Physical Abuse And Child Abuse

In the United States today studies show that “1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men are sexually abused before the age of 18” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006). Therefore that would mean 42 million adults are survivors of child abuse right here in the United States. Among these children there are 73% of children who do not tell anyone for a year, and many who never tell anyone (The Children’s Assessment Center). If we do not intervene many would say 500,000 babies will be born and sexually abused by the age of 18. It is important is it to be educated in the signs and symptoms of adult and child sexual abuse and getting involved in our own communities to stop this vicious cycle. You may or may not be a social worker or therapist but everyone can help an adult or child just by caring enough to stop and recognize the clues (The Children’s Assessment Center).

          There are many different types of child abuse. There is maltreatment and sexual abuse. Maltreatment is an area that encompasses many different things, such as physical abuse, child neglect, and emotional abuse. Physical abuse may begin with “shaken – baby syndrome” and

What is child abuse? From the word “abuse” we can understand that it is some sort of a maltreatment of a child, causing harm and damage both to his physical and psychological well-being. At the Federal level, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) describes child abuse and neglect as: “any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.” Child abuse is a very substantial and widely spread problem in U.S. affecting children of any age, gender, race, background or income, with more than 1.8 million investigations done every year and on average, killing more than 5 children every day. The main issue of child abuse is that the abuser is usually someone a child loves or depends on (a parent, sibling, coach, neighbor, etc.), who violates child’s trust putting personal interests first, therefore official numbers of how many children suffer maltreatment might be not accurate enough as remarkable amount of these cases go unreported. Each case of child abuse is unique, with a lot of individual factors involved, nevertheless, we can distinguish some of the common causes, such as poverty, lack of education, depression, mental or physical health

Being abused can also leave the child feeling worthless and with low self-esteem, this can then lead to the child feeling depressed which can possibly lead to self-harming.

The indicators of physical abuse can include unexplained bruising, marks or injuries on any part of the body, multiple bruises, broken bones or even multiple burn marks. There can also be a change in behaviour while a child is being physically abused, such as; fear of parents being approached for an explanation, aggressive behaviour, flinching when approached or touched, depression, withdrawn behaviour or even running away from home.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 3.3 million referrals for alleged maltreatment were made in 2013. Out of the 3.3 million referrals, 899,000 children were officially documented as being maltreated(Child Abuse & Neglect 2015). Child abuse is the mistreatment of a child. Child abuse is recognized in several forms; physical, emotional, sexual and neglect. Children who experience any form of abuse will tend to withdraw themselves from their peers and sometimes from other family members who are not aware of what is taking place. Child abuse occurs not just in the homes of these children, but can also occur in schools, churches and after school programs. Anywhere a child is present there is a chance that abuse can

Physical abuse is a non-accidental trauma which can refer to fractures or any other physical sign on the child’s body. Many children will have bruises, cuts, burns, and even bite marks. Physical child abuse is seldom ever a single event. Usually it occurs often and increasing in violence. A child abuser is usually close to the child, usually, but not all cases, a parent or guardian. Often the child feels they deserve this harsh punishment and most have very low self-esteem. Thus leading to developmental problems in school, very little friends, they may sit alone a lot and may be teased, or tease others and bully. Many children who have gone through physical abuse will also demonstrate some sort of negative behavior.

Domestic Violence is one of the most occurring situations found in the United States. This form of violence, also known as spousal abuse, happens within a relationship that is intimate or within a marriage. This particular issue seems to be found to affect women more often than men in varying ways such as injury or even death. Some of the injuries found in domestic violence cases are the head, neck, chest, face, breast, and abdomen, which are the most frequently injured. Many people believe that domestic violence is something that pertains to physical damage, but it has more of a psychological affect. The emotional aspect of domestic violence seems to be overlooked because one’s idea may vary

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,

(1) There are several interesting issues that the documentary addresses. One of them being the suggestion that our understanding of elder abuse lies decades behind that of child abuse. Edwin Walker states that, "in the field of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, we are 40 years behind that of Child Protective Services" (Npt, 2017). Also, elder abuse is underreported. Apparently, it is estimated that one in ten adults over the age of 60 is a victim and that “there are over five million elder abuse victims in the U.S, which is more than the combined total of child abuse victims and domestic violence victims” (2017). But of course, there is no way to be 100 percent sure of the actual numbers of older adults being abused. Furthermore,

A term that is quite often used in today’s society is family violence, more specifically child abuse and spousal abuse. A term that is not heard often is elder abuse, which is unfortunate due to the fact that it is a fairly common occurrence. It was estimated that in 2009, one in ten elderly Americans were victims of elder abuse within the previous year (Acierno, 2010). Even though elder abuse is prevalent here in America, it is seldom that this phenomenon is actually discussed.

​The effects of abuse on children are detrimental. They affect a child’s upbringing and takes away the importance of the nurturing and upbringing of a child. No abuse under any circumstances are very okay. Mental abuse is just as bad as physical abuse worse even in my opinion.

Many people first think of physical abuse when child abuse is brought up; however, there is also neglect, mental, and sexual abuse. Neglect is when the child isn’t given the basic needs, and is the caretaker for whom should be their guardian. When harm is inflicted on a child resulting in long term injuries, or anxiety it is called physical abuse. Psychological/mental abuse is when a child is verbally harmed resulting in anxiety, or habits such as fidgeting. A child is being touched in a sexual manner it is called sexual abuse; the child may have difficulties sitting or may be knowledgeable about inappropriate topics for their age. (“What is”)

The issue of child abuse and neglect is serious, controversial, and is escalating in today’s society. Many people are not aware, but child abuse is rampant in our society. Many child abuse and neglect cases go unreported because a person may not know the signs and symptoms of child abuse and neglect or perhaps the person or person may feel that this is an private issue and needs to be handle with in the home and no outsiders should be involved. Without the proper awareness of child abuse and neglect and the involvement of everyone this issue will continue to raise our eyebrows.

There are many forms of child abuse. Not only can children be physically abused, but they are also in danger of experiencing sexual abuse. In the more recent years, child sexual abuse has come to the attention of a larger part of society. As such, it is becoming more openly discussed. Child sexual abuse is a growing problem, and the stories that have begun to circulate around the world work to illustrate just how serious the problem is. Despite what society is lead to believe, the sexual abuse of a child is the least common out of all forms of child abuse. Out of the different types of child abuse, neglect is the most common, followed by physical abuse, and then sexual abuse comes at the bottom. Still, of all the cases of child abuse reported to and substantiated by authorities, approximately 15% of them concerned sexual abuse. ). It is possible that there are more cases of child sexual abuse, however, and they simply are not being reported. Due to the number of undisclosed cases of child abuse, researchers have conducted various prevalence studies over the years to determine the true number of sexual abuse of children. These studies have determined that around 20% of women and 5-10% of men in America in were sexually abused as children. A great deal of controversy surrounds the number of male victims of child sexual abuse, due to a lack of quality studies. The problem with prevalence studies is that they don 't all share the same definition of abuse, nor do they share