Child Abuse Is A Serious Crime Essay

Child abuse is a socially constructed problem. It is a problem that is growing bigger. Beating children is not defined as child abuse in every part of the world; and certainly if you go back far enough in time, the concept of child abuse did not even exist. What western society considers child abuse today may have been considered appropriate discipline in the past. The idea of childhood as being a time in which children develop their intelligence, abilities, and individual personalities, and the idea that society should protect and foster this development and safeguard the innocence of childhood, are modern conceptions. The past did not view childhood in this way and therefore children could be, and were, treated as chattel with no rights. Therefore the idea of child abuse did not exist in the past. Child abuse is a social problem because it socially constructed; modern society has deemed it to be a problem.

Child abuse in America is an ongoing problem and something needs to be done. There are approximately one million children abused annually in the United States. (Table 339) Cases of child abuse and neglect are reported every ten seconds, and researchers believe that there’s three times that amount that goes unnoticed. (Child Abuse: Know the Signs and Stop the Violence Against Children.) Something needs to be done for these children who are too weak and too powerless to help themselves.

“The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act” states’ that “child abuse is the leading cause of death in children under the age of eighteen.” Child abuse occurs when adults inflict violence and cruelty upon children. Abuse is any willful act that results in physical, mental, or sexual injury that causes or is likely to cause the child to be physically, mental, or emotionally impaired. Abuse happens to children of any age, sex, race, religion, and social status.

Child abuse is epidemic in many countries as well as the United States. It is estimated that every thirteen seconds a child is abused in some manner: physically, sexually, emotionally or by neglect (Friedman). Each year, there are over 3 million reports of child abuse in the United States involving more than 6 million children. Child abuse can be reduced with proper education of the parents and with greater public awareness.

According to our textbook, Public Law 93-247 which is the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), came into effect on January 31, 1974. This law is regards to childhood maltreatment. The law implemented the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. Central agencies needed to be created in each individual state. The central agencies had to have legal authority to investigate and be able to prosecute cases that involved abuse and neglect. The States also had to develop their own definitions, policies, procedures, and laws dealing with child abuse and neglect. With the amendment of 2003, states needed to include foster care, adoption, abandoned infants and family violence protection into their services.

Child abuse in American today is amongst the most saddened topics of mankind. Many children are subjected to neglect and abuse on a daily basis. The sex and age of child makes no difference when it comes to child abuse.. Boys and girls are equally likely to suffer maltreatment. The problem is how often child abuse goes unreported. Millions of children across the world are abused in some way, whether it is verbal, emotional, physical or sexual. Child abuse has been happening all over the world to young children, however many children keep this a secret because of fear of what could happen. Child Abuse consists of any act of commission or omission that endangers or impairs a child’s physical or emotional health and development. It can be

This paper will investigate the abuse of children and some of the ways which young children are affected developmentally. I will try and present an overview of the major types of abuse but my big focus and most of my research has been to cover sexual abuse and its effect on development in young children and how it can affect brain development.

There are many things in our society today that unfortunately go overlooked. One such thing that is overlooked is the number of children who are being abused. Unfortunately these children are going through life not knowing whether or not their parents will loose their temper and perhaps kill them. There are many types of child abuse, such as physical, sexual, and emotional. Physical abuse is physical injury as a result of punching, beating, kicking, biting, shaking, throwing, stabbing, choking, hitting, burning, or otherwise harming a child. Such injury is considered abuse regardless of whether the caretaker intended to hurt the child. Sexual abuse includes activities by a parent or caretaker such as fondling a child's genitals,

Child maltreatment is a widespread issue that affects thousands of children every year. There are four common types of child maltreatment; sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. All of these types of abuse are very serious and can have many consequences for the children and families. The most common consequence of severe child maltreatment is the removal of that child from their home (Benbenishty, Segev, Surkis, and Elias, 2002). Most social workers trying to determine the likelihood of removal evaluate the type and severity of abuse, as well as the child’s relationship with their parents (Benbenishty et al., 2002). When children are removed from their homes there are many options of alternative housing. The

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,

Sexual abuse to a child at times is confusing to the family. Families who are affected by sexual abuse to a child tend to have a difficult time talking about the abuse. About one out of every four girls and one out of every five boys are sexually abused by the time they are 18 years old.

In today’s society, child abuse is widespread and has an affect on everyone who comes across it. The act of child abuse happens everyday to a variety of kids who are typically younger and scared to tell anyone. All children are born with the right to be able to develop, grow, live and love according to their needs and feelings. For a child 's development they need protection and reassurance from adults who love them and help them acquire the skills to be a successful adult. However, some children are neglected and hurt by adults that they trust. The abuse a child receives makes them feel bad about themselves, and it is much worse when it occurs within a family because it makes them feel unloved and alone causing them to have problems. “Abuse of all types was more frequent in those from disturbed and disrupted family backgrounds. Logistic regressions indicated that some, though not all, of the apparent associations between abuse and adult problems was accounted for by this matrix of childhood disadvantage from which abuse so often emerged. Numerous studies have investigated the psychological sequelae of childhood trauma, including posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD), dissociation, personality disorder, and substance abuse ”(“New Retrospective Measure of Child Abuse and Neglect” by David P. Bernstein). The act of child abuse causes kids to have one or more mental problems. Additionally, since people do not recognize the abuse while it is occurring, it causes these problems to

Should there be harsher punishments for child abuse? Child abuse is as old as crime in society. Often times the abuse continues for years before it is even reported. Also when a child reports being abused, the child is dismissed as being a liar. Research shows that 32.6% of 1-3 year olds have been abused. (Child Abuse and Domestic Violence, 2011). In the United Sates more than four children die from abuse and neglect on a daily basis. Over 70% of these children are below the age of three (Safe Horizon). 2.9 million cases of child abuse are reported every year in the United States (Safe Horizon). Every year more than 3.6 million referrals are made to child protection agencies in involving more than 6.6 million children (ACE Study). 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 (ACE Study).

Before the mid-1900s, people believed parents should have absolute control of their children and husbands should have absolute control of their wives. They also believed they could own people. Since slavery was allowed, at least in the South, owners could beat their workers―many who were eight-year-olds. Laws on preventing child abuse have failed but there have been progressive, changing attitudes towards abuse. When the Civil War ended in 1865, the senate passed the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act in 1986 prohibited child labor. Also, the legislative passed the Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Act (CAPTA) in 1974 stating that child abuse is a crime. However, now, abuse is more common than we actually think. Each day, parents mistreat their children at homes and even in public. Some parents, publically, gently slap the children’s back, but others go to the extent of vigorously pulling their hair and beating them up. People should intervene when a parent is hitting his child if the situation is getting out of hand, for example, if the parent is dragging her kid by the hair or if the child seems humiliated.

Child sexual abuse is one of the most serious public health problems and crimes in the world, resulting from the interaction of individual, family, social, and cultural factors (Pereda, Guilera, Forns, Gómez-Benito, 2009). In China, there is increasing coverage about some particular cases and increasing number of reports to All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF) from only a hundred in second half of 1997 to over 3000 in 2000 (Long, 2007), but it could be believed that the number of cases is considerably less than the actual crimes. In order to further protect children and prevent CSA, it should understand the prevalence of CSA in China and explore whether there are some specific situations in China, such as the rates in cities and rural areas. According to two international meta-analysis research of CSA, the rate of CSA is comparatively lower in some Asian countries (Pereda et al., 2009; Stoltenborgh, van Ijzendoorn, Euser and Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2011). In the two meta-analyses, the number of Chinese studies is higher than that of other Asian countries, so it may be believed that the CSA problem may be less serious in China than that in other countries. However, it is still questionable about the rate of the specific abusing type, including the contact CSA and the penetrative CSA, which may be higher for any gender than that in the international level.