Child Abuse In Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Abuse in its various forms is becoming a definitive presence in today’s society. The addition of stressors and the busy lifestyles that are led have contributed to a climate of immediate action and reaction. According to Rosemary Chalk, “The Juvenile Justice Standards Project used three major categories to define child abuse: physical harm, emotional damage, and sexual abuse, with strict standards with each of these three categories” (Chalk 37). All of these forms of abuse have both a variety of effects and long-lasting impacts in a child’s life. These effects are represented in society through the increased instances of emotional issues, violence toward others, and other results of lack of adjustment to life and its stresses.
For many years,
A big question that most people ask is, why would a parent choose to physically harm their child? While there is no good reason why a parent inflicts this pain onto his/her child, best-selling author, Mitch Albom, reflects some light on this subject in his book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Albom uses a character in the book to paint a picture of what child abuse is really like. A quote from the book reveals a major reason that is associated with why parents choose to physically abuse their children. Albom writes, “The hands on Eddie’s childhood glass then were hard and calloused and red with anger, and he went through his younger years whacked, lashed, and beaten…the damage of violence”(Albom 105). The reason that Albom reveals is anger. Most parents become impatient with their children and lash out. Many studies have been conducted on the topic and one expert, Marcia Degun-Mather, states that studies have shown that their is a link between Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and physical abuse. Certain behaviors acted out by the child may play a part in the abuse. No matter the reason for the abuse, it is very apparent that, like all forms of child abuse, there are many short-term and long-term effects. The immediate effects of the abuse are seen through obvious physical conditions like “fractures, burns, scars, other injuries, and parental deprivation of medical care” (Chalk 35). The victims of this form of abuse often require a lot of medical care. After healing physically, there are still many long-term effects of physical abuse. One source states that “In addition to the physical scars, the child’s psychological development is also damaged, as seen by their tendency to be disruptive and aggressive, and to have emotional and cognitive problems” (Degun-Mather 73). A major problem