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.

Every year, within Australia, the number of children who are removed from the care of their parents and placed into government regulated care continues to grow significantly. For these children, maltreatment (or the risk of maltreatment), in the form of abuse or neglect within the family home result in the need for them to be relocated to alternative care arrangements, more commonly referred to as out-of-home care (OOHC). The research which investigates the effects of maltreatment on children, conclusively shows that experiencing trauma and/or neglect during childhood can result in considerable physiological and psychological effects on development across multiple key domains, such as cognitive, social-emotional, academic, and language

The maltreatment of children within the United States is an unfortunate but evident issue that presents some very detrimental consequences for the victims. Victims of child maltreatment typically suffer from both short-term and long-term consequences, resulting from the negligence of their parents. Across the nation techniques and measures have been taken in order to prevent the advancement of child abuse within high-risk homes, although despite these efforts sometimes it is too late for the child and the damage is too extensive for them to recover completely.

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

Child Abuse and Neglect continue to be a serious pediatric and social threat to the nation’s children. Child maltreatment is more than bruises and broken bones. While physical abuse may be the most noticeable, other types of abuse, such as emotional and sexual abuses, leave deep, lasting scars. Child Maltreatment includes significant negative experiences with long-lasting effects. These childhood experiences cause detrimental, long lasting effects during cognitive, behavioral, and emotional development and often well into adulthood. This paper will look at the various types of child maltreatment and the causes attributed to them, as well as the long term effects of child abuse and what can be done to prevent these abuses.

The CDC has states that one in every four children suffer abuse. An estimated 702,000 children were confirmed by child protective services as being victims of abuse and neglect in 2014. (CDC, 2016) Studies have found abused and neglected children to be at least 25% more likely to experience problems such as delinquency, teen pregnancy and low academic achievement. (CDC, 2016) A National Institute of Justice study indicated that being abused or neglected as a child increased the likelihood of arrest as juvenile by 59%. Abuse and neglect also increased the likelihood of adult criminal behavior by 28% and violent crime by 30%. (CDC, 2016)

A general definition of physical abuse is a non-accidental injury of a child inflicted by a caregiver. Children who are abused can experience injuries ranging from bruises, fractures and broken bones, and in some cases, even death. There’s an estimated three million children are abused or neglected every day in the United States (Unger & Luca, 2014). Children are more likely to be physically abused if their parents are single, young parents, living in poverty, parents were also abused as children, families have alcohol or drug abuse problems, and there is domestic violence happening at home (Lazenbatt & Freeman, 2006). Many children who experience physical abuse experience emotional abuse and neglect as well.

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

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."

Life is full of unfortunate tragedies and wonderful surprises and learning to balance the emotions of each event. For some, life is more tragic than others and starts earlier than others. Children in particular are vulnerable to these tragic events because they are unable to properly defend themselves, depending on their size and communication ability. Child abuse and neglect are problems that are happening to children all across the world. David Pelzer, author of the autobiographic book A Child Called It, was an American child who experienced child abuse and is still feelings its effects to this very day. His mother committed audacious acts against him. He was lucky enough to be rescued at the age of twelve. Parts of his story will be

"Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will break our hearts" (Fulghum). Psychological abuse in children does not receive as much attention as physical abuse; however, verbal abuse, emotional abuse and neglect can affect children as much as physical abuse. When compared to physical abuse, psychological abuse has less punishments for the perpetrators, more chances of occurring and different effects on the victims.

Over the years, child abuse has reportedly been identified as the main contributor to numerous environmental risk factors that later affect these abused children in their adulthood life. For instance, a number of studies have indicated that child sexual abuse influences the adult-interpersonal functioning and psychological distresses. Research has further revealed that this social ill is the main contributor to the victimization in dating relationships (Fiorillo, Papa & Follette, 2013). Eating disorder in adulthood is yet another factor that has affected most adults who were occasionally abused while young (Dworkin, 2014). Among all the child abuses, child sexual abuse stands out and is often linked to dysregulated behavior controls that are either impulsive or compulsive. This paper will outline a number of negative factors that affect adults who have experienced any form of child abuse.

It is documented that millions of children are abused every year and that most abuse cases happen in the home. The most common forms of abuse that occur to children are maltreatment and neglect. (Hodgdon, Kinniburgh, Gabowitz, Blaustein, & Spinazzola, 2013). Research shows that abuse causes a negative impact on children who have been mistreated. Some examples of this are the abuse disrupts the biological and psychological development of these children, and the abuse also causes behavior, learning, and emotional problems within the children who have experienced any sort of abuse (Brassard & Rivelis, 2009). Some of the symptoms that children who have been abused experience are depression, PTSD, internalizing and externalizing behaviors (Kjellgren, Svedin, & Nilsson, 2013). Overall, abuse can have a severe negative effect on children and their development, which means that there needs to be an effective treatment to help these children cope and treat their symptoms.

Child Abuse. How does one decide what constitutes abuse? Is there a thin line between abuse and discipline? We often hear the horrific stories of child abuse in our communities, but are we as a society so used to hearing these stories that we have become desensitized to them?