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
Westat found that professionals failed to report many of the children they saw who had signs of child abuse and neglect. It found that in 1986, 56 percent of apparently abused or neglected children, or about 500,000 children, were not reported to the authorities. This figure, however, seems more alarming than it is: Basically, the more serious the case, the more likely the report. For example, the surveyed professionals reported over 85 percent of the fatal or serious physical abuse cases they saw, 72 percent of the sexual abuse cases, and 60 percent of the moderate physical abuse cases. They only reported 15 percent of the educational neglect cases they saw, 24 percent of the emotional neglect cases, and 25 percent of the moderate physical neglect cases.
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.
The National Children 's Alliance reported that the number of unique cases of abused and neglected children in the United States stands at an annual rate of 700,000 and rising (as cited in ?U.S. Department of Health & Human Services,? 2016, p. ii). Sadly, this means that more than 1,900 new children become victims of abuse and neglect with each passing day. Neglect was the type of
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 3.3 million referrals for alleged maltreatment were made in 2013. Out of the 3.3 million referrals, 899,000 children were officially documented as being maltreated(Child Abuse & Neglect 2015). Child abuse is the mistreatment of a child. Child abuse is recognized in several forms; physical, emotional, sexual and neglect. Children who experience any form of abuse will tend to withdraw themselves from their peers and sometimes from other family members who are not aware of what is taking place. Child abuse occurs not just in the homes of these children, but can also occur in schools, churches and after school programs. Anywhere a child is present there is a chance that abuse can
Child abuse previously categorized as a minor incident, which is currently more visible to the eyes of people as increasing and important to address in society. According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect System as of 2012, “the number of child victims was around 3.8 million children, 1/5 of the population of child victims were found to be victims of substantiated (17.7%), indicated (0.9%), and alternative response (0.5%). Which resulted in the rest 4/5 of the child victims were not actual victims of child abuse.” (Child Mal, 2012) That sums up to about
The extent of abuse was collected, accessed, and observed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “In 2006, according to information collected as part of the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System overseen by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, state and local child protective service agencies investigated 3,573,000 million referrals for children reported to be abused or neglected” (Korsmeyer). The abuse has
In 2006, an estimated 905,000 children were victims of child abuse or neglect. Statistically, the amount of children that suffer from such abuse is 1 in 10. Younger children are the most vulnerable to the maltreatment that is performed by their parents or guardians. Over 25% of abused children are under the age of 3 and 45% are under the age of 5. The rate of child mortality is higher for boys than girls and 85% of fatalities are caucasian children (Child Abuse Facts 1).
Did you know that 3.2 million children in the U.S. were subjects of abuse or neglect investigations in 2007? (Childhelp) Child abuse refers to “an act, or failure to act, on the part of a parent or caretaker that results in the death, serious physical or emotional harm”
The differences in the incidences, prevalence, morbidity and mortality in child abuse can be seen when the caregiver becomes aggravated with their situation. Usually an individual with issues within themselves commit child abuse. Prevention of child abuse will never go away sadly approximately 896,000 American children were victims of abuse and neglect and 1,400 children died. Within the four areas, neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse and emotional abuse lies the problem. By working with the families and educate the parents the numbers can decrease. Primary prevention of child abuse will target the general population with public service announcements about the effects child abuse. Secondary prevention will be to provide services to families and individuals who have a higher risk of abuse and neglect. By reaching out to the communities with more complaints of child abuse will decrease the amount of positive claims of child abuse. Child abuse crosses over every social, economic boundary. It does not directly correlate with health disparities. The accused can come from any background of life. They can come from any race, creed, color or financial class.
The question of how many children are abused and neglected each year in the United States is seemingly simple, but it does not have an easy answer. Because several national and state agencies collect and analyze different data using different methods, the statistics vary. In addition, not every suspicion or situation of abuse or neglect is reported to child protection services (CPS) agencies. As a result, the number of reports likely underrepresents the number of children who actually suffer from abuse or neglect.
Approximately 3.6 million referrals regarding child abuse are proclaimed to child protection agencies a year. Previous records indicate that the United States carries one of the worst records regarding insufficient solicitude. Child abuse manifests in various forms including: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional and psychological abuse. Fair enough to say that on a pie chart about 28.3% of victims are physically harmed, 20.7% sexually assaulted and about 10.6% emotionally
More than 20,000 American children has thought to have been killed by their own family members over the past ten years. One of the worst records among industrialized nations that is losing on average almost five children everyday due to child abuse is the United States. The most recent report 2015 Child Maltreatment Report from The Children’s Bureau was published in January 2017. This document has stated that the number of child abuse cases has increased to 4 million from 3.6 million. 7.2 million children were involved in child abuse reports. The different kinds of child abuse are; neglect, physical, and verbal abuse.
Each week Child Protective Services receives more than 50,000 allegations of child abuse. Two-thirds of the allegations have enough evidence to start investigations. The results of these investigations showed 2,450 children are abused everyday (Ianelli, 2006). In 1999, CPS, nearly four, confirmed an estimated 1,401 child abuse and neglect fatalities every day. (Child Abuse Statistics, nd).
Child abuse consists of any act or failure to act that endangers a child’s physical or emotional health and development. A person caring for a child is abusive if he or she fails to nurture the child, physically injures the child, or relates sexually to the child (Robins). Child abuse is broken down into four major categories: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. Aside from the abuse itself, the cost of the tragic events costs the United States billions of dollars each year. Every day, approximately 4 children in the United States die resulting from child abuse and the majority are under 5-years-old (Fromm). There are many organizations that promote preventative measures in reducing child abuse. If nothing is done,