Child Abuse And Its Effects On Children

Sexual abuse constitutes a serious violation of children’s rights and human dignity. Sexual abuse occurs when a person uses their power over a child, and involves the child in any sexual act. The power of the abuser lies in their age, advantage, superiority of intellectual or physical development, or in a relationship of authority with

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.

We are becoming more and more aware of a serious problem over the last several decades. The horrors of sexual abuse to children has been continuously gaining attention. Child sexual abuse is any sexual contact with a child through the use of force, threat, or deceit to secure the child’s participation, or any sexual contact with a child who is incapable of consenting by virtue of age, disability, or power (Finkelhor, 1990b).

Psychological abuse, though not often recognized, has a serious effect on children and young adults. Studies have shown that as many as “80% of 21-year-olds who reported childhood child abuse met the criteria for at least one psychological disorder” (Child Abuse Statistics), and another

Every year, child abuse and neglect affect more than one million children nation-wide (Currie and Tekin 1). Along with this, child abuse is the source of severe injury to more than 500,000 children and the death of over 1,500 children (Currie and Tekin 1). These outrageously large numbers reveal the extent to which child abuse and neglect impact society; however, they do not acknowledge the effect abuse can have on a child’s life and the repercussions that may occur in both the individual’s childhood and adulthood. While the effects most certainly include physical pain and possibly future disabilities, child abuse and neglect can also affects the child’s psychological welfare. Psychological effects are often more difficult to recognize,

The idea of child sexual abuse is one that not many people like to think about or even really talk about. It is a subject that most people believe is clear cut. According to the law, it is wrong to have child-adult sex no matter the circumstances. However, when reading Rind et. al. (1998), the idea of unwanted verses a willing encounter of child-adult sex is discussed. While, this idea may be controversial, I do agree that it is a very important factor when considering the effects that child sexual abuse (CSA) has on an individual. Although, children and adolescents are not fully developed, there is a level of understanding that comes with ‘right and wrong’ according to laws as well as social norms. Whether someone is willing or unwilling changes their perception of the event happening. While this most likely depends on age (the older you are, the more understanding you have about a sexual encounter), it is also important to distinguish that each individual may react differently to any given situation. For example, even something as simple as a surprise birthday party can garner two separate reactions from two different people.

In addressing child abuse we are confronted with a series of problems. On the one hand, there is a lack of the true extent of the phenomenon because no data are available and that the issue, often refers to the most intimate spaces of family life. Furthermore, cultural and historical traditions affect the way each society faces this problem. Finally, there are varying opinions as to its definition and classification, as well as the consequences of child abuse may have and its subsequent therapeutic management.

One million children in forty- eight states were victims of substantiated child abuse and neglect in 1994 (Child - Abuse Prevention 1). Out of all the abuse allegations in 2000 only 879,000 cases were able to be proved. Which approximately 1200 children died as a result of child abuse or neglect and forty-four percent of these were younger than one years old. Defenseless children are severely abused constantly every year across the United States, leaving life -long negative effects on their futures. By educating our youth about the impact their words and physical abuse can cause someone, our future generations will have an understanding of why they should handle their aggression.

Every year over 3 million reports of child abuse are made involving more than 6 million children. The United States has one of the worst records of child abuse losing 4-7 children a day to the abuse. Abuse is when any behavior or action that is used to scare, harm, threaten, control or intimidate another person. Child abuse is a behavior outside the norms of conduct and entails substantial risk of causing physical or emotional harm. There are four main types of child abuse; physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is the act of engaging a child in unwanted sexual behavior and activities such as rape, incest, molestation, prostitution, and other forms of sexual exploitation (as cited by Goodyear-Brown, Fath, &Myers, 2012, p. 4; McGarth, Nilsen, and Kerly, 2011, p. 485). From the efforts for child protective movement in the 1800s to the feminist anti-rape movement a 100 years later in the 1970s that brought to light CSA as a crime against women (Whitter, 2009, p. 7), this type of abuse has been an ongoing issue that has constantly been in and out of sight of the public spectrum of social problems. It is an abuse that children throughout history have been subjected and overlooked by society as taboo and rare occurrence; however, recent literature points otherwise. According to statistics one in twelve children are victims of child abuse (McGarth et al., 2011, p. 485) and in the United States there are approximately 39 million survivors of CSA (as cited by Gaskill& Perry, 2012, p. 29). The survivors are not only left to cope with the traumatic experience, but also the negative effects of the abuse that follow them to adulthood that create unfavorable outcomes such as mental health problems, criminal behavior, and employment obstacles that make it hard for survivors to lead successful lives.

No one ever thinks it will happen to them, or to anyone that they know. It is a tragic event that can be life changing. “More than four children die every day as a result of child abuse(AmericanSPCC,2015).” There are five main types of abuse and they are neglect, physical, sexual, emotional/psychological, and medical neglect. The most common one according to the American humane society is neglect with sixty-two point eight percent. “Boys and girls are equally likely to suffer maltreatment (American Humane, 2013).” It can happen to anyone it does not matter the gender.

Most people do not know how to cope with abused children. I became interested in this topic because when I was a teenager I had a friend who was abused by her stepfather and I didn’t know how to help her. I would like to know how children’s psychological development is affected, and how we can help these children cope with their misfortune. The most common effect is that maltreated children are, essentially, rejected. These destructive experiences impact on the developing child, increasing the risks for emotional, behavioral, social and physical problems throughout life. The purpose of this paper is to outline how these experiences may result in such increased risks by influencing the development of the child’s psychology.

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.

Child abuse is any behavior which, by action or omission, produces physical or psychological damage to a person less than 18 years, affecting the development of his personality. In homes, it is believed that the most effective way to educate children is using the abuse. This form of punishment it used as an instrument of correction and moral training strategy as it is the first and most persistent justification of damage and maltreated mothers parents inflict on their children. Society has to give importance to this phenomenon that is sweeping away our most valuable asset, our children who are in the midst of conflict and are in most cases bear the brunt. Children who are abused has a different formation of a normal child, the only thing that causes this is that as adults behave like they were treated in childhood. It has been seen that the character and personality that has parents will do the same as inculcated to the children in their formation, with this reference is made that if children are a vulnerable treatment of their parents will develop a different from the way a normal child; that 's just what might happen with a child since he began his life has seen and been mistreated by relatives whatsoever. The child will store information as it grows and reflected in the other all that has lived. All that experience will transform into a particular adult abused child like a child develops in a normal

“Every year more than 3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States” (childhelp). Child abuse is very common. Those who live around child abuse either try to make the world a better place trying to end it or they learn to continue it. Being abuse is something that people experience and it is difficult to live a normal life afterwards. It is not easy to recognize when a child has been abuse.