Child Sexual Abuse In The United States

David is a 10 years-old boy doing his homework at the kitchen table. The homework consisted of mathematical problems, a short reading and answer question, and memorizing the 50 Capitals of the United States. All the assignments for homework were due on Friday morning, so he quickly finished his homework so he could get to bed. Around 10:00 pm, David’s father came home from work, checked his son’s homework and saw many errors. He immediately went up to David’s bedroom and kicked open the door. Yelling at David, “You see this homework, you have many mistakes in math, your answers to your short readings are not correct and you did get all the 50 capitals right!!, you are worthless, stupid, and a big mistake of being born.” David’s father then proceeded to hit him with a wire hanger in both legs, and arms, the face and on his buttocks. David’s dad yelled again “Tomorrow morning when you get up, you will not eat breakfast and go to school hungry!!” David cried the rest of the night, hurting in pain, then eventually falling asleep.

Child abuse has been a big issue in the world for a long time. There has not always been child protective services like there is now. Children would be abused and neglected and nothing was being done because it was not being reported. The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was the world’s first organization in the late 1800s which was dedicated totally to child protection (Myers, 2008).

This article documents the history of child abuse in the U.S. that dates back to colonial times. Children were considered property and animals were better protected than children. This was evident with Mary Ellen’s case in 1873. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals fought for this child and the New York state court ordered the child to be removed from her abusive home and place

Mary Ellen’s case, in 1874, was one of the first cases of child abuse recorded. According to American Humane Association (2013), she was being abused by her stepmother. There was no such thing as child protective services or the department of family services. There was only the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. Her story led to the founding of the New York Society for the Prevention and Cruelty to Children (American Humane Association, 2013). In the 1960s’ child abuse was first recognized as a social problem;

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

There is not one specific type of child abuse in fact there are more than one form of child mistreatment such as: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. Before going into further details of the problems and treatment of child abuse; one must know what child abuse is. The United States Department of Health and Human Services provides a standard legal definition of child abuse, CAPTA (2010) states:

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

Children who are physically sexually abused can experience trauma and impediments in the development of the brain. Additionally, Perry (2009) states that the majority of critical structure and functional organization takes place in childhood, and by the age of three the brain has reached 90% of adult size. During this time any experience the child undergoes will last a lifetime. Among the psychological effects of CPSA are intense fear, depression, and anger. Victims also suffer from the long-term effects of

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”).

Sexual assault has been huge problem on college campus. College female students have been targets of sexual assault acts, According to Robin Gray “Between 20% and 25% of women will experience a completed and/or attempted rape during their college career.” Sexual assault is when is a crime to knowingly cause another person to engage in an unwanted sexual act by force or threat. There are laws that protect women in all types of setting from being victims of sexual assault. The government had made some changes to the laws of sexual assault over the past decade to protect the girls and women so justice can be served. The president Obama has been enforcing a law for the young women in colleges.

In 2008 the findings of the Public Health Agency of Canada estimated 235,315 investigations of child abuse. This investigation stated that the primary categories of maltreatment includes physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, emotional maltreatment, and exposure to intimate partner violence (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2010). However, sexual maltreatment of children wasn’t truly defined until 1974 when Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act provided us with a legal definition of sexual abuse (Feerick et al., 2006):

Rape can be pervasive and a serious social problem, Sexual Violence can be used in different situations and places like at a party, after hours work or school, or even in your own home. Some people could be raped by drugs or alcohol or just by force. Even though girls and boys get rapped but mainly girls get raped more than guys because guys could get rapped in prison but girls can get rapped anywhere. In the case of law sexual violence are serious social and public health issues in the United States. Women are far less likely to report a rape or assault when they know their assailant, thus instance of sexual assaults are greatly under reported. Victims of sexual assault may not be able to give consent due to age, illness, or impairment or

Every year an approximate 139,000 cases of child abuse and neglect are reported in Ohio, and 72,000 are thoroughly investigated (Ohio's Children 2012). Although some might think this number is high, it is believed that the number of actual child abuse cases would

According to Simmons University, Mezzo Social Work “involves working with small to medium-sized groups or organizations such as schools, community service organizations, or businesses to promote cultural or institutional change” (Social Workers, 2016). In other words, it is working with the community. Child Sexual Abuse impacts the community in several ways, such as through fear, confusion, as well as economically. Though the abuse might only physically affect one person, it could still greatly impact everyone else.

The majority of literature highlight the negative consequences of CSA on children, however, some studies some children tend to display academic resilience regardless of been exposed to CSA. (Coohey, et al 2011) argues that the nature of the abuse and exposure to parental problems may adversely a child’s academic achievement but promotive factors within and outside the child can influence a how a child reacts to sexual abuse. they further suggest that a child’s personal qualities and interpersonal relationships may have a positive effect on academic performance and protect children from situations that lead to normative outcomes (Coohey, 2011).