Child Abuse EssayMaltreatment of children is not a new phenomenon. It dates back farinto history, as far as the colonial times and even back to biblical times. During the recent years child maltreatment has had an increase in the publicseye. There are many factors to child maltreatment.
There are four generalcategories of child maltreatment now recognized. They are physical abuse,sexual abuse, neglect and emotional maltreatment. Each category, in turn,covers a range of behavior. The maltreatment of children not only affects thechildren themselves, but also affects the family intern making it dysfunctional. Physical AbusePhysical abuse may be best defined as any non-accidental physical injuryby a person who has care, custody, or control of a child.
The definitioncontains two key aspects, the act is intentional or willful, and/or the actresulted in physical injury. Accidental does not qualify as child abuse. (Wallace,29)Physical abused children do not fit any type of stereotype. Abuseoccurs in all neighborhoods. Also, abusers come in all shapes, sizes, colors,and sexes.
There are many signs of physical abuse. First the location and types of injuries, many time the parent or caretakers will deny any wrong doing or the child has suffered any physical injury. There are always those injuries that consist of a normal childhood upbringing,such as falling of their bike or bumping their head. Then, there are thosewhich they cannot be explained.
When caretakers deny any injuries or have noknowledge of an injury, there is a very strong likely hood that physical abuseexists. Here are some of the signs of physical abuse. Bruises happen for various of accidental reasons. There are alsobruises that are tell tale signs of abuse. Bruises have a time clock that cantell when it happened. Also, the location of the bruise can tell a story.
Bruises on the front part of the body are often signs of normal bruises fromjust falling ECT. Bruises found on the back of the arm, leg, lower back, thebutt and genital are suspicious bruises and often questioned bruises. Patternedbruising is also a sign of abuse. Normal bruises are in various shapes andsizes. While some bruises that are a patterned show strong signs of abuse. These are bruises that have definite boundaries and sharp and curved edges.
Forexample rope, rulers, hand prints and so on. (wallace,38)Burns are also a sign of abuse. Burns are patterned like bruises. These burns would have sharp edges and spots that were spared from flexation. Water immersion burns are common signs of child abuse usually caused by acaretaker holding the child in the water.
Also patterned burns which are burnscaused by pressing hot objects on the child bodies. (wallace,42)Another sign of abuse is fractures. These types of fractures are signsof abuse. Spiral fractures are usually breaks in the humerus or femur resultingfrom twisting of the limb.
Head and internal injuries are often signs of abuse. Such as occasion, whiplash or shaken baby syndrome are examples of head injuries. Chest and abdominal injuries are common in abuse. This is caused by hitting orgrasping a child. (Wallace,43)Sexual AbuseSexual abuse is defined as the sexual exploitation or sexual activitiesof children. A child under these circumstances will indicate that the child’shealth or welfare is harmed or threatened.
Intra familial sexual abuse includesincest and refers any type of exploitative sexual contact between relatives. There are many physical indicators of sexual abuse. Here are someexamples of physical indicators: difficulty in walking or sitting, torn, stainedor bloody underwear, bleeding, bruising and itching around the genitals and anal. Frequent urinary tract or yeast infections. Pain on urination and so on.
Thereare no pattern or causes of conduct that leads to sexual abusers. (wallace,58 and63)Child NeglectThe definition of child neglect is the treatment or maltreatment of achild by a parent or caretaker under circumstances indicating harm or threatenedharm to the child’s health or welfare. There are many theories of child neglectfrom poverty to non-fit parents. There are also many indications to childneglect. (Wallace,82)Some of the physical indicators are poor growth, constant hunger andmalnutrition. Poor body odor and hygiene, lice and inappropriate clothing.
Constant fatigue. Constant lack of supervision and unexplained bruises orinjuries as result of poor supervision. Unattended physical problems or medicalneeds, such as lack of proper immunizations, gross dental problems, need glassesor hearing aids.Emotional neglectEmotional neglect is the constant act or omission which is judged by thecommunity standers and professional expertise to be .
