Child Abuse And The Rights Of A Child

"Effects of Child Abuse and Neglect for Adult Survivors." Child Family Community Australia. N.p., Feb. 2017. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

In the United States child maltreatment is a common universal problem that can effect children of all ages (Fang, Brown, Florence, & Mercy, 2012). Additionally, it is responsible for the main cause of mortalities among children who are the age of five years and younger with majority of the injuries inflicted by an adult caregiver (Schnitzer & Ewigman, 2005). Prior to the twentieth century, there were a number of non-governmental organizations committed to providing support to child abuse victims. However, due to the lack of resources by the organizations and state regulations, numerous children did not receive support and remained defenseless, hence “modern prosecutions for child abuse were virtually nonexistent” (Nelson, 2012, p. 191). Meanwhile, this put a lot of pressure on the federal government to get involved and help ensure that children who were victims of abuse would receive the proper aid and treatment. As a result, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is recognized as the first nationally passed bill regarding maltreatment and neglect of children. The purpose of CAPTA is to provide knowledge of child abuse awareness and administer state funding to programs available on a federal level. The objective of this paper is to discuss the impact of maltreatment on children, how maltreatment is a public health

Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the point where people interact with their environment. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work’. Social work origins arise from the effects of a change to an industrial sociality and increasing impact and focus upon poverty. However it is argued that current social work practice, as illustrated by the broad definition of social work by the IFSW, finds itself expected to address wider social issues such as racism, sexism, and discrimination relating to physical or mental ability. Furthermore social work itself has changed from its origins of a charity style response to social problems of poverty. Banks (1995, p1) argues that the changes to social work have introduced different roles for different purposes of ’redistribution of resources to those in need... social control and rehabilitation of the deviant’ Banks further argues that as social work changes, the emphasis is less upon a helping relationship and more on the distribution of resources and on social control.

What is child abuse? From the word “abuse” we can understand that it is some sort of a maltreatment of a child, causing harm and damage both to his physical and psychological well-being. At the Federal level, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) describes child abuse and neglect as: “any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.” Child abuse is a very substantial and widely spread problem in U.S. affecting children of any age, gender, race, background or income, with more than 1.8 million investigations done every year and on average, killing more than 5 children every day. The main issue of child abuse is that the abuser is usually someone a child loves or depends on (a parent, sibling, coach, neighbor, etc.), who violates child’s trust putting personal interests first, therefore official numbers of how many children suffer maltreatment might be not accurate enough as remarkable amount of these cases go unreported. Each case of child abuse is unique, with a lot of individual factors involved, nevertheless, we can distinguish some of the common causes, such as poverty, lack of education, depression, mental or physical health

Neglect and abuse towards children still occurs in society today as it did in pre-industrial times. Adult control over children can take the extreme form of physical neglect, or physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Some may say due to figures from charities such as Child Line rising there is a ‘dark side’ to family life, where children are victims. This shows in some cases the status of children hasn’t changed over time.

Children can be victims of different types of maltreatment such as neglect, medical abuse, physical abuse and sexual abuse (Maschi, Bradley, & Ward, 2009). “On average, nationally, there is a report of child maltreatment every 5 seconds, and child maltreatment is substantiated every

Everyday there are children being abused by someone who is supposed to protect them. An estimated 905,000 children were victims of child abuse or neglect in 2006(Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2008). In 1996, more than three million victims of suspected abuse were reported to child protective services agencies in the United States (Baker, 2002). The numbers have changed and still many cases of abuse go unreported. The number of incidences of child abuse rises when the family is under stress, such as being in our economy. The effects of physical abuse can last a lifetime and are measured by the physical, psychological, behavioral, or social outcomes. Normal physical abuse scenario involves a parent who loses control and lashes

Child maltreatment has serious implications for social work, because of the difficulties in intervening or preventing the occurrence of child maltreatment. Social work’s primary missions involve improving human well-being and human potential and assisting the vulnerable populations. In cases of child maltreatment, social worker’s need to be able to effectively recognize and respond to incidents of child maltreatment; as well as, effectively identify the causes of child maltreatment in order to treat and prevent it.

Child Maltreatment continues to be a pressing issue throughout the United States. Over the years many children are victims of some type of maltreatment which in some cases can lead to fatalities. Maltreatment can have a negative impact on children and can leave numerous physical and psychological scars affecting the child’s adjustment not only at the time of abuse, but also into their young

It is estimated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human services that one million children are victims of child abuse and neglect in the U.S every year. This number may be an underrepresentation however, as many cases are unreported. Children who experience trauma in early childhood years or adolescence have impacts that follow them throughout adulthood. The common effects include relationship attachment issues, mental disorders, substance abuse, increased

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.

There are multiple ways the effects of child maltreat may present in adult survivors including emotionally, physically, behaviorally, psychologically, and/or socially. These effects reach beyond that of the adult survivor into their families and society as a whole. In order for treatment to be effective it needs to be multi-focused on reducing risk factors of negative long-term effects as well as promote protective factors ensuring the ongoing welfare of the maltreated child and her/his family (Vermont 's Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention-FFY’11 Annual Grant Report, 2013). This researcher proposes that early and proper treatment of child maltreatment will enable survivors to go on and live happy, healthy, productive adult lives.

Whether it be a broken bone, emotional distress, or never being able to have a healthy relationship, children are always affected. Abuse effects the way children think and act. Children learn their behaviors from their parents and often abuse is a never ending cycle for most families because it is perceived as normal. Most children think “That’s how I was raised and I turned out fine”. and they never really come to terms with their injuries (whether superficial or not) from abuse. Often times it takes someone going to a therapist to realized their parent really was toxic to their health. Child abuse is an epidemic that as a society we need to try our hardest to prevent and eliminate.

The assignment that follows will discuss how our authorities have placed government guidelines and legislation’s into place to protect children and young people from harm, abuse or neglect. Firstly, it will discuss why it is so important for professionals to work together among different children services, such as the health sector, education sector and social care sector. It will then discuss why multi-agencies work and integrated work between agencies is so important. Secondly, it will discuss two different case studies and discuss about what may have gone wrong in the past and what legislation has been implemented to prevent further children and young people who have been at risk from abuse. It may be difficult to accept, but every child, young person or vulnerable adult can be hurt, put at risk of harm or abuse, regardless of their age, gender, religion, or ethnicity. The government, authorities, people working alongside children/ young people are the people who should work together to help achieve better outcomes for these children and young people.

Child abuse has infested the United States of America; it is now more common than ever before, and sometimes it may not be known that this issue is occurring. In most cases, it is obvious to the child and sometimes to his surrounding support; although in few cases, the child may not be capable of comprehending the issue at hand to further tell and report the situation (Shi 198). There is an error in the method used to study how often child abuse occurs. The problem is that this method still lacks a step to be able to understand the horrendous experience that children endure (Shi 198).