Child abuse is physical, sexual, or psychological neglect of a child by a parent or caregiver. According to BBC, the United States of America has the highest child abuse record among the industrialized countries worldwide (“America’s Child Death Shame,” 2011). To understand the reasons of the US having the highest child abuse indicators facts, opinions, and evidence have to be considered to identify the patterns of this phenomenon inside the country.
The Primary Reasons of Child Abuse in the US
There is a common misconception that people who abuse children often suffer from mental illnesses. However, only about 10 percent of abusers have mental problems (Crosson-Tower, 2013). People do not see the main reasons, although they are obvious.
The Social Problems of the US
To understand the phenomenon of child abuse in the United States of America, it is better to realize that it is one of the side effects of general social environment of the country. There are a lot of issues that may lead to child abuse. Some of the major social problems connected with child abuse are school dropouts, teenage pregnancy, violence, imprisonment, and poverty (Crosson-Tower, 2013).
Keeping Families Together
Sometimes, a child is safer when his or her parents divorce. However, the federal government tries to keep families together, and that is the problem (“America’s Child Death Shame,” 2011). The cases of child abuse often happen in families that are kept together unwillingly.
Transmission of Violence
It is critical to understand that the violence of people who abuse children might come from being abused in their childhood too. Children follow the violent behavior of their parents when they grow up. The research shows that about 30 percent of abused children become abusive parents. These 30 percent of children believe that the behavior of their parents was right. That is why when they grow up they treat their children the same (Crosson-Tower, 2013).
Lack of Help from the State
Child abuse level is higher in the states with less government involvement. In Texas, for example, there are two times as much deaths from abuse and about four times as much abusive cases overall than in other states. By the information of Dallas Children’s Medical Center, the number of abused children is only increasing in Texas today (“America’s Child Death Shame,” 2011).
Absence of Parenting Skills
Today in the United States of America, there are a lot of teenage parents who are not ready to grow a child. The lack of necessary parenting skills results in stress which causes the risk of child abusing. For example, when a baby is crying and young parents cannot help it, they may lose their nerve. Also, some of the teenagers, especially boys, do not realize that they are now responsible for the child. Instead of caring for their children, they want to go out and have fun (“America’s Child Death Shame,” 2011).
Conclusion
To understand the reasons of the US having the highest child abuse indicators, it is needed to consider the facts, opinions, and evidence in order to identify the patterns of this phenomenon inside the country. The facts based on the evidence show that the problem of abusing children in the United States of America is very complicated and to solve it the government has to take measures aimed at the social issues of the country.
References
America’s child death shame. (2011). Web.
Crosson-Tower, C. (2013). Understanding child abuse and neglect (9th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Publishing.