Intergenerational Abuse And Child Abuse

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

Ricky’s intergenerational abuse stems from living a normalized vicious cycle of domestic violence and abusive environment as a child, which has been passed down as an adult. He may not realize that he is sabotaging his marriage, interpersonal relationships with others in other settings such as work based on unresolved past issues that are prevalent today.

These factors lead way for the continuum of abuse and neglect being passed on through family generations. Parents who were raised in an abusive household were commonly associated with abusing or neglecting their own children out of commonality and pattern related to what they knew as a child (Dixon, Browne, and Hamilton-Giachritsis 2005). “Straus (1980) not only found support for the hypothesis that ‘violence begets violence,’ but they also provide data which demonstrate that the grater the frequency of violence, the greater the chance that the victim will grow up to be a violent partner or parent” (Gelles 1980).

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines child abuse as ‘all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial

Although there is research on the intergenerational transmission of child physical abuse, there is minimal research that focuses on neglect and psychological abuse. Studies that focus on neglect and psychological abuse would be beneficial to identify whether the type of abuse determines the type of abuse that would be transmitted throughout the generations.

Physical abuse is a violent way of maltreating an individual. When it happens to young girls, it impacts them negatively. The girl more often are brutally beaten by either their parents, other close family members or their peers, which, in turn, come to respond the same way after some time of building up the hurt. Physical abuse from parents or close family members make young girls emotionally troubled and cognitively disturbed. The aspect of them not doing anything about it, results them into copying what they see because they are used to it. Moreover, they see abusing somoen physically as the answer to their problems or getting what they want. It is in this way that young girls as well as boys tend to become brutal, violent and aggressive, which are acts that make them deviant as well as delinquent. Mersky, Topitzes & Reynolds (2012) state that developmental psychopathology holds that early childhood traumatic experiences tend to have deep intense impacts on functioning because the later development of a person is shaped by how earlier developmental elements were integrated. A very young girl witnessing physical abuse or being physically abuse is traumatic to her because she is young. The effect of this act makes the girl continue growing up with the bad thoughts and feelings and whenever a person reacts negatively towards her, the results are committing a

Researchers have determined that approximately one-third of individuals who have been physically abused or neglected in their childhood will later abuse their own children, lending support to theories of intergenerational abuse patterns (Kaufman & Zigler, 1987). However, there are numerous factors that can moderate the perpetration of abuse by these individuals, namely the specific aspects of their childhood maltreatment, cognitive and emotional factors, their interpersonal relationships, as well as the presence of any stressors (Egeland, 1988). One interesting influence of whether an abuse victim in turn victimizes their own child is their perception of the abuse. Many adults who were abused as children do not perceive their parents as abusers, rather thinking that they were just in their actions, and that corporal punishment is necessary to successfully raise a child. As discussed in Whatever it Takes by Paul Tough, some adult abuse victim speak openly of their plans to hit their children, having difficulty comprehending the difference between punishment and discipline. This thought process creates challenges in breaking the cycle of abuse, as the mentality has to change in order to effect change in parenting

Childhood maltreatment has become a very crucial social-welfare and public health problem in the worldwide. Despite the fact that communities that defends child social and life rights make provisions against protecting children, each year 40 million of child in the world has suffer from different forms of maltreatment (WHO,2001). For example, World Health Organization in 2016 reported that one in every three adults as victim of physical abuse in their childhood. The same report also state one in every five women and one in every thirteen men as victim of sexual abuse in their childhood period (WHO, 2016).

An estimated 8.2 million children are exposed to violence within their home every year (Alpert). The “American Academy of Family Physicians” stated that “women and men exposed to “Physical Aggression” as a child are 3.5 and 3.8 times more likely to be “perpetrators or victims in adulthood.” Many studies have shown that exposure to violence even when it takes place in another room has shown to be extremely damaging to children as them being abused directly. Thus, parents who display conflict and hostile negative interaction with each other may model unregulated behavior for their children (Violence). The “Center for The Journey of Family Violence” indicated that women who witnessed serious parental conflict during their childhood were much more likely to be victimized by their current partner. Statistics show that 70% of female victims who have grown up in households where they saw violence occur regularly or have experienced being battered themselves are much more likely to become victims of “Intimate Partner Abuse” (therapy).

Child abuse or child mistreatment has many different definitions and descriptions, based on factors such as culture and social groups as well as different professions. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, child abuse usually refers to “any physical, sexual, or psychological mistreatment, especially by a parent of caregiver. Acts of these omissions or child neglect include but are not limited to failure to provide needs or to protect from harm of potential harm.”(CDC: Child Abuse and Neglect). The CDC also says that it is very important that the definition of child mistreatment is consistent in order to keep track of cases of neglect. Child abuse has been linked to mental health problems or disorders such as substance abuse, eating disorders, personality disorders in adulthood and many more. Not all children who have suffered abuse will develop a diagnosable mental illness but in general, there is a higher risk of developing these disorders.

    Child abuse can be describes as “neglect followed by physical and sexual abuse” (2). Abuse affects everyone involved. “Child may be affected when they witness domestic violence, regardless of whether or not they are directly abused” (1). Child abuse has become more largely acknowledged as a common occurrence in homes around the world. Child abuse can inhibit children’s mental and physical development, which can affect the rest of their lives.

In the United States, over 80 percent of child maltreatment perpetrators are a parent to the abused or neglected child (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Because of this, researchers have focused much attention on developing and testing programs that prevent high-risk parents from maltreating their children and deter parents already in the system from continuing the cycle of abuse. In his 1985 book, Changing the Abusive Parent, Arnold Goldstein outlines some of the first researched methods for teaching parenting, anger-management, and disciplining skills to abusive parents (Goldstein, 1985). However, with the push for evidence-based practices in social work, modern interventions have become more succinct and sophisticated. In

According to the World Health Organization, 25% of all adults report having been physically abused as children. One in 5 women and 1 in 13 men report having been sexually abused as a child. Child maltreatment is an enormous global problem with serious impacts on victims’

Child abuse is a global problem, which unfortunately happens in every society, culture and communities. The term “Child Abuse” refers to intended acts that result in physical or emotional harm to children. Child abuse covers a wide range of behavior from physical assault by parents or other adult caretakers to neglect of child’s basic need. Child abuse is a social problem that affects millions of children each year, children less than 3 years of age being the most frequent victims. (Edelman & Mandle, 2010)

Child maltreatment is a staggering social issue in American society. More than 70% of the children who die as a result of child abuse or neglect are two years of age or younger. More than 80% are not yet old enough for kindergarten. (childhelp.org, 2018) Child abuse is the point at which a parent or guardian, regardless of action or neglecting to act causes damage, passing, emotional risk of serious harm to a youngster. There are numerous types of form of child maltreatment, including neglect, physical harm, sexual abuse, exploitation, and emotional abuse. Children who are abused or neglected, including those who witness domestic violen