Child Abuse And Its Effects On Children

In the typical classroom, a 4-year-old child once said, “If someone wants to have sex with you, you have to do it.” (Rafanello) Child abuse is more prevalent now than ever, and the numbers are only growing. This shows us that child abuse is more relevant now than ever. The amount of damage inflicted on these children mentally range from mild to extreme. This is why it’s important that child abuse gets reported as soon as possible.

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.

The author of this book ,Stuart was abused by his step father that almost ruined his life and ended up in hospital, but in this book he writes about how he survived the

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.

Adolescence is a critical time in an individuals’ life, especially in regards to his or her neurodevelopment. Adolescents believe that they are mature individuals with the ability to make intelligent decisions without any direction or guidance from anyone else. This is very alarming considering that the adolescent is very impulsive in his or her decision making abilities, instead of reasoning through the negatives and positives regarding his or her final decision regarding an issue or situation he or she is presented with. Adolescents are not always aware or concerned with the consequences of their decisions and actions. This paper will address the relationship between child abuse

“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.

Maltreatment is a sever form of parental abuse that could really take a toll on a developing child. Children should be treated with the utmost care because they are developing and growing physically, physiologically, and emotionally everyday for starters. It has always been a known staple that children need to get enough sleep, eat their vegetables, along with a healthy diet, and follow and healthy regimen in order to reach full healthy potential. Malnourishment effects organ growth and cognitive skills. Unfortunately children need assistance when they are young and cannot do everything for themselves. This is where parents come into play and could make or break a child’s developmental potential. Children learn a lot from their parents, every child has whether its good or bad, things to avoid, or encourage, learning is happening, absorbing. Most people would think that a child who was abused by a form of maltreatment as a child would undoubtedly provide and nourish properly their own. Evidence suggests that is not always the case surprisingly. Some confirmation proposes that grown-ups who were mishandled or disregarded as children are at expanded danger of intergenerational misuse or disregard contrasted with the individuals who were not abused as kids (Kwong, Bartholomew, Henderson, & Trinke, 2003; Mouzos & Makkai, 2004; Pears & Capaldi, 2001). Folks who had encountered physical misuse in youth were fundamentally more inclined to take part

Substance Abuse is a prominent issue in our society and always will be, but it is important to look at not only the user, but also who else is affected by substance abuse. Adolescents are put at an unfair advantage and are often exposed to substances at a very young age, which could predict their future of addiction. Research shows that at least two thirds of all child protective service cases involve caregivers or parents that have a substance abuse problem. I believe that it is a persons right to ruin their own life, but it takes a very selfish person to knowingly ruin the life of children around them. I believe it is important to look at all the negative affects a caregivers abuse can have on adolescents in order to understand how

According to the website Childhelp, it says “Child abuse is when a parent or caregiver, whether through action or failing to act, causes injury, death, emotional harm or risk of serious harm to a child.” There are many forms of child abuse and some of them are: emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and physical. As I was researching what caught my attention was the stories that were told by parents of the child itself about what happened to them. A story that I found about how a boy was living with this mother and his parents divorced. Over the years, he would be physically abused by his mother and would be scared to be around her. He said that she was doing this out of love, but it kept getting worst as times get by.

Child abuse takes many different forms. Including physical, sexual, emotional, or neglect of a children by parents, guardians, or others responsible for a child 's welfare. Regardless of the type of abuse, the child’s devolvement is greatly impacted. The child’s risk for emotional, behavioral, academic, social, and physical problems in life increase. According to the Child Maltreatment Report by the Children’s Bureau (1999) the most common form of child abuse in the United States is neglect. As of 2005, just as much victims were male as there were female. The development of the brain during infancy and childhood is critical because during this time period the brain is most adaptable and shapes according to experiences (Perry, 2009.). Essentially, this means the brain modifies itself in response to experiences. Positive experiences causes the brain to develop healthy and flexible. However, negative traumatic experiences can lead to alterations in brain structure. There are many impacts on the physiology of the brain due to child abuse such as, Impact on the cortex and limbic system. Victims of abuse are sensitive to even minor stimuli a result of decreased frontal lobe functioning (learning and problem solving) and increased limbic system sensitivity (Impact on the physiology of the brain, n.d.)

It seems like every other day there is another story on the news about a child who was found tied up in a yard, or locked in the closet, or killed by their parent. These abused children are then being placed in the foster care system with other children who were given up by their parents, with no guarantee that they will ever be placed with a family again. Why is it that our society continues to allow children to be born to unfit parents? Why do the current laws in place in America not protect our children until after something bad happens to them? Action must be taken to protect these children as early as possible, even before they are conceived. Parents should be required to obtain a parenting license prior to conception to ensure that children are conceived by competent parents who want them, which will lead to fewer instances of child abuse and adoption, both of which are damaging to developing children.

According to the Children, Young persons and their Families Act (1989) abuse is defined as “A Child or Young Person who is being, or likely to be harmed (whether physically, emotionally, or sexually), ill-treatment, abuse, neglect or deprivation of any child or young person.” It is also important to understand that abuse may be intentional (physical abuse for example) or unintentional (for example mental abuse or neglect.)

Child abuse has gone down in recent years. There is a statistic that says in 2012 that 1 in every 100 children was abused in the U.S (Iannelli,). Child abuse isn’t only physical it could be emotional or neglect. Another thing about child abuse is that it could affect the child’s academics. Because of all the stress that they endure carries on into their school life. A lot of people who have been abused as a child it usually doesn’t stop affecting them as kids it usually carries on into their adult life. When an adult has been abused as a child it usually affects their one-on-one relationships one way or another. A child’s personality can also change after experiencing some type of abuse. Abused children in some cases have psychiatric problems after the abuse. Child abuse affects every aspect of that child’s life.

Child abuse is more than just hurtful and physical contact. It is more than bruises and broken bones. While physical abuse is noticeable there are many other types of abuse that kids may be experiencing such as physical abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse , and neglecting . Although some of these May be very different from the others they all have one thing in common; they will all leave a long lasting scar. Child abuse is something that should be tried to be prevented at all times. It seems that even though the government tried to brake the habit of adults betting children by making it illegal is is still happening at all times. Every 3 out of 5 kids in American are experiencing some type abuse and need help immediately .Child abuse & neglecting may lead to choices you can't take back . According to the child protective agencies & services ( the CPS & CSA ) in a yearly federal report the a unworldly wide rate has gone up. Neglecting has been the most common , having a rate of 78.3%, physical abuse is 17.6%, sexual abuse at 9.2% and physiological is at 8.1 %.

We live in a world where greatness happens each day, and without knowing even greater people surround us. Within our world we have different age groups. Today I will focus on the group that is our future, children. Every day a baby is born and begins their journey of learning to adjust to the world. From the beginning of the life of these newborns, parents that help them grow into the world we know of today that will chew you up and spit you out if you are not ready for the things it will throw at you. Crimes against children happen every day around us and we only catch about twenty-eight percent of crimes against children are reported to police (Crimes Against Children Research Children). The things we do not want to acknowledge happen to children are occurring simply, because of cruel minds and neglectful parents or adults around them. I will take you on a journey of things that occur as a child in a society where children are not living life, from child abuse going too far, to the psychosocial consequences children go through after going through such abuse, statistical data of violence caused to children, and sexual abuse against children.