Child Abuse Essay, Research Paper

The recent investigations of child abuse in America have become a recent

epidemic that have had surprising discoveries. A survey taken in 1999 regarding

child abuse revealed that 22 percent of abused children were done so physically,

8 percent sexually, 54 percent through neglect, and 16 percent by emotional

abuse. Psychological abuse can include a number of different factors including

neglect and verbal abuse. The majority of abuse that takes place is done so

psychologically rather than physically. Many children are simply ignored by

their parents and have little or no involvement with them because of this.

Children are also verbally abused and therefore get ?beaten down?

psychologically. Those who are abused psychologically tend to be very dependent

and take care of themselves, have poor self-esteem and confidence, and can have

a poor relationship with their peers. On the other end of the spectrum, physical

abuse occurs in 30 percent of child abuse cases. A very serious result of

physical abuse is known as SBS (Shaken Baby Syndrome). This condition is cause

by violent shaking of a small child, which in turn causes the brain to bruise

and eyes to bleed. Seizures, partial or total blindness, paralysis, mental

retardation, and death are all results of this form of abuse. The main reason

why this abuse occurs is the parent?s frustration from a crying baby. The

parent doesn?t want to hit the child, so they shake the child back and forth

to make him or her stop crying. Children show many signs of physical abuse in

their day-to-day life. These signs include: shying away from adult contact, lack

of trust, aggressive behavior, self-destructive behavior, extended days away

from home, and even suicide attempts. On average, fifteen out of every 1,000

children in the United States are abused either psychologically or physically

each year. In 1999 1,185 children died from physical abuse. An important thing

to consider regarding child abuse is the child abuser. There are many ways to

identify whether or not someone is an abuser or not. Typically, a child abuser

is a harsh disciplinarian, describes his or her child consistently in a negative

way, the explanations of the child?s injuries are not probable, and he or she

becomes defensive or refuses to explain when asked about the child?s injury.

The abuser may have a social or psychological problem such as depression or low

self-esteem. Other conditions may be that there is an alcohol or drug-related

problem, some lack basic skills of normal child development and parenting. Some

of the child abusers have unreasonably high standards for the child to love up

to, and when the child can not live up to them then he or she feels that it is

their duty to discipline the child. This discipline may lead to child abuse.

Stress is another factor for child abuse, but probably not the only factor. The

abuser may never have even had the thought or the urge to abuse the child but

under so much stress sometimes they do not understand that their punishment

would be considered abuse or they do it not realizing what they are doing. The

abuser may show signs of disregard for the child’s needs, welfare, limited

abilities, and feelings. Many abusive parents believe that children exist to

satisfy the parents needs and that the child’s needs are unimportant. The

children who don’t satisfy their parent?s needs may then become the victims of

abuse. Sexual abusers may have unusual personality traits and behaviors that can

result in sexual contact with a child. Sexual abusers may use threats, bribery,

coercion or force to get the child to engage in sexual activities. This violates

the natural trust between the child and adult, and if goes untreated may lead to

emotional and mental problems later in life and the abused child may become the

abuser. The child may not tell anyone because the abuser has threatened him or

her not to tell. Although child abuse is something that has just recently been

taken seriously, many advances have taken place to prevent it. The CPS (Child

Protection Service) has grown by 40 percent over the past two years. Public

awareness about this issue has grown enormously as well. Child abuse is very

hard to get rid of completely because of human nature. However, if people can

try and identify the problem before it grows into a way of life, perhaps it can

become less common.

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