Child Abuse

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Child Abuse

• By Veronica Rau-Mason

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• What is child abuse?
• Federal
• Any 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
• Iowa
• A child who is subjected to one or more of the
  following six categories by the person
  responsible for the care of the child
• Physical abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Mental injury
• Denial of critical care
• Presence of illegal drugs
• Manufacturing or possession of a dangerous
  substance

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• What is and isnt physical abuse?
• Physical abuse is defined as any non-accidental
  physical injury that is suffered by a child as
  the result of the acts or failure to act by a
  person responsible for the care of the child
• Physical punishment for correction in with no
  intent of injury is NOT child abuse

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• What are the signs of physical abuse?
• Physical indicators of bodily harm such as burns,
  bruises, and fractures that are not accidental
• Behavioral indicators include extreme aggression,
  withdrawal, seductive behaviors, and being
  uncomfortable with physical contact or closeness

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• What is sexual abuse?
• Sexual abuse is defined as the commission of a
  sexual offense with or to a child as the result
  of these acts or failure to act by person
  responsible for the care of the child
• Engaging in a sexual act with a child
• Forcing a child to perform a sexual act with an
  other
• Having a child view sexual acts
• Commercial exploitation of a child

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• What are the signs of physical abuse?
• Physical indicators include bruised or bleeding
  genitalia, venereal disease, or pregnancy
• Behavioral indicators such as excessive knowledge
  of sexual matters beyond their normal
  developmental age, seductiveness, or
  inappropriate relationships with peers or adults

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• What is mental injury/abuse?
• Mental injury is defined as injury to a child's
  intellectual or psychological capacity as
  evidenced by an observable impairment in the
  child's ability to function within the normal
  range of performance and behavior as the result
  of the acts or failure to act by the person
  responsible for the care of the child
• Ignoring the child and failing to provide
  necessary validation of the child's worth in
  normal family routine
• Isolating the child from normal human contact
• Verbal assaults that create fear, hostility, and
  anxiety within the child
• Corrupting the child by encouraging and
  reinforcing destructive, antisocial behavior
  until the child is unable to interact in normal
  social environments
• Over pressuring the child to grow up fast and to
  achieve too early or higher in the areas of
  academics, physical or motor skills, or social
  interaction

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• What is isnt denial of critical care/neglect?
• Denial of critical care is defined as the failure
  on the part of a person responsible for the care
  of a child to provide for the adequate food,
  shelter, clothing or other care necessary for the
  child's health and welfare when able to do so
• A parent or guardian who is legitimately
  practicing religious beliefs who does not provide
  specified medical treatment for a child for that
  reason alone shall not be considered abusing the
  child

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• What are the signs of mental injury neglect?
• Physical indicators such as clothes (ill-fitting,
  filthy, or inappropriate for the weather),
  hygiene is consistently bad (unbathed, noticeable
  body odor, matted and unwashed hair), and
  untreated illnesses and physical injuries
• Behavioral indicators include low self-esteem,
  anti-social mannerisms, depression, stealing, and
  extreme fear, hostility, and anxiety

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• How often does child abuse happen?
• Rates of Victimization
• Out of the 3.5 million child abuse investigations
  conducted each year, approximately 750,000 are
  founded
• 10.6 children per 1000 are victims of child abuse
• Approximately 75 of these children are
  considered first time victims with no prior
  history of abuse
• Rates of victimization have been slowly declining
  over the last decade

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Who are the victims of child abuse?

• Age
• Younger children have higher rates of
  victimization
• Sex
• Girls are more likely to be victims than boys
• Race/Ethnicity
• White and Hispanic children have lower rates of
  victimization (10/1000) than all other
  ethnicities (15/1000)

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• Who are the victims by type of abuse?
• Denial of Critical Care/Neglect 60
• Multiple Maltreatments 13
• Physical Abuse 11
• Sexual Abuse 8
• Mental Injury 4

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Who are the perpetrators of Child Abuse?

• Relationship to Victim
• Approximately 80 are the parents
• Age
• Female tend to be younger than male
• Sex
• Women comprise of about 57
• Race/Ethnicity
• About half were White, one-fifth African
  American, and one-fifth Hispanic

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• What are the negative consequences of child
  abuse?
• Juvenile Delinquency including teenage pregnancy,
  prostitution, alcohol and drug abuse, etc.
• Psychological problems such as depression, low
  self-esteem, eating disorders, post-traumatic
  stress disorder, etc. (80 of those who were
  abused as a child)
• Adult criminal tendencies including violent
  crimes (14 of men and 36 of women in prison
  were abused as children)
• Those who have been subjected to child abuse are
  more likely to abuse children as an adult!

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• How to prevent child abuse
• Early childhood intervention
• Home visitation
• Parenting programs
• Family strengthening and support
• Youth development programs
• Shelters
• Welfare assistance

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• Interesting, but horrific statistics
• -Almost five children die everyday as a
  result of child abuse.   More than three out of
  four are under the age of 4.-It is estimated
  that between 60-85 of child fatalities due to
  maltreatment are not recorded as such on death
  certificates.-A report of child abuse is made
  every ten seconds.-Ninety percent of child
  sexual abuse victims know the perpetrator in some
  way 68 are abused by family members.-Child
  abuse occurs at every socio-economic level,
  across ethnic and cultural lines, within all
  religions and at all levels of education.-Thirty
  -one percent of women in prison in the United
  States were abused as children.-Over 60 of
  people in drug rehabilitation centers report
  being abused or neglected as a child.-About 30
  of abused and neglected children will later abuse
  their own children, continuing the horrible cycle
  of abuse.-About 80 of 21 year old that were
  abused as children met criteria for at least one
  psychological disorder.-The estimated annual
  cost resulting from child abuse and neglect in
  the United States for 2007 is 104 billion. 

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• Statistics Continued
• -Abused children are 25 more likely to
  experience teen pregnancy-Children who
  experience child abuse neglect are 59 more
  likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28 more
  likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30 more
  likely to commit violent crime. -Children who
  have been sexually abused are 2.5 times more
  likely develop alcohol abuse-Children who have
  been sexually abused are 3.8 times more likely
  develop drug addiction-Nearly 2/3s of the
  people in treatment for drug abuse reported being
  abused as children-Eighty percent of young
  adults who had been abused met the diagnostic
  criteria for at least 1 psychiatric disorder at
  the age of 21 (including depression, anxiety,
  eating disorders, post-traumatic stress
  disorder) -Fourteen percent of all men in
  prison in the USA were abused as children
  -Thirty-six percent of all women in prison were
  abused as children

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Child Abuse from the Sociological Perspective

• Structure-Functionalist
• Marxism/Conflict Theory
• Symbolic Interactionism