The Controversy Of Child Abuse And Neglect

Child abuse has been an emerging issue which created a huge controversy of how it affects children. Child abuse is in many forms and not just physical, but it is also psychological, emotional, and sexual. Child abuse has been around since the beginning of time and there have been many historical accounts that have proved that children have either been neglected or abused. Child abuse is not just a onetime attack but it is usually a series of episodes that is not just physical; but also emotional. Child abuse is the bodily, sexual, emotional maltreatment of a child that could lead to serious physical harm or even death. Neglect is also another form of child abuse it is the “deprivation of adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or
supervision. It can be the failure or refusal to provide care or services for a child when there is an obligation to.” (Gosslin 2010; p. 97) The notion of neglect is that a parent does not provide a child with the basic needs of survival, the basic necessities of living is not given. As I stated before there are four different kinds of child abuse: emotional, physical, psychological, and sexual. Emotional abuse in the book combined as one form of abuse, but I do not believe that Emotional and psychological should be joint as one and I will explain them separately. Emotional abuse is the “injury to the emotional stability of the child as evidenced by an observable or substantial change in behavior or emotional response” (Gosslin 2010; p. 97) the Emotional abuse from a parent weakens the child’s emotional growth and sense of well being. It consists of verbal abuse, constant belittling, humiliation for anything they do, and being ignored throughout the day, or laughed at in front of others. This factors result in a child having very low self esteem and leads to a child becoming unsociable in school. An emotionally abused child will never get to hear an encouraging or nice word from the parents and this will directly result in “anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or aggressive behavior” (Gosslin 2010; p. 96). I personally believe that psychological issues are a direct link from the emotional abusive environment the child has been living in. Psychological abuse is the brainwashing of a child to alter their personality or change who they are. Constantly convincing a child they are worthless and cannot do anything right is what alters the natural transition of the development of the child. I cannot give one explanation to Psychological abuse but I will give an example that will describe the abuse in more detail. My friend is a social worker and she got called in one day to work, she then is given a case about a three year old boy who is being psychologically abused.
She took the address and went to the house and found the little boy on a leash, she then took the child to her facility and had the parents arrested. When the boy was being examined the discovered that he was acting like a dog, when she gave him water to drink he would drink with his tongue like a dog. He was barking and doing everything an animal would do, when he would be asked what he was he would that he is a dog, when she told him that he is a little boy he would cry and scream that he is a dog. When the parents were investigated and asked why they would do that to their only child they said that it was an experiment because they are both psychiatrists and wanted to know what would happen to their boy. They believed that they have the knowledge to be able to change their child back after they would have completed their study. This happened two years ago and the little boy is still struggling with what his parents knowingly did to him. The parents ended up in prison for their negligence to their child and had their psychiatry license taken away from
them. The third form of abuse is the sexual abuse. This form of abuse is the most dangerous abuse because it could drastically escalade into hazardous psychological issues. Sexual abuse has decreased over the years and is less of a fear than physical abuse. Sexual abuse is “The employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement, or coercion of any child to engage in, or assist any other person to engage in, any sexually explicit conduct or simulation of such conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct.” (Gosslin 2010; p. 101). Sexual abuse is a form of power and control over the child that cannot defend them self against the attacker. Being sexually abused by a parent or guardian does not mean that they love you or they want to be intimate. Sexual abuse can also be define as “ The rape, and in many cases of caretaker or interfamilial relationships, statutory rape, molestation, prostitution, or other form of sexual exploitation of children, or incest with children” (Gosslin 2010; p. 101). Unfortunately, as young as two year olds are being sexually abused by their parents or guardians. Any penetration, touch of the child’s private parts, or even naked pictures of the child is considered sexual abuse and is very harmful to the well being of the child. The fourth form of abuse is the physical abuse.
Physical abuse is the “nonaccidental physical injury to the child and can include striking, stabbing, kicking, burning, or biting the child, or any action that results in a physical impairment or death of the child such as shaking or throwing.” (Gosslin 2010; p. 100). It is a shame that some people discipline their children by beating them, thinking that this is the best way to maintain authority over their child. In some cultures abuse would be used to either cure children from their illnesses or to maintain it. Three examples of this are the coining, cupping, and moxibustion. Cupping is the forceful rubbing of a coin into a child’s body to try to cure an illness. It is accepted in some cultures in underdeveloped countries. It sometimes leads to the death of the children from the excruciating pain or the overuse of the practice. Cupping is the preheating of a cup and placing it on the child’s skin and developing a vacuum and when the cup is detached from the child’s skin it has the burn marks on the child. The moxibustion is an Asian practice that is used to burn skin that is used for curing
illnesses. Physical neglect is also a form of physical abuse, which is “the failure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, hygiene, protection, or supervision.” (Gosslin 2010; p. 101). Even if a parent is not deliberately abusing a child it still affects their lives. For example, the boy who hung himself in his closet was because his mother neglected to clean him or change his clothes. When he went to school with the same clothes every day he was constantly bullied in school. It is because of the negligence that the boy hung himself with his own tie; he couldn’t take anymore of the abuse from within his own home and from his classmates. There are consequences that a child faces when they grow up from the abuse they went through as children.