What Leads a Parent to Mistreat Their Children for Attention?

Children in homes where there is abuse usually end up either, being abused themselves or being neglected. This is where they generally learn to become abusers themselves.

Why people abuse a child varies depending on the person. Children resulting from unintended pregnancies are more likely to be abused or neglected. Over two thirds of cases that involve child maltreatment involve parents with substance abuse issues. The substances most commonly abused are alcohol, cocaine, and heroin. Unemployment and financial difficulties can also lead to increased rates of child abuse. Lastly, parents who physically abuse their spouses are more likely than others to physically abuse their children (Lo and Vandenburg)

Abuse can come in many different forms such as verbal, physical, and sexual. Each of these can affect a person differently, and sadly even become hereditary. A factor that causes abuse to be so lethal is that the majority of the time it is directed towards children. At a young age, the brain is extremely impressionable and that is why something like verbal abuse can cause so much damage. “Parents who tell their children that they are dumb, bad, etc., raise children who think they are dumb or bad and act as

The mother attempts to gain attention for herself by acting like a dedicated and loving mother, one that she wishes she could be. When alone with their child the parent will abuse them, both physically and emotionally. The child is a victim of maltreatment and can not get away. The parent lies about physical and physiological symptoms in the child, causing this child to be known as ill by all who come around them. Parents with Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome do not appear psychotic and based on incidents caught on film by researchers, are calm and collected when inflicting harm on their

This is one of the most common reasons why children and young people are taken away from their families. Abusive guidance or parent is mainly the reason why lots of young people and children are raised in care. The reason why they are taken into care away from their families are because these children and young people face a very difficult life as they are being neglected, physically, emotionally and mentally abused which could lead so many health problems for them when they grow up to be adults.

In relating the details of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP), the initial reaction is usually shock, followed quickly by fascination. The reason for the latter is that the medical community has yet to make up their minds about what exactly MSBP is. The debate: psychiatric disorder v. child abuse. Essentially the arguments for both create a divide between the brain and behavior, though not relating the two.

There are significant signs of psychological trauma due to any kind of abuse. Children experience feelings of low self esteem and depression. Many exhibit behavioral problems including aggression towards other children. Other emotional problems include hostility, fear, humiliation and the inability to express feelings. The social impacts of physical abuse include inability to form relationships, poor social skills, poor cognitive language skills, distrust of others, over-compliance with authority figures, and tendency to solve interpersonal problems with aggression. (2008, p. 1). Verbal and physical abuse has a cumulative impact on children’s socialization. Abused children are caught in damaged relationships and are not socialized in positive, supportive way (Craig & Dunn, Ex.: 2010, p. 196). They learn defiance, manipulation and other problem behaviors that are used to escape any maltreatment. In turn they will learn to exploit, degrade and terrorize.

The cycle of abuse is a deadly disease that is hard to cure. Children who grow up in a violent house who are physically or sexually abused are more likely to then become abusive to their own children when they are adults. Abuse is a problem that reaches all ends of the earth. Stopping the cycle is hard, and abuse is no tradition any family wants to have.

There are many things that cause parents to abuse their children and there are also many affects that abuse has on the child being abused. You cannot pinpoint one cause for child abuse, because parents abuse their children for many different reasons. One reason for the abuse is that the parents were abused as children. So, this is the only way they know to discipline their children. Another reason is that the parents are teenagers and not ready for children One more reason for the abuse is alcohol and substance abuse. The affect that abuse has on children is not only physical but the abuse affects children on many different levels. When children are abused they are 53% more likely to commit criminal acts as an adolescent and 40% more likely to commit a crime as an adult. Also the children have maladaptive, anti-social and

The psychological theory and the sociological also have the “cycle of abuse”; children who were abused as children do not know any other way of parenting and so abuse their own children, which can result in depression and trauma, which can continue the cycle.

There are certain demographics that are more prone to child abuse. Lower income families and young single mothers are the most likely to have child abuse in the home. This is due to the levels of stress in these types of families. When a person gets too stressed, and is not given the proper tools and resources to let that stress out, naturally it goes to a person that is close to them. Most of the time it is the children, all it takes is for the child to do something small, it can be something natural such as crying for no apparent reason as children often do, to take the abuser from simply over stressed to their breaking point.

Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a mental illness and form of child abuse that claims the lives of 9% of its victims (Heffner, 2004). It is defined as, “a psychological disorder in which a parent, typically a mother, harms her child (as by poisoning), falsifies the child 's medical history, or tampers with the child 's medical specimens in order to create a situation that requires or seems to require medical attention” (Merriam-Webster, 1977). In most cases, the mother is the abuser and plagues the life of her child and/or children by making them ill in order to receive attention, affection, and love. They thrive on feeling important and needed, and feel accomplished when they succeed in making their child/children ill (Meadow, 1989).

     There are various forms of emotional abuse but they all contribute to the victim as feeling helpless and inability. One form of emotional abuse is verbal dominance. Meaning the victims opinions, feelings and thoughts carry no weight and are pretty much meaningless. A second form of emotional abuse is isolation, this occurs when the abuser limits the victims access to money, use of the car and other normal activities. The abuser also talks negatively about friends and family making it uncomfortable to maintain outside relationships. A third form of emotional abuse is guilt, this occurs when the abuser blames the spouse for his/her assaultive behavior with rationale, after a period of time the spouse blames self for the battering. A fourth form is fear; the abuser threatens harm to spouse, family or friends in order to stay in control of a situation. Finally a fifth form of spousal abuse is humiliation, this is when the abuser may put down the spouse in front of children, family and friends. (Wallace)

Abuse can have many different meanings, there is one in particular that takes control in many Americans relationship, “physical maltreatment” (Abuse). Sadly there is an increasing amount of young adults going through an abusive relationship or were in one. Many of the people that become abusers consider violence as a normal behavior because they have witnessed it on a daily basis. They than begin to mistreat everyone that comes in his or her way. An abuser is frequently interested in controlling their victims. An abuser’s behavior is usually manipulating, in order to make their victims

Domestic Violence can start for the same reasons a person deals with the after effects of domestic violence. If a person has low self-esteem they feel the need to take a higher position and be a bully in some way. Those that have low income may feel the need to blame it on someone else (Judd 2013). A person that felt like they were never smart enough in school has a need to feel like they are respected and by doing this they feel like they are smart because they can control someone (Judd 2013). Young ages are at risk to be abusers because at a young age you do what you are taught, therefore if they were taught by their parents to abuse then they will begin to show those characteristics as well. If a youth is showing signs of bad behavior