Professor Kerr
EN101-23
September 10, 2011
CHILD ABUSE
In the year of 2006, more than 1.25 million children were abused in the United States.
Child abuse cannot only leave children with horrible bruises and broken bones, but can
emotionally scar a child for life. Child abuse has many different forms, however sexual, physical,
and emotional abuse are the three that effect victims the most.
Sexual abuse is the most damaging abuse to children. Sexual abuse includes sexual
intercourse/offenses that involve sexually touching a child, fondling, etc. as well as non-
touching offenses and sexual exploitation such as exposing children to pornographic material,
deliberately exposing a child to the act of sexual intercourse, etc. Most of the time there are no
external signs of physical abuse. Sexual abuse causes victims to have many problems later on
in life, not only do they develop social, psychological, and behavioral issues but they also grow
apart from family and friends, they have unusual aggressiveness toward things they would have
been fine with before becoming a victim, and they also develop delinquency/conduct problems.
Emotional abuse brain washes their victims into thinking that they have no self-worth or
importance to the world around them. Emotional abuse is when the perpetrator subjugates
another human being through the use of fear, humiliation, guilt, manipulation, intimidation, the
list could go on and on. It also includes anything from verbal abuse and constant criticism to
more subtle tactics such as repeated disapproval or the refusal to ever be pleased with anything
the child does. Emotional abuse creates scars that last a lot longer than physical ones. The
scars the perpetrators leave from this abuse cannot be fixed with medicine, or band-aids. These
victims number one fear is being left alone. What usually happens is these victims become so
convinced that they’re worthless and no one would want them that they stay with their abuser
willingly because they believe no one else wants, and they have nowhere else to go.
Physical abuse is the most visible form of child maltreatment. Physical child abuse is
commonly labeled as non-accidental physical injury caused by punching, kicking, etc. or
otherwise harming a child. Children who are physically abused usually have problems
communicating with other children or adults, has a low frustration level, becomes upset easily,
or is too tolerant of certain situations, and doesn’t show emotion when hurt in normal
circumstances. The age at which the abuse takes place influences the impact of the damage as
well. For example, infants who are physically abused are more likely to experience long term
physical effects and neurological alterations such as lethargy, tremors, vomiting, etc.
People need to become more aware of how badly child abuse can affect its victims. I
have explained very little about only three types of child abuse. There is so much more we don’t
know about victim’s situations and how serious a problem it is. There are so many types of
abuse, and only a small part actually deals with children. For example, Domestic Violence,
which is defined as a behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power/control
over an intimate partner. As well as Favoritism, which is when a parent (or both) show special
favor to one child but not the other. Overall, more citizens should get involved with organizations
that prevent child abuse and help victims recover.
WORKS CITED
- Domestic Violence
- Physical Abuse
- Emotional Abuse
- Sexual Abuse
Sexual Abuse; American Academy Of Child And Adolescent Psychiatry
- Statistics
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