Forms of Child Abuse

Introduction

Child abuse and neglect refer to any recent act or failure to act on part of a parent which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation, or an act that present an imminent risk of serious harm.These acts are usually caused by parents, guardians, caregivers, or someone that is older than the child. This paper will analyze the various causes of child abuse and neglect, the consequences, and how to prevent it.  This paper will go through peer reviewed articles to help educate the various forms of child abuse and neglect and will also analyzes both short term and long term effects of child abuse. Child abuse and neglect is widespread, and at times the perpetrators do it intentionally or unintentionally (Mulder et al., 2018). Those who do it intentionally at times go unpunished. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the causes of child abuse and neglect and how to protect children from being abused.

Forms of Child Abuse

There are different forms of child abuse and neglect. They include physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, family violence, human trafficking,neglect and abandonment. Physical abuse involves the use of physical force which can harm and hurt a child, for example, hitting, strangling, burning, or suffocating (Mulder et al., 2018). This kind of abuse can affect the health and development of a child. Emotional abuse involves rejecting, terrorizing, isolating, or ignoring a child all while sexual abuse involves forcing a child into sexual activity when a child is not mature enough. Some consider family violence as a form of child abuse. If there is constant family violence happening everyday in a child’s life, whatever that child is witnessing, can traumatize them either physically or emotionally. Neglect is another form of child abuse however it has its’ very own subcategories.

Neglect involves a parent or guardian failing to provide a child with the love and protection required for the child’s wellbeing (Dohary et al., 2016).Under neglect, there is physical neglect, which is the failure to provide food or shelter. In addition there is medical neglect; here the parents or caretakers fails to provide the necessary medical needs for the child which can result in life-threatening conditions. Educational neglect, is the failure to educate a child or attend the special educational needs for the child. Lastly, there is emotional neglect, this is where a parent fails to give attention to a child’s emotional needs, fails to provide psychological care, and permits to child to abuse drugs and alcohol.

Abandonment is considered another form of neglect. This is where a parent’s identity or whereabouts are unknown. Under abandonment, the child is left alone by their parents with no regard to the child’s health or safety. The last form of child abuse is human trafficking, especially since its’ main victims are children and damages the child’s welfare.  All these forms of child abuse have adverse effects on a child. A child who undergoes abuse is likely to have cognitive, behavioral, and developmental issues which can also affect them later in life.

Causes of Child Abuse and Neglect

According to Stark & Landis (2016), children in humanitarian settings are likely to suffer from various forms of child abuse. Humanitarian settings, expose children to violence and brutality. People find themselves in humanitarian settings due to conflicts, natural disasters, and political unrest. Children in these settings may not have good homes and may not have access to medical care, food, or even education. Cases of abuse and neglect in humanitarian settings may fail to be recognized (Stark & Landis, 2016). Most people struggle to survive and seldom pay attention to child neglect and abuse. Some parents may even leave their children out in the street because they cannot fend for these children anymore. Child abuse is a global health crisis that affects a child’s physical, emotional, and social development. The standard form of child abuse in a humanitarian setting is sexual and physical abuse. Developing a strong social and health intervention program will help identify and mitigate child abuse risks and neglect to high-risk sectors (Stark & Landis, 2016). Social workers should often visit humanitarian centers and help identify the children under abuse and then come up with ways to help them.

Poverty and inequality are great contributors to child abuse and inequality (Featherstone et al., 2019). People are living in poverty struggle to obtain food, shelter, and medication. High levels of poverty lead to increased child abuse and neglect (Bywaters et al., 2016). Children who come from these families may become victims of abuse from their parents and those who have promise to provide them with basic needs. Some children get subjected to work at a younger age in order to provide food and other family. Some children face emotional abuse from other children due to their inferior status (Featherstone et al., 2019). They get ignored and discriminated against at school and in other social settings, affecting their emotional wellbeing. At times, parents do not have time to give their children attention since they have to spend their time working to fend for their families. They also face stigmatization and shame due to their conditions. Domestic violence and substance abuse caused by poor living conditions can also make some parents abuse their children. Other parents have physical and mental disabilities and may end up unintentionally subjecting their children to child abuse (Bywaters et al., 2016).

Effects and consequences of child abuse

Child abuse and neglect are associated with developmental, behavioral, and psychological problems in children (Dahake et al., 2017). Exposure to violence, poor parental nurturance, and neglect affects the early development of a child, and these effects may affect the child even later on in life. It leads to severe internalizing and externalizing problems in children. Physical effects of abuse or neglect may be bruises, cuts, hemorrhage, or even death (Dahake et al., 2017). In the long term, child abuse leads to impaired brain development and low physical growth. Children exposed to abuse are more aggressive, irritable, and antisocial and have lower self-esteem (Dohary et al., 2016). Due to neglect, these children fear expressing themselves and associating with other people. They develop fear and view all people as enemies. Therefore, children who experience abuse will suffer from depression, anxiety, and may develop some form of mental illness (Barlett el al., 2017). Children suffering from abuse, also fail to put enough time for studies and fail to recognize the importance of receiving an education.Another effect, involves children engaging in substance abuse. This can be due to them being sexually assaulted, witnessing their parents doing it, their parents allowing them, falling into peer pressure or it can be due to the fact that their parents aren’t there.

The consequences of child abuse exist in many different forms. Child abuse and neglect also affect a person’s behavior in future life. Adverse childhood experiences have strong long-term associations with adult health risk, behaviors, health status, and diseases. For example, a child who experienced abuse as a child could become a future criminal. Others can also develop paranoia. For example, they can develop a fear of getting into a relationship with a significant other. Others end up fearing everybody and everything due to their childhood trauma which can ultimately make their lives very difficult. In addition, they may also end up sexually assaulting and emotionally molesting their partners (Debowska&Boduszek 2017). Finally, the one of the main reasons why there are still reports of child abuse is due to the fact that parents who were once abused as a childhood have a higher possibility of treating their child the same way (Mulder et al., 2018). This ultimately develops a chain and cases of child abuse can be carried on for generations to come.

How to prevent child abuse and neglect

Several strategies can help prevent child abuse and neglect. They include improving individuals’ economic status, educating parents on positive parenting, and intervening in case of child abuse to reduce the short term and long term effects of abuse on children (Fortson et al., 2016). In most cases, child abuse occurs in children from poor backgrounds. Improving the economic status of people who are at the poverty level will contribute to a reduction in abuse and neglect. For example, by providing food, security, medication, and proper housing can help improve the economic status and lead to a decrease in child abuse (Fortson et al., 2016).

Parents should be educated on the importance of positive parenting and must know the effects that abuse can have on a child. Communities can help create programs which can allow children to receive the aid they need to grow up in a healthy environment, free from abuse (Albaek&Milde, 2020). Another way to help decrease abuse in children is to change social norms that allow violence in households. For example, instead of punishing children by hitting them, simply teach parents to take away a toy or electronic the child loves. Knowledge about the effects of child abuse will help parents avoid abusing their children. It is also essential to address the causes of child abuse and put the perpetrators of child abuse to justice, especially those who cause intentional harm to the children (Albaek&Milde, 2020). Preventing child abuse and neglect and helping children who suffer from child abuse will help prevent long term effects of child abuse.

Conclusion

In conclusion child abuse and neglect is widespread globally and the main cause is poverty and inequality. The paper analyzes the various forms, causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect. It also provides strategies that can help to curb child abuse and neglect.There is extensive research on the forms and consequences of child abuse and neglect. The information provided will help create awareness on how to address various forms of child abuse and how to protect children from abuse and neglect. However the literature fails to offer recommendations on how to curb child abuse and neglect. Future researchers need to focus on what should be done to help victims of child abuse and neglect. They should also research on measures that should be put in place to punish the perpetrators of child and abuse neglect. The information on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect should help in developing recommendations on how to address the effects of child abuse.