Child Abuse and Neglect
Child abuse is any action performed by a parent, guardian, or caregiver that cause serious physical, sexual or emotional harm to a child. On the other hand, child neglect refers to maltreatment of a child due to failure by parent, guardian or caregiver to provide needed care. Child abuse and neglect may cause serious injury to a child and in some cases death. There are three forms of child abuse and neglect that children face namely physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Cases of child abuse and neglect are rampant and can happen to anyone regardless of socioeconomic level, culture, ethnicity, or race. For instance, in the United States, cases of child abuse reported in 2015 involved 7.2 million children. Out of these, 75.3% cases involved neglect, 17.2% involved physical abuse, 8.4% involved children who were sexually abused, while 6.9% victims were psychologically maltreated (The Children's Bureau, 2017). Other parts of the world continue to report such cases. However, everyone has an obligation of ensuring that child’s rights are protected. Similarly, existing laws should be used to protect children from child abuse and neglect.
Keywords: Child Abuse, Child Neglect, United States, Child Protection.
Introduction
According to my understanding, child abuse can be defined as any form of action by a parent, teacher, guardian or any other person which cause serious physical, sexual or emotional harm to a child. On the other hand, child neglect refers to any form of maltreatment caused by negligence of a parent, caregiver, or guardian to cater for child’s responsibilities. Child abuse and neglect can cause serious injury to a child or possibly death in some cases. Physical harm can be manifested through non-accidental acts to a child such as beating and burning or verbal abuse which tend to belittle them. Child abuse through sexual abuse can be in form of sexual activity that a child does not comprehend with or is consent to. It is an act that exposes a child to forced sexual activities or talks. In many cases, sexual abuse includes acts such as inappropriate touch to genitalia or breasts of a child, fondling or exposing a child to pornography. On the other hand, emotional harm is usually caused by neglect. It can result due to a parent, guardian or caregiver fails to avail basic needs to a child, failure to provide a child with education, failure to give a child appropriate medical attention, or failing to provide psychological care to a child's emotional needs.
Child abuse and neglect can occur anywhere regardless of cultural, ethnic or racial affiliation.
In some cases, the maltreatments happen or are escalated due to cultural values in a community or poverty. There are several signs that can be considered to determine whether a child is suffering from child abuse or neglect. First, the presence of unexplained burns, broken bones, bruises, or bites can be a sign of child abused. Second, an abrupt change in behavior and school performance by a child can occur due to child abuse or neglect. Also, frequent absence from school, poor hygiene, consistent hunger, a child staying in isolation, or a child attempting suicide can be due to child abuse or neglect. A child who has suffered from sexual abuse are mostly identified by locating difficulty while walking or sitting, and a child showing sexualized behaviors. For emotional maltreatment, a child who has suffered from such an act always show extremes in behavior such as aggression, low self-esteem, withdraw from others, lack of concentration, depression, and delayed physical and emotional development.
Child abuse and neglect in the United States
For the last five years, there are various cases that have been reported in the United States involving child abuse and neglect. Among them include that of Kaydence Lewinski, a 5 months old child who was shaken and beaten to death, twins Samuel and Solomon Simms who were strangled at the age of 6, Chandler Grafner, a 7-years old child who was starved to death, and case of Jaydon Hoberg, a child who was raped and beaten to death while at the age 17 months (Editorial Board, 2013). These are just examples of child abuse and neglect cases that continue to occur in many parts of the United States. For the last ten years, more than 20,000 American children are believed to have died due to child abuse and neglect from their own homes (The Children's Bureau, 2017). Child abuse and neglect continue to affect children in the United States with the current report of 2015 indicating that such cases reported in 2015 were higher than those reported in 2014. In 2015, cases of child neglect that were reported were 1670 while those reported in 2014 were 1580 (The Children's Bureau, 2017).
According to a report by U.S. Department of Health " Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau, cases of child abuse reported in 2015 involved 7.2 million children. Out of these, 75.3% cases involved neglect, 17.2% involved physical abuse, 8.4% involved children who were sexually abused, while 6.9% victims were psychologically maltreated (The Children's Bureau, 2017). Also, according to the report, the number of children estimated to die in the United States due to child abuse and neglect range between 1670 and 1740 children (The Children's Bureau, 2017). Out of these, 72.9% die due to neglect while the rest is due to physical abuse.
Child abuse in the United States can affect any child regardless of socioeconomic and educational levels, ethnic, cultural, and religions.
From the statistics indicated above, there is no doubt that child abuse and neglect is a serious social and health problem in the United States. It is estimated that the US government spends approximately to $80 billion towards child abuse and neglect as the cost for hospitalization, law enforcement, juvenile and adult criminal justice, as well as enforcing a law that protects child welfare (Schulte, 2013). However, the case of child abuse and neglect in the United States today are much lower than they were 20 years ago although the rates of psychological and emotional abuse that leaves a serious long-lasting effect to a victim have increased (Schulte, 2013). The cause can be attributed to lack of systematic examination and development of comprehensive strategies to prevent child abuse or neglect. After all, what has been happening after the occurrence of each child abuse or neglect act is only arresting of the suspect or changing a local law which in many cases have turned ineffective.
Personal experience with a victim of child abuse or neglect
I have come across various casualties of child abuse and neglect in my lifetime. One of the cases occurred while I was young and involved a child in our neighborhood who was being raised up by a step-mother. The child used to receive a thorough beating by the step-mother almost daily, and in most cases, the beating was not justified. Also, by the look of his body, poor hygiene, as well as poor deteriorating body health, could tell that the child was receiving maltreatment from the step-mother. It was rare for the child to join us on the playing field whenever we went out to play soccer. Eventually, the child opted to run away from home and till today, he has never come back home.
Controlling Child Abuse and Neglect
It is the obligation of everyone to report surmise occasions of child abuse and neglect either to a pediatrician, or government and non-governmental agencies which concerns with child protection. The child safety should always be a major concern and therefore, it is good to report a child who has been abused or abandoned to facilitate protecting. It is unfair to deny an act of child abuse or neglect since it only deteriorates the physical and mental well-being of a child. In the United States, victims of child abuse or neglect can get justice through court since there are laws currently enacted to protect children against mistreatment.
Through Child Welfare Law and Protect Our Kids Act of 2012, suspects of abuse and neglect can be prosecuted. Investigations are conducted by law enforcement agencies such as the police and may involve interviewing a child, using a medical report from a doctor, or questioning parents, guardians or caregivers. For instance, police investigated the strangling of the two twins Samuel and Solomon Simms and hoped to book their mother with two counts of first-degree murder if she managed to recover from the hospital. Such a case would see her be sentenced to death upon conviction.
Conclusion
From the research, I have learned that even the slightest act can be considered as child abuse or neglect provided it interferes with the rights of a child. Therefore, it is important to understand activities that can cause physical, emotional or sexual harm to a child in order to avoid them. The parent, guardian or caregiver is always expected to provide the protection to a child but in cases where they fail to meet this obligation, the government should step in and protect the child. It is worrying to find out that the extent of child abuse and abandon still happening in the United States. From my assumption, many of these cases happen without being brought to the limelight of general public since the report indicates many cases of deaths which occur as a result of child abuse and neglect, higher than those reported through media. Also, the amount that US government dedicates towards protecting children’s welfare is astonishing since such cases continue to occur. So far, there is no doubt child abuse and abandon still exist as a menace in the United States and require to be considered with a lot of seriousness.
References
Editorial Board. (2013, March 24). Connecting the dots on child abuse to save lives. The Washington Post.
Schulte, B. (2013, Sept 12). Effects of child abuse and neglect, if untreated, can last a lifetime, study finds. The Washington Post.
The Children's Bureau. (2017). Child Maltreatment 2015. Retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/research-data-technology/statistics-research/child-maltreatment
