Statistics And Facts About Child Abuse

Over the years, as a society we are becoming increasingly aware of child abuse cases nationwide and throughout Arizona. Child abuse is one of the troubling issues amongst families that affect children starting from infancy of the child, in which 80% of children die from child abuse have never reached kindergarten (Kimpel, 2016). About 1 in 8 children in Arizona and 1 in 58 children through the US are currently victims of child abuse and are suffering year after year from the effects of physical, psychological and sexual abuse at the hands of their caretakers (Kawam, 2015). In Comparison to the US, studies found that in 2014 about 46,597 child abuse cases were investigated while 12,162 of those children were removed from their home, which has

With child abuse and neglect being so prevalent globally, it is important to recognize why these types of maltreatment occur and is a relevant topic for all to explore. Many are interested in how child abuse and neglect affect the individuals who are victims as well as the use and efficacy of treatment procedures. Child abuse has serious physical and psycho-social consequences which adversely affect the health and overall well-being of a child. There are long-term consequences of experiencing these forms of maltreatment. Awareness and understanding needs to be brought to this devastatingly common crisis and the advancement of child abuse and neglect prevention needs to be encouraged.

What is child abuse? From the word “abuse” we can understand that it is some sort of a maltreatment of a child, causing harm and damage both to his physical and psychological well-being. At the Federal level, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) describes child abuse and neglect as: “any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.” Child abuse is a very substantial and widely spread problem in U.S. affecting children of any age, gender, race, background or income, with more than 1.8 million investigations done every year and on average, killing more than 5 children every day. The main issue of child abuse is that the abuser is usually someone a child loves or depends on (a parent, sibling, coach, neighbor, etc.), who violates child’s trust putting personal interests first, therefore official numbers of how many children suffer maltreatment might be not accurate enough as remarkable amount of these cases go unreported. Each case of child abuse is unique, with a lot of individual factors involved, nevertheless, we can distinguish some of the common causes, such as poverty, lack of education, depression, mental or physical health

More than 20,000 American children has thought to have been killed by their own family members over the past ten years. One of the worst records among industrialized nations that is losing on average almost five children everyday due to child abuse is the United States. The most recent report 2015 Child Maltreatment Report from The Children’s Bureau was published in January 2017. This document has stated that the number of child abuse cases has increased to 4 million from 3.6 million. 7.2 million children were involved in child abuse reports. The different kinds of child abuse are; neglect, physical, and verbal abuse.

Within the United States, child maltreatment is becoming more and more commonly reported as there is over 3 million reports each year. Due to the constant increase of child maltreatment reports, society has become more aware of the issue, which has led to awareness campaigns. (Payne, 87). Even with societies’ knowledge of such abuse there are still serval child maltreatment cases that are not reported. The children that are victims of maltreatment pertains any sort of harm to the child whether it is by injury, neglect, physical, emotional, or even sexual abuse by someone who holds a major role in the child’s life, a parent or guardian figure (“What is Child Abuse”).

Child Maltreatment continues to be a pressing issue throughout the United States. Over the years many children are victims of some type of maltreatment which in some cases can lead to fatalities. Maltreatment can have a negative impact on children and can leave numerous physical and psychological scars affecting the child’s adjustment not only at the time of abuse, but also into their young

In our society, an individual child’s maltreatment can cause that child, as an adult, employment problems and financial problems. While, long term economic issues in our society associated with child maltreatment include the cost of health-care, judicial system, and law enforcement. The direct costs of child maltreatment total $124 billion dollars and the indirect total is approximately $104 billion dollars as of 2011. (Long-Term Consequences Of Child Abuse And Neglect, 2013t)

Its prevalence in children is currently at 20.7%, lower than physical abuse but, higher than emotional abuse. It has been found that women who were sexually abused as children have a diminished brain volume when seen on a scan and also have more difficulty managing and creating healthy relationships. In victims of child abuse it has also been found that the structure of the hippocampus is altered; this structure is involved in learning and memory. Those who are sexually abused have a more perceived stress response, as a long term effect this can cause issues with immune function, the brain’s natural response to stress and they way the brain copes. Although PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder) is commonly used in reference to those who have served in the armed forces, PTSD can also occur in those who have been abused, especially those who have been abused sexually. Even in young children, depression can occur after a traumatic experience. Depression is a million things in itself, it is not the occasional feeling of sadness. It can be the feeling of hopelessness, loss of energy or interest in things once loved, or unexplainable crying. Depression can alter the way someone thinks or acts. Victims of sexual abuse often “check themselves out” and lack self-esteem. This behavior is known as dissociation, it has the power to take away someones’s ability

Child maltreatment has a negative effect on health and it can cause stress that disrupts early brain development. Extreme stress can harm the development of the nervous and immune systems. As a result, children who are abused or neglected are at higher risk for health problems as adults. These problems include alcoholism, depression, drug abuse, eating disorders, obesity, high-risk sexual behaviors, smoking, suicide, and certain chronic diseases such a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). MRI scans indicate that maltreated children suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder have significantly smaller brains

There have been numerous studies that have been conducted that suggest that child maltreatment rates are disproportionately distributed amongst racial and ethnic groups. For instance, the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) reveals that victimization cases were reported at a rate of 21.9% for African Americans, 21.4% for Latinos and 44.8% for Whites (USDHHS, 2011).

Published case reviews draw special attention on the professionals lack of knowledge and confidence when assessing risk in children coming from various religions and cultural backgrounds. A lack of understanding of these two key components, might put at significant risk the children's welfare, leading professionals to overlook certain situations and to offer inadequate support or lower standards of care (NSPCC, 2017).

Child abuse is epidemic in many countries as well as the United States. It is estimated that every thirteen seconds a child is abused in some manner: physically, sexually, emotionally or by neglect (Friedman). Each year, there are over 3 million reports of child abuse in the United States involving more than 6 million children. Child abuse can be reduced with proper education of the parents and with greater public awareness.

Child abuse and neglect are considered a social phenomenon that plays a crucial role in American society as well as in the American criminal justice system. All types of ages, genders, ethnicities at some point or another are represented as victims or perpetrators of child abuse or neglect. Child abuse includes physical, psychological and sometimes sexual abuse to a person who is below the age of 18. Child abuse or neglect victims tend to grow up with long terms consequences such as low self-esteem, depression, and other major consequences such as engaging in criminal behavior as adults, teen pregnancy and not to mention the severity of physical child abuse consequences can end up in a death of an innocent victim. This literature

In the peer-reviewed empirical study, Dennison and other researchers studied how childhood maltreatment can have on mental health. Researchers used a neurobiological perspective to study the effects of mental health that it have on children by looking at the reward system and social cues in the basal ganglia. An FMRI study was used in the article to examine the basal ganglia to look at the associations between emotional neglect and abuse. The article also used a longitudinal sample of adolescents to see if they’ve been exposed to child abuse or maltreatment. Dennison and researchers stated the children who did suffer from any form of child abuse were at high risk for depression and other mental health problems

Child abuse is a serious social problem in the world. Child abuse is defined as physical, emotional, and sexual maltreatment by their parents, caregiver, and other people. The goal of this survey is to gather information about how people are aware of the child abuse in their community and society. My survey had five questions that were a mixture of close-ended and open-ended questions. Questionnaires help to get an appropriate response from the participant. The sample of this survey takes from a random population, such as international students and United States citizens.