The Causes and Effects of Child Abuse - Term Paper Example

Critical Analysis on Child Abuse Introduction: The of child abuse is one of the most debatable areas among experts in social sciences. The issue of child abuse primarily concerns about the physical or psychological mistreatment of children. Child maltreatment can be a result of the harmful act(s) toward children by their parents or other caregivers. In most cases, child abuse occurs in a child’s home. However, it can, to a lesser extent, happen in schools, communities or organisations with which the child interacts. Nonetheless, the causes and effects of child abuse are multifarious with a wide variety of research perspectives drawing special attention of concerned individual and collective bodies of child psychology and social science. Reference and implication of child rights are relevant issues of governmental as well as non-governmental organisations. This further implies the significance of legal issues related to child abuse. This paper addresses the issues of child abuse and its multi-dimensional perspectives requiring empirical investigation. In order to understand what child abuse is all about, it is important to know the definitional contexts associated with the term. The paper takes considerable account of the common causes of child abuse as well as the main components of the term. It also briefly discusses the history of child abuse especially since the 1970s till current time. The growing concerns for child abuse arrest the conscious attention of government as well as of relevant legal authorities, which further result in law and policy responses to the issue. The legal perspective of child abuse is also discussed precisely in the paper. But before going into any further details, it is significant that we develop a clear conception of what child abuse is all about. Definition of ‘child abuse’: Talking of a broader context, child abuse can be defined as mistreatment to children. However, difficulty arises with the grave realisation that one single definition cannot serve all purposes of the subject. This can be termed as the definitional complexity of child abuse. But the multifarious dimensions of child abuse can be encompassed in a broader context that addresses the different agenda of the term. For instance, we can talk about the major forms of child abuse in the context of family or a larger social community such as the school. The definitional conditions will be different for each context. In the context of a society, there are various cultural factors and conditions beyond the control of families such as poverty, inaccessible healthcare, unavailable education, and so on. The definition of child abuse also requires the investigation of more specific variables including what causes child abuse and what are the major forms or components of child abuse. Again, the legal perspectives of child abuse are different from the general definitions. Societies and nations show differences in implementing laws and policies advocating child rights and responsibilities of parents and caregivers towards children. All these factors are important variables to study in order to conceptualise the notion of child abuse. In a general context, we can define the term ‘child abuse’ as a psycho-social condition created and developed by all forms of physical or emotional ill-treatment, neglect, and commercial, sexual or other exploitation of children. In order to understand child abuse and its conditions, it is relevant to consider and investigate what actually causes child abuse and what are the types of child abuse evident in society. ‘Causation’ vs. ‘construction’ of child abuse: It is important to note that there is a striking difference between the two terms ‘cause’ and ‘construct’ while explaining child abuse. The causation of child abuse indicates the reasons behind the mistreatment of children. Whereas the construction of child abuse signifies the conditions or environments giving way to the reasons for child abuse. Cawson (2002) provides an elaborate discussion on the difference between the causation and construction of child abuse. In a way, to understand the broader perspectives of child abuse, it is important to know why and how the mistreatment is developed. There are several forms of child abuse evident in common, and particularly, four types of child mistreatment noticed more frequently than any other cause. These are: physical abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, neglect and sexual abuse. The conditions for physical abuse are visible in the family itself. The term indicates any kind of physical aggression by an adult directed at a child that can be harmful or threat as harmful for the child. Various jurisdictions imply the conditions of physical abuse differently. So it can involve striking, burning or choking of a child, or even the transmission of toxins from a mother to child (fetal alcohol syndrome). Psychological or emotional abuse involves a number of behaviours resulted from emotional exploitation of children by adults, usually their parents or caregivers. Victims of emotional abuse are often denied essential emotional responsiveness. “The child is deprived of loving, sensitive care giving; his or her emotional and intellectual development is stifled, the child is generally ignored or neglected.” (Briere, 1992, p. 10) It is notable that psychological abuse can have significant impact on later psychological functioning of the child. Neglect refers to the failure of parents or caregivers to provide for adequate physical, emotional and educational requirements of the child. Among all the four forms of child abuse, the one receiving the most substantial attention is sexual abuse. Briere (1992) discusses a number of characteristic features of sexual abuse including ritualistic abuse, multiple simultaneous perpetrators, and so on. It is important that any form of untreated sexual victimisation in childhood can possibly increase the risk of later mental health problems. Besides, certain aspects of sexual abuse can cause long-term psychological impacts discussed at length by Corby (2006). Apart from these reasons and behaviours of child abuse, there are social and economic variables beyond the control of people responsible for nurturing children. Such variables are identifies as poverty, inaccessibility of proper education, absence of appropriate law and order in society, etc (Gibbons et al, 1995). There are certain other outside factors including parental substance abuse or psychiatric disturbance resulting in inconsistent parenting and terrorising of children. These and the ones discussed above give rise to the environments where child mistreatment is constructed and developed. Child abuse: history and current issues The case of child abuse has a relatively well-informed history of two long centuries, and it is still growing. The official report of child abuse dates back to the third half of 19th century England, particularly after 1860 (Behlmer, 1982). The abusers, parents of the three-year old child were taken into custody, and the court announced a comparatively stiff penalty for the criminals. It is significant that the mid-Victorian generation of England was conspicuously aware and concerned about children and the problems facing them. The Victorian literature is also vocal about the causes and effects of child abuse in a wide variety of genres, particularly in a large number of novels (Cunningham, 2003). Child exploitation was routinely prevalent even in the first quarter of 20th century. Child labour was a familiar concept in early 20th century American society where labour law was yet to create. However, the UK government was more vocal of child abuse and protection issues and was involved in it from the beginning of 20th century. The Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act of 1904 was a comparatively advanced step by the United Kingdom than the US government. UN’s adoption of Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 brought considerable changes in the scenario while developing public awareness of child abuse. The Act is considered as a milestone in the commitment of world governments to voice the fundamental needs and issues of children. 1970s onwards the issues and concerns of children grew to be even more vocal and began to get legal assistance from most countries across the world. Governments started advocating for the implementation of different children’s rights laws, child labour laws and other relevant regulatory systems to protect the needs of children. With the UN’s incorporation of children’s rights into international law, the issues of child abuse became those of international concern. The growing social awareness of child abuse has led to conceptualise it more as a community problem than just an individual or family problem. There is a transformational change in public attitude toward child abuse. Current issues in child abuse and neglect are widely recognised by general public in accordance with the significance of everyone’s participation in child abuse prevention. Today, people are aware of the long-term effects of child abuse. Initiatives by both governmental as well as non-governmental organisations are welcomed by societies that are interested in learning about ways for a permanent solution to this serious problem. Apart from these organisational efforts, education can play a significant role in vocalising the awareness of child abuse to parents and teachers (Goldson, Lavalette and McKechnie, 2002). Media can also contribute substantially to educate the general public on the seriousness of the problem. The issues of child abuse remain same all this while, but the welcoming aspect of its growing awareness has resulted in the worldwide implementation of more child labour laws and child abuse prevention acts. Long-term effects of child abuse: It is unfortunate that victims of child abuse usually tend to show emotional or psychological problems as they grow older, although not all victims of child abuse are subject to such developmental irregularities (Tanner, 1999). People who are maltreated as children usually show the increased potentiality of a number of risk factors including drug and alcohol misuse, juvenile conduct disorders as well as criminal behaviour, mental health problems, imprisonment, homelessness and dissociation (Briere, 1992). The general implications of the effects of child abuse are depression, stress and trauma. Briere discusses seven major types of psychological disturbance that are frequently found in adolescents and adults who were abused in childhood (Briere, 1992, p. 18): Post-traumatic stress Cognitive distortions Altered emotionality Dissociation Impaired self-reference Disturbed relatedness avoidance The effects of child abuse on a child depend on the intensity or sensitiveness of the abuse and the overall state of the child. In most cases, the victim displays anti-social behavioural patterns (it can be aggressive or isolated) as a result of his or her growing hatred toward the abuser. But in worse cases, the child can even have suicidal tendencies. Abused children often exhibit difficulty in developing interpersonal relationships and have low self esteem or negative self perception due to lack of self confidence. They also display eating disorders as well as physical disabilities. Law and policy responses to child abuse: As described earlier in this paper, child abuse is a serious community problem that requires a cooperative response by law enforcement, child protective and other local agencies. The primary objective of all these agencies is to protect the mistreated children. Reporting of child abuse and neglect has become more vocal, thanks to the responsible participation of child protective agencies. It is notable in most countries committed to child abuse prevention that the child protective agencies take serious note of the information and investigation of child abuse reports. The agencies take substantial responsibilities in initiating a variety of mental health and supportive services to assist parents in nurturing their children. “Based on their investigation of the home institution, child protective agencies assess the risk to the child, evaluate the capacity of the parents to care properly for the child, determine if emergency services are required, decide what social services are needed, and then offer such services or arrange for some other agency to provide them.” (Besharov, 1990, p. 3) Now coming to the aspect of law enforcement response to child abuse, the role of law enforcement implies to legal investigation of child abuse in order to determine the occurrence of a violation of criminal law, identify and apprehend the abuser, and file appropriate criminal charges. Among all the four major types of child abuse, the most frequent as well as challenging investigation is related to cases of sexual abuse. Investigation is difficult in such cases because the victim is often shy or uncomfortable about the disclosure of the abuse. Besides, lack of conclusive evidence on the occurrence of sexual abuse is another issue of serious concern. In any case, criminal justice system of a country is a significant organism to deal with the protection of children while developing and implementing relevant protocols to safeguard the rights of children. The implementation of international laws on the children’s rights issues (Fawcett, Featherstone and Goddard, 2004) has brought to light the sensitivity of the issue among current societies and nations. Child abuse is being handled by a number of laws including child labour laws and laws of children’s rights. The practice of child custody laws is another common issue where non-custodial parents face regulatory complications to spend quality time with their children. Conclusion: The issue of child abuse has already become a global concern. With the growing number of child abuse being reported in every single minute, the responsibilities of parents, communities, organisations and governments have also increased. Child abuse prevention acts are followed by the legal systems of all countries across the world. Current issues of child abuse are dealt by governments through establishing various law enforcement protocols and procedures with a sole objective of safeguarding the rights of children. Investigation and reporting of child abuse cases require a cooperative and coordinative system comprising parents, community, child protective agencies, and professionals from medicine, criminal justice, social work and education. Each of these members has equally important roles in handling the problems of child abuse and developing appropriate solutions. The common and ultimate aim of all these individual, social, legal and governmental efforts is to understand the relevance of child abuse, provide appropriate treatment to the victims of child abuse for surviving the long-term effects of child abuse, and finally, assist the victims in shaping themselves as normal and better human beings. References: 1. Behlmer, G. K., 1982. Child Abuse and Moral Reform in England, 1870-1908. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 1. Besharov, D. J., 1990. Combating Child Abuse: Guidelines for Cooperation between Law Enforcement and Child Protective Services. Boston: University Press of America. 1. Briere, J. N., 1992. Child Abuse Trauma: Theory and Treatment of the Lasting Effects. California: Sage. 1. Cawson, P., 2002. Child Maltreatment in the Family: The Experience of a National Sample of Young People. London: NSPCC. 1. Corby, B., 2006. Child Abuse: Towards a Knowledge Base. Berkshire: Open University Press. 1. Cunningham, H., 2003. Children’s Changing Lives from 1800 to 2000 in Maybin, J. and Woodhead, M. (Eds.), 2003. Childhoods in Context. Chichester: Wiley. 1. Fawcett, B., Featherstone, B. and Goddard, J., 2004. Contemporary Child Care Policy and Practice. Hampshire: Palgrave. 1. Gibbons, J., Gallagher, B., Bell, C. and Gordon, D., 1995. Development after Physical Abuse in Early Childhood: A Follow-up Study of Children on Protection Registers. London: HMSO. 1. Goldson, B., Lavalette, M. and McKechnie, J. (Eds.), 2002. Children Welfare and the State. London: Sage. 1. Tanner, K., 1999. Observation: A Counter Culture Offensive Observation’s Contribution to the Development of Reflective Social Work Practice. International Journal of Infant Observation, 2, pp. 12-32. Read More