Child Abuse

Child abuse is one of the biggest problems facing America today. Children whose parents abuse them often turn to a life of crime, or suffer physical or mental scars. In severe cases the child may even die. In Saint Louis a boy was attacked by a pack of dogs, after he had finished playing basketball at the local court. If his mother had reported him missing he may have been found in time to rescue him, instead he bled to death under a tree. (Davis 3A) Of course this is an extreme case of child abuse, and it is often not this severe. The best way to prevent child neglect is to start family planning at an earlier age.

It is tough for many people to understand why anyone would abuse a child, but it happens more than people think. Intergenerational transmission of violence is a major cause of child abuse. Children who were abused when they were young are more likely to be abusive when they grow up and have children. (Compton's 1) Some studies have shown that thirty percent of abused children grow up to be abusive parents. Children who were not abused and grow up to have children are much less likely to be abusive parents, only two to three percent of people will be abusive. (Child Abuse and Neglect 1) People would tend to question why a child who knows how hard it was when they were young would grow up and do this to their child. Children grow up thinking that everything their parents do is right. The problem is when these children are abused they don't often learn that it is the wrong thing to do, and will be more likely to abuse their children. (Compton's 1) Stress can be a cause of child abuse as well. Parents who don't know how to handle stress will often lash out, and become abusive to their children. Stress can be brought on from a variety of places. Common stress factors are unemployment, illness, drug abuse, poor housing, larger than average family size, death, or the presence of a new baby. (Compton's 1) A large number of cases of child abuse come from families living in poverty, poverty can cause or result of any one of the most common stress factors. (Child Abuse and Neglect 2) When people are under stress they often will lash out at their kids for the littlest incident, if this happens too much they may start to physically abuse their kids. Families from poverty have the largest reported cases of child abuse, but that may not be true, wealthier families may have just as many incidents of child abuse. (Child Abuse and Neglect 2) Wealthier families have an easier time hiding child abuse because they don't have as much contact with social agencies. Social workers, physicians, and others who report child abuse have an unfair tendency to label kids from poor families as being abused quicker than wealthy families. Alcohol and drug abuse can greatly increase the risk of child abuse. These activities bring on extra stress and compound any problems they may have already. Mental retardation or developmental disabilities works in the same way, parents with children who have a disability have a greater chance of being abusive. (Juvenile Violence 1) Parents who abuse children are usually socially isolated. Social isolation and low community involvement is another cause for child abuse. Very few of the parents who abuse their children belong to any community organizations, and little contact with friends or relatives. Without community involvement parents lack the support systems that would help them with their problems. The lack of community involvement makes it less likely that a parent will change their abusive ways. (Compton's 2) In societies were the burden is placed on the community it is less likely that a child will be abused. In the America parents take all the responsibility for raising a child, witch in turn causes a higher risk of stress and child abuse. A child with only one parent raises the risk of child abuse. Single parent families often earn less money than other families. Earning less money is a major cause of stress and stress is a major cause of child abuse. Maybe obviously, but families with spousal abuse have a higher chance for child abuse. As well families were either the husband or wife dominates in making all the decisions have higher rates of child abuse. Three-fifths of child abusers are female, the female child abusers were usually younger than male child abusers. The most common pattern of maltreatment was a child neglected by a female parent with no other parents. (Child Abuse and Neglect 2) Child abuse has many short-term effects, and maybe twice as many underlying long-term effects as well.

The consequences of child abuse go deep into the subconscious. Many people think of child abuse as being physical abuse only, but usually child abuse is mental abuse. Physical injuries can range form bruises, scrapes, burns, and brain damage. In severe child abuse cases the child can suffer permanent disabilities, and even