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Victim Of Child Abuse

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Childhood abuse, it literally hurts over 680,000 children a year and the numbers aren’t going to be on the decline anytime soon. (Friedersdorf). It is alarming that many of those abused children also involved with the foster care system. That number is so unsettling, that just the thought of that many children getting abused by foster care children sounds crazy. The embodiment of a poor transition from childhood to adulthood would be Will Hunting, who shares a common experience with many abused children. Portrayed by Matt Damon, it shows the effects of childhood abuse on a person who was a victim of childhood abuse by his foster father. With many of the abuse victims originating from the foster care system, it is critical to pay more attention …show more content…

Due to the abuse, the victims will rarely end up without a proper role model and support, which all children need to become successful; it is as if they are facing the cruel world alone with nobody to turn to during the dark times. This will morph anyone who was once young and innocent that dreamt that they would take the world by storm into a pessimist with no sense of motivation and eventually blend into the background, unable to leave a legacy. With a combination of these symptoms, it creates an individual that will most likely manifest themselves as the character Will Hunting, from Good Will Hunting. As a product of the foster care system, Will has lacked the support he needed and instead got abuse from his foster father and now as an adult, he is a troublemaker who is unable to form new relationships and has problems with his …show more content…

Will Hunting is the result of an abusive father that would often let him choose the weapon of torture: a wrench, a stick, or a belt. While not all foster fathers may be quite as terrible as Will’s, but the problem of abuse cannot be ignored. What was left of Will as an adult was an emotionally damaged and scarred from his past and has issues with trust, and no role model to learn from. Unfortunately, this is common with most adults that were victims of childhood abuse. Worst of all, a third of all victims will become abusive father they’ve always cursed and abuse their own children, thus restarting on the vicious cycle of abuse (Foster Care Facts). In addition, victims are more likely to express anger much more quickly towards situations where it is not necessary. It is important to note that since anger is the first emotion to be shown, this will increase the chance of abuse towards not only the kids, but to the other family members as well (Pollak & Tolley-Schell). In the case of Will Hunting, his personality and behavior traits are a result of the environment he grew up in. With many traits of abuse victims being troublemakers, drug abusers and criminals, paying more attention and providing more support from external sources will benefit the country

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