Imagine being a young child. Picture that someone is mistreating you, and you arecompletely unable to retaliate in any way.
Imagine what would be running throughyour mind, all of the fear and hatred that you can do nothing with except hold it allinside. The United States government defines child abuse specifically as anyrecent 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 to any individualwho has not attained the age of 18 years, or an act or failure to act which presentsan imminent risk of serious harm to any individual who has not attained the age of18 years (Petit 28). This is a serious problem that destroys the lives of innocentStatistics show that 903,395 children were confirmed as being abused in theUnited States during 1997 alone, and there were 1,439,284 reported instances ofabuse in the United States (Statistics of. . . ).
Those numbers add out to be in theneighborhood of 1. 54% of the nations children being abused daily (Statistics of. . . ). Child abuse also accounts for nearly 57.
5% of fatalities to children under the age offive (Child Maltreatment). Experts also say that 87. 1% of abused children areabused by both the mother and father (Statistics of. .
. ). Roughly 2. 7% of childabuse occurs in foster care (Statistics of. . .
). The most abundant form of child abuse is neglect. Neglect accounts for53. 5% of child abuse nationwide (Child Maltreatment). Neglect is defined as:a child less than 18 years of age whose physical, mental or emotionalcondition has been impaired or is in danger of becoming impaired as a resultof the failure of the child’s legal guardian to exercise a minimum degree ofcare in supplying the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or educationor medical care. Neglect also occurs when the legal guardian fails to providethe child with proper supervision or guardianship by allowing the child to beharmed, or to be at risk of harm which includes when the guardian misusesdrugs or alcohol him/herself.
(Neglected Child)Children who fall victim to neglect feel that their parents have no time for them. The psychological aspects of this type of abuse is that the child or children affectedtypically try to get attention at school or somewhere away from home, areabnormally aggressive, and become somewhat maniacal when left alone for longperiods of time (Understanding Child. . . ). The second type of child abuse is physical abuse, which is responsible for22.
7% of total abuse cases that were confirmed. Physical Abuse is characterized bythe infliction of physical injury as a result of punching, beating, kicking, biting,burning, shaking or otherwise harming a child. The parent or caretaker may not haveintended to hurt the child, rather the injury may have resulted from over-discipline orphysical punishment (Child Maltreatment). The most common way to indicate aphysically abused child is notable marks on the body, such as bruises, cuts, andknots.
The main behavioral indication of physical abuse is the child is far tooaggressive when they are not around his or her parents. They also tend to pick onothers, but get extremely angry when someone else picks on them (UnderstandingSexual abuse is the third type of child abuse, which accounts for 11. 5% of allconfirmed abuse cases. Sexual abuse includes fondling a childs genitals,intercourse, incest, rape, sodomy, exhibitionism, and commercial exploitationthrough prostitution or the production of pornographic materials. Many expertsbelieve that sexual abuse is the most under-reported form of child maltreatmentbecause of the secrecy that so often characterizes these cases (ChildMaltreatment).
Sexually abused children are extremely frightened at the sight of theabuser, and are extremely timid when confronted with a chance to develop a closerelationship. Victims are given low self-esteem, and will often think they areworthless. Common indicators of sexually abused children include individualism,increased shyness, and greater dependence on a non-abusive person present in theirThe final type of child abuse is emotional abuse. This abuse is responsiblefor about 6.
2% of all abuse cases. Emotional abuse includes acts or omissions bythe parents or other caregivers that have caused, or could cause, serious behavioral,cognitive, emotional, or mental disorders. For example, the parents/caregivers mayuse extreme or bizarre forms of punishment, such as confinement of a child in a darkcloset. (Child Maltreatment) Less severe acts, such .
