raised in the 1960s by the work of C. Henry Page 1 of 1Kempe which described the battered-child syndrome. It was only then that child maltreatment was regarded as a serious social problem. Since then, a new field has grown, with professionals researching to understand the problem and effective interventions needed and yet, neglect is still often given less attention than child physical and sexual abuse. The signs of neglect are usually less visible than the physical signs of abuse but it is just as detrimental to the general early development of children as abuse. By examining the consequences of neglect in children on their cognitive development, the problem can be slowly addressed and resolved to a certain extent. Not only does it affect cognitive, language and emotional development in children, it can also result in long term consequences such as poor academic performance and attachment problems. However, research has shown that an enriching environment given to the children once they are out of an environment of neglect can promote resilience which to a certain extent can recover the effects of neglect on various aspects of development.

Working in education, specifically in the disciplinary area, I have had many meetings with single mothers about behavior issues related to their child. This does not mean that meetings with single fathers never occur, but not as frequently as with single mothers. Now of course there have been several published works that have identified negative behavioral characteristics to be associated with being raised with an absentee father. Those effects include engaging in drug abuse, experiencing educational, emotional, and behavioral problems, becoming victims of child abuse, and engaging in criminal behavior. This data implies that these unfortunate social problems are associated with the absence of a father from a child’s life. However, “differences in children’s well-being remain contentious because research on parenting has developed contrasting theoretical accounts of the effects that fathers may have on children’s development (Debell, 2008 p. 428). As a result, I began to wonder about the children who are in fact being raised by their father and if the same risk factors related to behavior exist.

“They almost looked as though they were sleeping. It almost looked like they were cuddled up together for the night.” –Lt. Michael Fleming, commander of the Nassau, New York, homicide squad, after finding three young children dead in their bed after their mother had killed them. (Qtd. In Juettner 12). Abuse doesn’t just affect children, it affects adults too. While many cases of abuse are reported, there are still many that go unreported. Abuse and child abuse is not something to be taken lightly, even after the abuse has been stopped there are long lasting effects. Could you imagine being abused by someone you thought loved or cared about you? According to dictionary.com, the definition of “home” is… An environment offering security and happiness. Someone’s home should be a place where they feel that “warm and fuzzy” feeling and at the end of a long day at school or work you can’t wait to get home. Sadly, for some this is not the case. Most cases of abuse do in fact happen in the home. To best understand this phenomena one must look at the history and background, the types, and the horrific results of abuse.

Most parents and other caregivers do not intend to hurt their children, but abuse is defined by the effect on the child, not the motivation of the parents or caregiver."

Memory is the blueprint of an individual’s development and growth. Repeated experiences of things taken granted – such as learning to walk and learning to speak and write to express oneself – become encoded to ensure a smooth flow of information that help us adapt to the environment. However, children’s exposure to environmental stressors, depending on the exposure frequency and intensity, may impair the normal development of memory in children. This paper will evaluate the role of child maltreatment (physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and neglect) in the changes of memory function. We will first explore maltreatment’s effect on the physiological changes that occur in the primary brain structures that are involved in the development and functions of memory. Next, we will examine the differences in memory among maltreated and non-maltreated children in various types of memory, including working memory, autobiographical memory, and episodic memory. Finally, we will discuss possible treatments that exist to improve the memory functioning of child survivors of maltreatment.

While physical abuse might be the most visible, other types of abuse, such as emotional abuse and neglect, also leave deep, lasting scars.” There are multiple problem in detecting child abuse and neglect. The first problem is distinguishing the types of child abuse and the affect or impact it has on a child. We must realize the importance of our role learn how to help protect a child in danger of abuse. There are four recognized forms of abuse, physical, sexual, neglect and mental. By understanding and identifying the types of child abuse will help with the mental growth of a child in becoming an adult. Child physical abuse happens when a child receives non-accidental physical injuries that may result in bruises, broken bones, sprains lifelong injury and death. Child sexual abuse occurs when there are contacts for sexual purposes, molestation, statutory rape, prostitution, pornography, exposure, incest, or other sexually exploitative activities. Sex abuse also includes children older or more powerful using another child for sexual gratification or excitement. Emotional abuse happens over time with a behavior, which can result in severe emotional harm or drama. Shaming or calling a child a name, criticizing, feeling unwanted, uninterested parents, bad language aim at the child causes some emotional abuse. This type of emotional abuse could result in obesity, low self-esteem, health problems, withdrawn and other physical and

Child abuse is a topic that mostly everyone knows or is at least familiar with. It is an inexcusable action that is unforgivable, it can do detrimental damage that may be irreversible. Many see it only as the story that is told, but they do not see the effects it could have and the journey the children and families go through to change or have control of the situation. Children are the main victims of abuse but their families and peers also get affected by this unjustifiable act. Through the fearful situation they have experienced, they can develop physiological problem, go through the court system, but one thing they need the most throughout their journey is support, and their families and peers can also seek it to prevent future situations to develop.

Ten thousands of children each year are traumatized by physical, sexual and emotional abusers or by care givers who deliberately harm and mistreat these precious lives. Imagine for a moment what it’s like to be in a situation where the persons you trust to care for and guide over you, are the ones that place these victims in this complex problems in which they are not able to resist from taking its course.

Many grandparents are happy to take care of grandkids in their parents’ absence, but with this responsibility comes added stress, possible negative physical and mental consequences, financial stress, and unanticipated legal issues. The number of these households has been on the rise in the recent decades and none for positive reasons. On an optimistic note, there is also the richness and complexities of the experiences of grandparents raising their grandchildren, the positive aspects of feeling love, pride in responsibility, and feelings of having value and purpose in old age.

Child abuse is mistreatment of a child by a parent or guardian, including neglect, beating, and sexual molestation.Child abuse happens to children all over the world. There are four different types of child abuse. physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and child neglect. Approximately 5 children die everyday because of child abuse. child abuse can physically and mentally harm a child by having Symptoms of nightmares, depression, and isolation. These symptoms can continue into adulthood. “one out of three girls and one out of five boys will be sexually abused before they reach age 18”. nobody knows what 's going on at home because the children are scared or either threaten by the abuser to not tell anyone anything.

The United States has one of the worst records among industrialized nations- losing an average between four and seven children every day to child abuse and neglect (childhelp.org). Child abuse is a problem that can prevented with treatment programs and education for schools where teachers and administration can learn how to detect abuse. They may not be able to tell if a child is being physically, emotionally, sexually abused, or neglected but can be instrumental in alerting authorities if they suspect mistreatment. Child abuse and neglect is commonly passed down through generations; therefore the government must fund and mandate education to prevent further reprise.

Child abuse is when a parent or caregiver, whether through action or failing to act, causes injury, emotional harm, and risk of serious harm or even death to child. There are four main categories of child abuse: physical, sexual, and emotional and neglect. Each type of abuse has many different signs to show a child is danger. There are many reports of child abuse reported a year in the US. If anyone suspects any sign of child abuse authorities should be notified so the proper action can be taken.

Although child abuse has soon become a more discussed issue, it is nothing new in today’s society. Dating back to ancient times, physical child abuse has always attributed to lives of people around the world. Approaching and understanding child mistreatment has changed as societies have modernized and progressed; whereas one thing remains an unalterable issue, child abuse happens constantly and continuously worldwide.