Introduction
Child abuse is not a new story in our ears. Each passing day we encounter cases of child abuse. As matter of fact, year in and out thousands of children undergo oppression because of reasons which include psychological malfunctions of the people who look after the children, they exhibit their complexes on children who are susceptible and unable to secure themselves. This the abusers do through projection. The phenomenon of child abuse is defined as causing any kind of offensive contact on the body of a child. It also includes any transaction or communication of any kind which may disgrace, embarrass or even terrify the child. Professionals in the field of child growth and development also view it as an act of omission resulting in the parent’s failure in rearing the child. To sum up this introduction, we can say that child abuse is a brutal act that some adults subject children to.
Main body
Its been established that all children are susceptible to abuse no matter how old they may be, their gender, their socioeconomic background, or religious affiliations. Several factors are linked to and add to neglect and the occurrence of child abuse. The likelihood of a parent or guardian abusing the children is more when they are drug addicts or are alcoholics. Similarly, some parents find it very difficult to cope with the stress passed on by their children to them due to the differences taking place in the children, and as a consequence, the parents may have difficulty in caring for them.
There are numerous forms of child abuse. The abuses children are exposed to can be in terms of sexual molestation, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and also they can be neglected. The kind of neglect can be either educational, physical, or emotional. Emotional abuse is also called verbal abuse, mental abuse, or psychological abuse. It involves the failure to act or acts by caretakers or parents that have earlier caused or could impact seriously on the behavior, emotions, or mental disorders. It is when the parents or caretakers use severe or weird forms of punishment for example being locked up in a dark room for extended periods or in a closet, or even horrifying a child. Comparatively, less severe acts include belittling using derogatory language to describe the child. These acts may be viewed as not so damaging, though they are still child abuse.
Children are neglected when their parents don’t provide them with their basic needs. From the earlier views, we are thus aware that emotional, educational and physical neglect are the diverse forms of neglect. The physical side of neglect entails inadequate provision of food or clothing to the child. Not providing appropriate health care or proper clothing especially to protect the child from harsh weather. In addition, some parents may even desert their children.
Educational neglect however implies the failure to offer appropriate schooling or failing to meet the particular educational needs. Psychological neglect on its side represents a lack of emotional support and affection, giving the child no attention, permitting the child to indulge in drug and alcohol abuse and spousal abuse.
The physical abuse children face can be causing pain to the child by beating them, slapping, kicking, and in severe cases even the children. some parents also give their children some physical punishments that are not appropriate for the age of the child.
Sexual brutality is improper sexual behavior with a child. The offenders are known as pedophiles and they usually engage in touching the children’s genitalia and forcing the children to do the same. They may force the children to have intercourse and these can result in rape, sodomy, and incest if the child is related to the caretaker or guardian.. Although if a stranger committed these crimes then that is treated as sexual assaults and are therefore handled by the police
The affected children are left with deep emotional scars, whatever the cause of the abuse; the impacts are significant since they linger with the children for the rest of their lives.
The consequences of child abuse are varied and they include: It encourages the child not to be straightforward, to give misleading information, and retaliate instead of embracing trust, attentiveness, and love. The child is slowly alienated from you and he/she becomes reclusive. The self-respect of the child is greatly affected and the child’s capacity to behave usually outside the home takes a very abnormal twist. The abused child is very likely to carry the act as a family tradition and abuse his/her children and the consequent generation will thus continue to suffer. Last, the child may grow to completely hate the abuser such that the child may not include him in events of the abuse later in life not to mention refusing to let him interact with the grandchildren.
The rate of child abuse can be closely looked at as shown by the US Dept of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children & Families shows that the rate of child abuse by race takes the following structure: white leads by 51%, African American has the second slot of 25%, Hispanic is 15%, American Indian / Alaska natives with 2% and lastly Asian/Pacific Islanders with 1%. It becomes clear therefore that the white race leads to child abuse according to these statistics.
Child Abuse Charts can be effectively used to show and explain different data concerning child abuse. The charts below are used to explain this. In Larimer County, females and males stood equal chances of being reported as victims of child abuse from 2003 up to 2006. Although in 2007, a greater number of males were reported to be victims of child abuse (53%) and a large number of child abuse reports (36%) were for victims between the minor ages of 6 to 12 years old, followed by victims below 5 years (33%).
The given chart shows the children abused sexually by age and gender. This is according to the data from Larimer County, 2007. the data provider is Larimer County Human services- Children Youth and family division.
Below is a chart showing victims of infant abuse (less than one-year-old). Initial Reports and Substantiated cases- Larimer County.
The information was accessed from Larimer County Human services- Children Youth and family division.
References
“Causes and effects of child abuse” 2000. Web.
“Causes-Effects-Child-Abuse” 1998. 2008. Web.
“Sexual abuse statistics” 2003. 2008. Web.