Summary Of ' Down The Street '

Abuse and neglect comes in all different forms and each one of them are as equally as damaging as the next. Others will agree that abuse and neglect are hard to define in some cases, but there are clues and signs that professionals and nonprofessionals can detect in a child if they just pay attention. Being observant isn’t the only key to saving these children, but also being willing to speak up and tell someone what you know and or saw. In “A Child Called It”, David Pelzer is a young boy who goes through horrendous abuse and neglect who might have been able to endure much less pain if one adult would have spoken up, despite the fear of any consequences. There is a disgusting number of examples of abuse and neglect in this book, but there will be three different experiences that will showcase neglect, psychological abuse, and physical abuse discussed in the rest of this text.

The safety and well being of some children across the nation are threatened by child abuse and neglect. Child abuse is any act or behaviour that causes or is likely to cause physical injury or emotional damage or both to a child or youth. It is a very disheartening that children are being maltreated every day by adults who are meant to love and care for them. Joe, a mute boy in Cry Silent Tears, an autobiography book written by Joe Peters was just five years old when the horrific scene of the death of his father and the maltreatment from his cruel and violent mother literally struck him dumb. His mum often beat, stripped, fed him like a dog and confined him in the basement where he was unable to communicate with the outside world. He didn't speak for four and a half years, which meant he was unable to ask anyone for help. He experienced all the different types of child abuse (physical, psychological, sexual and neglect) and his life turned into a living hell. When he finally started school he experienced shame, neglect and psychological abuse from his peers because he was mute and was different from the others. As a result of these he started exhibiting other behavioural problems like aggressiveness, violent, destructive, stealing, depression, addiction, learning disability, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This shows that abuse can cause disability, compound it and also children with disabilities are more vulnerable to abuse.

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”).

One of the first cases of child abuse occurred in 1871 in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen. The victim in this case was Mary Ellen Wilson, a nine-year old orphan. Mary Ellen performed household duties in the orphanage for her foster mother. According to Mary Ellen, her foster mother whipped her almost every day for speaking to people, wearing too many clothes, or any other act that the foster mother deemed inappropriate (“Illustration of a Social Worker”). Mary Ellen’s external bruises were evidence of physical abuse, and they gained the attention of nurse Etta Wheeler. With no social workers or child protection laws in place, nurse Wheeler was forced to consult Henry Bergh, a businessman at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or the SPCA. Bergh assisted Wheeler in finding a lawyer to fight for Mary Ellen’s protection (“Illustration of a Social Worker”). Eventually, with the lawyer’s help, Mary Ellen was removed from the home. Millions of children around the world have suffered, and are suffering, from issues similar to that of Mary Ellen. Physical child abuse is a problem that has drastically altered the lives of countless children. For this reason, people should be educated on this topic. The main causes of physical child abuse are financial hardships, substance abuse, and parents who were abuse as a child, and are merely repeating the cycle.

Child abuse and neglect is a significant problem in the United States that should demand direct attention. There are approximately three million child abuse reports made each year, and these reports involve more than six million children. Out of four to five children that die daily, 70 percent are under three years of age. There are 90 percent of cases involving of children who know who know their perpetrator. The main factors of child abuse are physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. In many cases involving sexual abuse, there is usually not any medical evidence to be shown, and there are usually not any witness due to the sexual acts taking place in private places. That is why it is considered the “hidden” form of abuse. Neglect is a type of maltreatment related to the failure to provide needed, age-appropriate care.

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,

“I never thought much of myself” said Jennifer. “I do not know why, but I just figured I was not worth much”; Jennifer was a young girl who was trapped in the lifestyle of her two alcoholic parents. Jennifer 's father would beat her and neglect her, while her mother kept sipping down alcohol, watching Jennifer suffer. Jennifer 's childhood was ripped away from her, however even though the pain from her childhood has made her a stronger person as an adult, no child should ever have to endure the fear to live day to day. (IHOPE Foundation).

From a historical perspective, child maltreatment has varied in form depending the time and place and the standing of which children hold within family and society. Child maltreatment as defined by the, includes physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, in addition to neglect (National Institution, 2011). Early childhood experiences create the basis for expression of intelligence, emotions, and personality (National Institution, 2011). When these experiences are predominantly negative, the stage is set for emotional, developmental, and behavioral problems that persist throughout life. Studies have shown that the brains of children who have experienced long-lasting abuse and neglect remain in a state of "hyper-arousal" or anticipation of forthcoming danger. This hyper-arousal may affect learning and the ability to form emotional bonds with others (National Institution, 2011). In the book Children and criminality, Flowers give a historical background of child maltreatment leading to his findings of how the treatment of children was and is based on seven distinct premises; (1) the value of children in a given time and place (2) how they fit into the structure of society; (3) religious beliefs and superstitions; (4) exploitation; (5) societal ideology; (6) economic stresses; and (7) psychological and societal induced stresses (Flowers, 1986).

When reading these statistics, it is plain to see that the abuse and mistreatment of children is a critical issue, not just in the United States, but globally. Much research has been conducted to determine the general demographics of the perpetrators and the victims, common trends in cases of abuse that could shed light on the psychology of the abusers and their victims, and how the abuse inflicted on the victims affects their development into adulthood. In a report on the long-term consequences of child abuse and neglect, the Children’s

Childhood maltreatment (abuse and/or neglect) is prevalent concern. In 2012, the Children’s Bureau reported 3.2 million unique count cases of childhood abuse that were screened. Of those cases nearly 20% where found to be substantiated, indicated or alternative response, which is an estimate of about 686,000 children (unique cases) were victims of abuse and neglect nation in one year. Additionally, nearly 40% of those children did not receive any services. These numbers, again are those cases that have been reported and founded, we know that underreporting of maltreatment, is too a concern (Finkelhor & Dziuba-Leatherman, 1994).

Although child abuse and neglect has been and continues to be a major societal issue, it only attracted major attention through the pivotal work of Kempfe, Silverman, Steele, Droegmueller and Silver (1962) who coined the term, “the battered- child syndrome” (Krug, 2002). This term was used to define children who have been subjected to mild to serious physical abuse from their parent/carer on one or multiple occasions (Kempfe et al., 1962) and lay the foundations of what is today defined as “child abuse and neglect” (child maltreatment). Child maltreatment predominantly falls under four categories - physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect (Garbarino, Guttmann, & Seeley, 1986; Matthews, 2014a; Goldsworthy, 2015). Given that

Child abuse is a complex, surreptitious social problem that has been around for as long as humanity itself. The collective consequences of childhood abuse and spanking can be detrimental and are reflected in addictive behaviors, dysfunctional family dynamics and mental health problems in general. Can the commonly used practice of corporal punishment and spanking be justified as an appropriate method to discipline children?

On the other hand, there are many parents who are not at risk for abusing their children. And these parents believe that education is essential to its prevention. Parents can educate their children by teaching them the difference between right and wrong touch and the significance of body ownership. Additionally, and also just as important, parents can teach their children how to say no to a potential abuser. This dramatically decreases the chance that the child will targeted for abuse. Lastly, parents can teach their children about the importance of disclosing abuse to a trusted adult such as a school employee or counselor. (“National Committee to

As teachers it is our duty to call child protective services or call the number for domestic abuse when we see a child hurt or bruised. “The research objectives were to examine if and how they identify, assess and meet the needs of children and our young people who are vulnerable as a result of domestic abuse, to identify gaps in service provision and professional practice and make recommendations for improvement” ( Peckover p. 401). As a teacher we have to make sure to teach slowly and gain the child’s trust if they came from an abusive family. We have to gain their trust in order to speak to them, give comfort to them without them cringing, and to make sure to say that we are there for that child. When we get a child from such background it is our duty to change plans and teach that child at a pace that won’t get hard on them.. When we receive such a child we have to produce a

Within the review of literature, twenty - six articles met the inclusion criteria and were evaluated. The four interventions that showed effectiveness in preventing child maltreatment include: home-visiting, parent education, abusive head trauma prevention, and multi-component interventions. Three of the interventions showed effectiveness in reducing risk factors including: home visiting, parent education and child sexual abuse prevention. The following three articles have been described in detail within our literature review.