Child Maltreatment In America

It is a reasonable argument that child welfare service entities are necessary as it is all too frequent that child abuse/neglect cases are heard all over the nation and is ultimately a world health issues.  Increasing social issues such as unstable families, poverty, crime, poor education, lack of access to health care and mental health services are some of the factors that contribute to this continuous epidemic that affects many people from various socio-economic classes. Many nations have taken steps to enhance and improve efforts in the fight against the mistreatment of children.

Within the United States, child maltreatment is becoming more and more commonly reported as there is over 3 million reports each year. Due to the constant increase of child maltreatment reports, society has become more aware of the issue, which has led to awareness campaigns. (Payne, 87). Even with societies’ knowledge of such abuse there are still serval child maltreatment cases that are not reported. The children that are victims of maltreatment pertains any sort of harm to the child whether it is by injury, neglect, physical, emotional, or even sexual abuse by someone who holds a major role in the child’s life, a parent or guardian figure (“What is Child Abuse”).

It 's difficult to comprehend that an adult, often a parent or caregiver, would intentionally hurt an infant or child. Yet nearly a million children are abused in the United States. Unfortunately that excludes children who 's incidents of child abuse are unreported and undetected. Child abuse can be defined differently from state to state, but commonly presents in the form of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, neglect and abandonment. The focus of this review is physical abuse, which is defined as non-accidental physical injury, from bruising to fractures to the most serious cases of abuse ending in death (Sink, Hyman, Matheny, Georgopoulos & Kleinman, 2010).

Every year more than 3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States involving more than 6 million children. The amount of children abused is doubled due to the fact that a single report can include multiple children. The U.S has one of the worst records among industrialized nations, losing an average between four and seven children everyday to abuse and neglect. The sociological theories that can be used to research the issue of child abuse in the US are symbolic interactionism and the conflict theory.

Child maltreatment is not a new social problem for the United States however, child maltreatment remains to be a substantial social problem that continues to draw the attention of legislators at the federal and state level, the child welfare system, and society as a whole. Child maltreatment includes the unthinkable act of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse inflicted on a child by a parent or caregiver which results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a minor child. In addition to abuse, child maltreatment includes neglect of a child by a parent or caregiver. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) guides the response and treatment to the increasingly recognized issue of child abuse and neglect experienced by children

There have been numerous studies that have been conducted that suggest that child maltreatment rates are disproportionately distributed amongst racial and ethnic groups. For instance, the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) reveals that victimization cases were reported at a rate of 21.9% for African Americans, 21.4% for Latinos and 44.8% for Whites (USDHHS, 2011).

“Every year more than 3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States involving more than 6 million children (A report can include multiple children). The United States has one of the worst records among industrialized nations- loses on average between four to seven children every day due to child abuse and neglect” ("National Child Abuse Statistics."). There are numerous children who are suffering from child abuse, but determining what child abuse is for each state differs. This makes it harder to determine how to solve the issue of child abuse and the fact that it has existed for so long. To help solve the issue of child abuse, innovative programs are being created every day. Some of those programs are using culture to determine whether or not it is a factor.

Children will make mistakes, it’s apart of growing up and learning lessons, no one is perfect. We need to teach children that it is okay to mess up, it helps us learn from our mistakes. The last thing we want is having our own children afraid their parents. They should be able to trust their parents and know that they will care for them and love them. Physically punishing children makes it harder for kids to trust their parents, and it sends their stress levels through the roof knowing that they have to try and be perfect or else there will be a punishment. Children can be a blessing, but sometimes they can be a little too much to handle. When parents take the physical charge to hurt their children, people don’t know if they took it too far

Child abuse is a global problem Child abuse in the U.S. is a shame to our American society and an unnecessary act that achieves nothing but bad actions towards another person. In the U.S. child abuse has increased along the years and just seem to be getting more horrendous. It is a recurring issue that has been happening all around the world to innocent young children and most of these cases are being kept quiet about because they are too scared to tell someone what is really going on behind a closed door. Child abuse on a child is just as bad to someone who is witnessing it and still chooses not to take a stand and help them out. The government should be against child abuse because it makes children feel unsafe and ruins several children 's lives.

Child abuse is a serious matter and when there is insight of child abuse, the clinician should make sure that child abuse or maltreatment is taking place by confirming with multiple resources, like teachers, the child, parents, CPS, etc. Maltreatment occurs because of multiple factors, like previous parent history of abuse/ maltreatment, poverty, etc. (Lanier, Kohl, Benz, Swinger, and Drake, 2014).Thomas and Zimmer-Gembeck (2011) conducted a research study where PCIT was evaluated to see if it is has an effect on improving or reducing the chances of child abuse and maltreatment. These used observation and multiple paper-pencil measures that they asked parents, observers, and teachers to complete. Results found that PCIT was positively associated

(Berger 2014) Maltreatment is an act usually cruel or mean that is performed by a parent, guardian or some type of caregiver to a child that could either potentially cause the child harm, promotes harm to the child, or actually does cause harm to the child. Since abuse and neglect lead to placing a child in harm, they are both categorized under maltreatment. However maltreatment is not only imposed on children it also can be directed as cruel treatment against anyone, such as prisoners of war or cruelty to circus animals. From the Center of Disease Control and Health (cdc.gov) maltreatment is defined in forms as

Child maltreatment is the abuse and neglect that occurs to children. All types of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, negligence and commercial or other exploitation, which results in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power are included. It is a global problem with serious life-long consequences.

Maltreatment of children is defined as the act (or series of acts) of commission or omission by an adult that threatens, intends to harm, or harms a child (CDC, 2016). Child abuse is defined as words or actions that cause harm or pose the threat of harm to a child. Types of abuse include physical abuse, sexual abuse, and psychological abuse (CDC, 2016). For it to be considered abuse, the adult’s actions must be intentional and deliberate. Child neglect is defined as the intentional failure to provide basic needs for a child or the intentional failure to protect the child from harm. Types of neglect include physical neglect, emotional neglect, medical neglect, educational neglect, and exposure to violent environments (CDC, 2016).

Child abuse and neglect is a national problem which has increased to epidemic proportions in the United States. More than 2.5 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States annually with over hundreds of deaths related to child abuse that has been reported each year. In 2013, an estimation of 1,520 children died from abuse in the United States. In that same year, Children’s Advocacy Centers around the country had served nearly 295,000 child victims of abuse, providing victim with support to these children and their families. Moving to 2014 this number was maxed to over 315,000. An estimation of 679,000 children were victims of abuse. There were 47 out of the 50 states that reported approximately 3.1 million children who received preventative services from Child Protective Services agencies in the United States. In the first year of a child 's life it was the highest rate of victimization of 23.1 per 1,000 children in the national population of the same age. Of the children who experienced abuse, nearly 80% sufficer neglect; 18% suffered physical abuse; and 9% suffered sexual abuse.

Child abuse or child maltreatment, is an act by a parent, caretaker, sibling, family member, or others that results in physical or emotional harm to a child.