The problems of social background are those things that need to be resolved immediately. Society never takes for granted the essence and, what is more, the progression of negative impacts and causes of violence and disorder in the communities. The present time reality actively relies on the help of governmental organizations in order to provide efficacy of provided approaches in current policy. The issue of child abuse is a theme which both terrifies and grabs more attention on the facts and reasons of such attitude of adults towards children. This paper is aimed to designate all factors involved in the cause-and-effect connection of main variables making more or fewer impacts on this problem.
The examples of child abuse are considered by many adults as a case of non-accidental injuries or cases of lack of medical competence inappropriate services. Child abuse in its nature can be distinguished as “… an act of omission or commission that endangers or impairs a child’s physical or emotional health and development.” (Cooper & Sutton, 1999, p. 10). This theme makes straightforward victims of adults’ severe and cruel attitudes hidden behind the scenes. Children are supposed to be too young so that to express their personal opinions and pieces of evidence of direct bodily injuries. This voice of truth is muted until social figures being respectful and responsible for such injustice happening in society come for help. Even here, there are well-developed reactions of adolescents incorporated in denial and different excuses.
Metrocentre (SW) says, “With physical abuse, there is hard evidence, and they know they’re likely to be charged.” It involves, therefore, less rationalization than the other forms of abuse. Furthermore, physical punishment has been widely considered legitimate historically. Even today, as Lordcentre (SW) states, “In physical abuse, there is less denial…. There are a lot of religious groups around here where physical punishment is required by the religion.” (Price, Islam, Gruhler, 2001, p. 113+).
Exactly, the tradition of ancient words which tend to make sense of bringing up the process by means of corporal punishments bears in mind of many present-day adults the most effective tool or mechanism for better behavioral feedbacks of children. In fact, this leads to psyche ruining and the further distance between a child and parents throughout the “generation gap.” This, as I see, is the most terrific effect of parenting which provides ground for thinking about parents as losers. Children need more attention and understanding.
The governmental organizations and social foundations spend much time, money, and effort in order to achieve the socialization practices aiming to decrease the factors influencing the risk of child abuse wherever he/she is situated (Wolfe, 1999). This prospect seems to be the first goal-oriented direction for the prevention of the existing problem. Healthcare services are not the way of the solution, but the protection of the government and society is the key point while promoting direct initiatives for child abuse lessening. A vast amount of pressure is made from the side of the family. If the family is not united and cannot be responsible for its members’ safety, there is no ground for outlining the effective means of child abuse prevention.
The institute of the family is a grave and very important sphere of social activity which, due to internal and external elaboration, becomes stronger and estimates the credibility of a defined country to make challenges. As far as I am considered, there are three figures of power that impact a man’s life, namely: parents, teachers, and spiritual counselors. When one of these chains becomes weak to stand against the social negativism, then a child can be hurt due to the prevalence of the rest chains. In other words, the unity of those people who are responsible for a child’s bringing-up process should point out the normal attitudes applied to the sound-mindedness of an individual. “Children who fail to develop interpersonal trust, receive little affection from others, and are governed by authoritarian rule (i. e., common characteristics of the abused child) have missed important socialization experiences that may interfere with adolescent and adult relationships.” (Wolfe, 1999, p. 35).
Moreover, child abuse plays a negative role, of course, in the afterward influence of such attitudes on the sensitive and easy-to-destruct psyche of youngsters. The thing is that children require from their parents a little more care and attention towards their state of confusion when gaining more and more information bout the environment and people on the whole. Rage and the impulsive reaction of adults make such positive intentions of children trite unless destructed. To my mind, in this period of peoples’ lives, one attributive thing matters. It is a play. Children need to move and to perceive the surrounding world due to play with interactive connections as for peers. Because play can serve as a more reliable and sensitive tool for making out the environment, so the psychological and physical conditioning can also vary in terms of whether they run into cases of chronically appeared violence and abuse at home. (Cooper & Sutton, 1999) Moreover, this relation to the most powerful and comprehensive means of world perception can be used in order to positively influence children and omit the drawbacks of a cruel society. “In stark contrast to the enthusiasm usually expressed by children playing, abused children may show little interest or enjoyment in play, possibly because of their experience of an unrewarding world, which requires their total expenditure of energy in just surviving.” (Cooper & Sutton, 1999, p.10).
Hence, the preventive initiatives should take into account the physical and emotional health care of adolescents. Parents are, to my mind, the most important persons or figures who can contribute greatly to children’s well-being and further development while growing up. Here parents should take into consideration the gradual steps in growing up of children. It concerns sexual elaboration and inquisitiveness in peers of the opposite gender; stimulation and concentration of parents when small children seem to annoy while asking crying for something; patterning of communication at the very beginning of children’s approaching manhood; parents’ ability to plan home budget and take care of meal provision and order on the whole without using such primitive and ineffective means as physical punishment and shouts; credibility to determine more or less equal opportunities between parents regarding child’s care, upbringing, and safety; promotion of services needed for social and health protection of children (Wolfe, 1999).
The role of socialization of a person is quite significant for making attempts in developing of offsprings. In this discourse, the role of socialization agents is grave because of the fact that a child being an individual is not designated and set apart from society and its principles. Children seek the acknowledgment made by their peers and adults as well. Gerald Handel (Handel 2005) evaluates in his book Childhood Socialization the frameworks within which children tend to find appropriate for the environment in “peer groups”. He writes: It is in these peer groups that a child learns to function more independently, to acquire and test skills and beliefs that earn him a place among people of the same generation, to develop new outlooks that reflect youthful interests rather than adult ones. (Handel, 2005, p. 16) Such division is logically grounded, for every human being seeks protection coming from other ones. This unity is a power that creates in a child a specific and so needful feeling and state of self-esteem and self-confidence. Whether a child is at school or at home or somewhere in public places – he or she looks for recognition and appropriate attitudes in return. The essence of child abuse is a negative factor that spoils the psychological sphere of further upbringing, and notwithstanding the moral weakness of a child, it also can make more emphasis on making children ill-bred and even asocial elements.
Thus, child abuse is a theme that needs more consideration of facts and reasons which cause this social phenomenon. Children are one of those age layers within society, being less protected and going through appearing cases of abuse. The role of parents is taken into account as a sort of panacea. Emotional and health care provided by the adults is an effective tool for the perfection of further generations’ upbringing. Socialization of youngsters and the role of social agents is a background for better implementation of strong and helpful characteristic traits while communicating with peers. The problem cannot be prevented so far, but it can be omitted and returned from its negative source towards positive, namely from rage and impulsiveness to love and patience.
References
- Cooper, R., & Sutton, K. (1999). The Effects of Child Abuse on Preschool Children’s Play. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 24(2), 10.
- Handel, Gerald. (2005). Childhood socialization. Edition 2. Aldine Transaction, 2005
- Shull, J. R. (1999). Emotional and Psychological Child Abuse: Notes on Discourse, History, and Change. Stanford Law Review, 51(6), 1665.
- Wolfe, David A. (1999). Child abuse: implications for child development and psychopathology. Edition 2. SAGE, 1999