Child abuse in America is an ongoing problem and something needs to be done. There are approximately one million children abused annually in the United States. (Table 339) Cases of child abuse and neglect are reported every ten seconds, and researchers believe that there’s three times that amount that goes unnoticed. (Child Abuse: Know the Signs and Stop the Violence Against Children.) Something needs to be done for these children who are too weak and too powerless to help themselves. Children who have been abused are left with more than just physical scars. They have many psychological, emotional, and behavioral problems as well. Their social lives are affected dramatically, and they suffer lifelong effects. (Lambert) Children tend to …show more content…
This affects them all through their lives since so much in the world is centered around good communication. They usually talk in short quick sentences instead of long elaborate conversations. (Lambert) They may also suffer speaking problems from actual neurological problems. Brain damage directly affects the vocal chords and other muscles used in speaking. (Lambert) If their brains were affected in the abuse, the muscles used for speaking can be permanently damaged and even paralyzed. Clearly, abuse can have lifelong effects on the children. Many children tend to act out how they are feeling instead of verbalizing it. They show aggressive and out of control behaviors towards their relationships. Boys tend to be more likely to exhibit these traits. Girls, however, are more likely to hold in anger, fear, and anxiety, leading to depression. Both of these problems can significantly affect how well a child learns. If a child’s education is affected, it could stay with them throughout their lives. (Santrock 201) Physical abuse is “the mistreatment of a child that causes physical injury, impairment, or endangerment.” (Layman 15) It accounts for about 25 percent of abuse cases. (Moses) Children who have been abused usually show certain signs. They tend to be apathetic and withdrawn, but at the same time, constantly scanning their environment for danger. (Oates 43) Physical abuse can leave all kinds of injuries.
One of the biggest problems children deal with, especially younger ones is child abuse. “In 2009, the child protective services across the country received 3.3 million reports of child abuse. The farther the child protective services would investigate they discovered more than 700,000 children that had been abused or mistreated.” (Kauchak and Eggen 51) The U.S Congress in the Family Services Act of 1988 came up with a definition of all types of abuse. (Mufson and Kranz 26) There is neglect, emotional, sexua, and physical abuse. “Over than 78% of abuse victims suffer from neglect. About 1/5 were physically abused, and about 10% were victims of sexual abuse.” (Kauchak and Eggen 51)
The harshness and length of effects differs depending on the abuse that occurred, the type of child, and the care and treatment. Long term abuse can have short term effects throughout the duration of abuse. Incidents such as abuse by a close friend or family member, long term abuse and self-blame, add to the chance of a negative effect. “Some studies have shown that as many as 80% of young people at the age of 21, who have a history of abuse or neglect in childhood, meet the criteria of at least one psychiatric disorder” (Jelic Tusic, Buljan Flander, & Mateskovic, (2013). Physical effects, like impairment to a child’s developing brain, can have consequences like cognitive delays or emotional problems. Psychological issues frequently display high-risk behaviors. Things like depression and anxiety could influence someone to smoke, abuse drugs and/or alcohol, or overeat. High risk behaviors can lead to health issues such as sexually transmitted diseases, cancer, and obesity. Child physical abuse is reportedly more likely to occur in females than males. Those who experience the abuse are more likely to be widowed, separated, or divorced and to have accomplished a lower educational success. “A majority of victims of CPA had a lifetime history of a least one psychiatric disorder” (Sugaya, Hasin,
There are over 800,000 children abused each year in the United States. When children are susceptible to abuse, they not only have to go through the trauma when it happens, but they also are likely to have still continue to battle the long-term consequences throughout adulthood. People who experienced physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect as children will probably develop psychological disorders as an adult.
“In 1996, more than a million victims of alleged abuse were reported to CPS in the United States” (Causes). What if it is that sweet, young child living next door who falls victim? Child abuse an issue society is constantly faced with. Sexual, physical and emotional abuses are three major issues kids face in society today.
A child, who has dealt with a lot of stressful events or was a victim of abuse, is affected with emotional and psychological trauma. Those events that are affecting the child negatively can occur either once, a couple time a week, or it can occur every day of the person’s life if something is not done to stop the abuse. A child who has experienced abuse or a traumatic event can began to show symptoms such as shock, anger, anxiety, etc. These symptoms of abuse can be easily turned into a child having a long term trauma.
Nowadays, child maltreatment becomes serious problem, which could not only leads to a terrible social phenomenon, but also causes a huge impact on the mental development of children and adolescents in America (Underwood & Rosen, 2013). Child Maltreatment, also called child abuse and neglect, has four identified categories, which are physical abuse, sexual abuse psychological or emotional maltreatment, and neglect, respectively (Trickett et al. , 2011). These four categories of child maltreatment could have a prolonged adverse effect in childhood and even in adolescence (Trickett et al. , 2011).
We can look at the recent event that is shocking the nation. As I looked at the late
Child abuse and neglect refers to any way in which someone harms a child. It also includes neglecting to protect a child from harm, potential harm, or allowing a child to witness violence or abuse to others. Harm to the child may or may not be intended.
6.3 million children are affected by child abuse each year. Of those 6.3 million children, only 3 million are investigated by child health care services. A report of child abuse is reports every ten seconds (“Child Abuse Statistics and Facts”). When people think of child abuse, many think of it as just physical bruises and broken bones. Although that most definitely is a huge part of child abuse, there are also many different kinds. Children can abused by neglect, sexually, physically, mentally and emotionally. Children all ages can suffer from child abuse, and the aggressor could be anyone; not just someone closely related to the child.
According to American Academy of Pediatrics (2012), child abuse has been escalating in America the past twelve years. Five children die every day due to child abuse or neglect (National Children’s Alliance, 2013). The America’s National Children Alliance (2012) reported 247,000 children were served by a Child Advocacy Center for one or more forms of abuse. Of those statistics, 197,902 were sexually abused and 49,155 were physically abused.
Children who are experiencing emotional and mental abuse are more likely to have changes in behavior than children who are not experiencing emotional and mental abuse.
We often wonder what happens to a child who has been sexually, physically, and emotionally abused. What kind of psychological disorders do they develop? What kind of damage has been done to the brain for the child to then act out inappropriately? What kind of possible physiological disorders could the child then start to develop? We’ve seen that their relationships are affected in every stage of life.
Physical abuse is when you use actions instead of communicating verbally and if serious enough can result in death. A child can be hit, kicked or even punched which leaves bruises or broken bones! Do you want to hear the slap of a hand hitting a weak and frail little angel’s skin or the thud of a
Although visible signs of emotional abuse can be difficult to identify, the hidden scars of this type of abuse show p in different behavioral ways. Emotionally abused children often grow up thinking that they are worthless, a tragedy case by this is that these children grow up thinking that
Child abuse is the physical or emotional mistreatment of a child by a parent, guardian, or other person. Information of child abuse, including sexual abuse, beating, and murder, have climbed in the United States and some authorities believe that the number of cases is under reported. Child neglect is sometimes integrated in legal definitions of child abuse to cover instances of starvation, abandonment, and insufficient care of a child's safety. When reported, child maltreatment cases are intricate by poor foster care services and a legal system that has trouble obliging to the susceptible nature of children(Child Maltreatment, 2015). Every year more than 3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States involving more than 6