FREE ESSAY ON CHILD ABUSE

CHILD ABUSE

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.