Corporal Punishment

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