Prevention Of Child Abuse example essay topic

Corporal Punishment Child abuse, the physical and / or emotional abuse of a child by a parent, guardian, or other person, is a major problem in homes across the United States. Child abuse, including sexual abuse, beating, and murder have increased in the U.S. and it is believed that a number of cases go unreported. Within child abuse comes' neglect, which covers starvation, and too little care for a child. Efforts have increased on the prevention of child abuse. This must be started on many different levels before it can be successful. Prevention plans on a social level include increasing the economic independence of families, discouraging corporal punishment and other forms of violence, making health care more easy to get to and affordable, growing and improving organization of social services, improving the identification and treatment of psychological problems, and alcohol and drug abuse, providing more affordable child care and preventing the birth of unwanted children.

Prevention plans on the family level include helping parents meet their basic needs, identifying problems of substance abuse and spousal abuse, and educating parents about child behavior, discipline, safety, and development. Primary prevention is to prevent the disease before it happens and reduce the chances of child abuse from happening. Between 1985 and today child abuse cases have increased by more than fifty percent. More than thirty-five percent of which were confirmed.

Each year one hundred and sixty thousand children are abused severely, even to life threatening extents. One thousand to two thousand children are killed resulting form child abuse. One of twenty murder victims is a child. Murder is the fourth leading cause of death in children from ages five to fourteen.

Most child abuse occurs in the home and is started by someone who is known and trusted by the child. Abuse in day care center and foster car settings are only a small part of confirmed cases, but are more widely made known. In a household where spousal abuse takes place, child abuse is fifteen percent more likely to occur also. Children are three times more likely to be abused by father rather than mothers. Four major types of child abuse are neglect, which is fifty-four percent of reported cases of child abuse, physical abuse, which makes up twenty-five percent, sexual abuse, which is eleven percent and emotional which is three percent.

Other ways of abuse make up another seven percent. There are many long-term penalties that children suffer along with the physical and mental unkindness. Children may have to suffer delays in reaching developmental points, refusal to attend school and separation anxiety disorders. Other consequences include an increased likelihood of future substance abuse, aggressive behaviors, high-risk health behaviors, criminal activity, depressive and affective disorders, personality disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks, schizophrenia and abuse of their own children and spouse. For a proper development of the brain, the child should be shown a loving, caring, and motivating environment during the first three years of the child's life. There are four major levels that can influence child abuse.

One being the individual level, two the family, three the community, and four the society. The following factors are believed to be factors contributing to the development of physical and emotional abuse children. Community / society parent related, high crime rate personal history of physical or sexual abuse, lack of or few social services, teenage parents, high poverty rate of parenting skills, high unemployment, rate of unwanted pregnancy, child-related poor coping skills, low self-esteem, low birth weight, personal history of substance, handicap, history of known child abuse, domestic violence, and the list goes on. Parents who are abused as children are more likely than other parents to abuse their own children. Lack of parenting, unrealistic expectations about a child's capabilities, and ignorance of ways to manage a child's behavior and of normal development may further contribute to child abuse. Substance abuse in homes also leads to a lot of domestic violence.

Other factors that increase the risk of child abuse include emotional immaturity of the parents, which is often highly related to actual age, as in the case of teenage parents, poor coping skills, often also related to age but also occurring in older parents, poor self-esteem and other psychological problems experienced by either one parent or both, single parenthood add too many burdens and hardships of parenting that must be born without the help of a partner. Also social loneliness of the parent or parents from family and friends and resulting the lack of support that their absence implies, any situation involving a handicapped child or one that is born prematurely, and or any situation where a sibling younger than eighteen months at home already. Strategies society plans on using to prevent child abuse include increasing the value society places on the children, increasing the economic independence of families, enhancing communities and their resources, discouraging too much use of corporal punishment and other forms of violence, making health care more accessible and affordable, and expanding and improving treatment for alcohol and drug abuse. Some common features of successful child abuse prevention programs are to strengthen families and community connections and support, treat parents as vital contributors to their children's growth and development, enhance community awareness of importance of healthy parenting practices and provide settings where parents and children can gather, interact, support, and learn from each other.

Plans to help an individual can also be considered a strategy to help a family. First thing needed by parents are help meeting their basic needs like, food, shelter, clothing, safety, and medical care. Then higher needs may be met. Next identifying and counseling for those parents who have a substance abuse problem, and identify and counsel parents who suffer from spousal abuse. Other issues like financial concerns, legal problems and employment. The next step of need includes education.

This includes time management, budgeting skills, and stress management, coping and parenting skills such as appropriate discipline, knowledge of child development, nutrition ad feeding problems, and safety issues. The basic framework of support services is made up of a number of things. Child abuse is a difficult problem with many causes, it is important that people do not take a negative attitude toward its prevention. Although the absence of strong evidence to guide protective efforts, society can do things to try to prevent abuse. Showing concern for the parents or care givers and increasing attempts to improve their skills as parents or care givers may be able to help save our most weak people, the children, from the nightmare of abuse and neglect.