Child Abuse

Child Abuse

2006

Abuse in general can be traced back to the use of slavery from the West African heritage however a genuine concern for this issue did not emerge until the nineteen sixties . Dr . Kempe established the term "battered child syndrome " in nineteen sixty-two , and also included sexual abuse , child neglect and emotional maltreatment into his equation . The term was originally formed to classify patterns of unexplained fractures in young children detected by x-rays , but sparked serious concern for child researchers as well (DeMarco et al . 3

Finally in 1974

Congress enacted the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act "This act provided federal funds to fight child abuse for states that passed laws requiring certain professionals , such as teachers and health care personnel , to report suspected abuse (De Koster Swisher 12 . This financial incentive motivated every state to pass such a law . Now , many Americans had both a moral and a legal responsibility to report abuse

Child Abuse is a deviant act according to the normative perspective of deviance . This behavior violates the norms and rules of society . Many people feel that it is wrong to abuse a child . Whether it is physical or emotional a child is just supposed to be cared for . Only the thought that parents and caretakers can kill their own children is difficult to face . Yet , this is reality

Child Abuse has been a fact of life throughout history however recognition of abuse as a pervasive traumatizing problem has come slowly . This has been due in large part to society 's tendency to deny or ignore its existence . But 19th century activists demanded a closer look at the tragedy of child abuse . Our understanding of how children are abused has gradually evolved and changed "Today we generally refer to four categories of child maltreatment- neglect , emotional and mental abuse , physical abuse , and sexual abuse (Nadelson et al . 9 . And for each category I will describe how it occurs

In dealing with neglect this behaviour occurs when that person fails to provide for the child 's basic physical , educational , and emotional needs . By physical neglect it is meant that the child is refused of or delayed in seeking health care , being abandoned , not allowed to return home after a runaway , and experiences inadequate supervision Educational neglect involves actions such as allowing chronic truancy failure to enroll a child of mandatory school age in school , and failure to attend to a special educational need . Emotional neglect includes actions such as a marked inattention to the child 's needs for affection refusal of or failure to provide needed psychological care , spousal abuse in the child 's presence , and permission of drug or alcohol use by the child . The determination of child neglect requires consideration of cultural values and standards of care as well as recognition that the failure to provide the necessities of life is often embedded in poverty and social disadvantage "Neglected children may suffer physical health problems , limited growth and increased complications arising from other...