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Essay Subject: Discusses the battered child syndrome, focusing on physical & psychological abuse, principal causes & remedies.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Discusses the battered child syndrome, focusing on physical & psychological abuse, principal causes & remedies. Paper Introduction: One of the saddest, most heart-rendering problems confronting American society in the 1990s is the pattern of child abuse that has so permeated contemporary society. Behavioral experts agree that the actions in child abuse usually result from the rage of being abused, and the cycle is difficult to break. Moreover, there is often a fine line between punitive discipline, doled out by an authoritarian parent, and the public perception of child abuse. This has become rather societal, in that only two or three generations past, it was the style to use stronger discipline with children (Child Abuse . . ., 1989, p. 61). The idea of the cycle of child abuse is a problem on many levels. While the abuse of children can vary in extreme, it is sometimes left to the community-at-large to decide what constitutes abuse. However, it is important to note that laws Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. 2).Thus, the idea that many people have about child sexual molestation is thatis an infrequent occurrence perpetrated by mentally ill persons. Of course, the coverage and applications surrounding child abuse areas varied as any definition might attempt to be. Behavioral experts agree that the actionsin child abuse usually result from the rage of being abused, and the cycleis difficult to break. American Behavioral Scientist, 33, 529-45. The idea of "spare the rod,spoil the child," was an idea supported by Biblical teaching and in the16th through the 18th centuries, beatings were used to drive out the"devil" in children. However, it isimportant to note that laws are being enacted that have gone toconsiderable lengths to protect children. Thus, parents with a diminishedcapacity to solve their own sets of psychological stresses and problemsoften take out their frustrations on the children. . (1988). (1989). Daro, D. New York: Scribner's. This limited repertoire may have harmful orabusive effects on the child. Psychodynamic theoriesplace emphasis on the parent's actual psychological mode of functioning.They suggest that the parents would be far less abusive if they betterunderstood their own roles as parents. 61). The figures mayeven be low, and some point out that with more accurate data, the figurefor men would rise to between 1 percent and 15 percent of the overallpopulation. Some comment that when thispunishment becomes excessive or overly severe, child abuse is the result(Toufexis, 1989). Everstein, D.S., & Everstein, L. Finally, environmental theories suggest thatparents would be less abusive if they had greater resources available tothem in terms of material support or social support for a given set ofactions. Research shows that within the general population, forexample, between 15 percent and 45 percent of women and between three andnine percent of men have been sexually abused as children. (199 , January-February). Nonaccidental injury may include severebeatings, burns, human bites, and might result in bruises and welts, brokenbones, scars, and serious internal injuries. If local agencies develop a coordinating effort with lawenforcement and other governmental agencies, identification and treatmentof abuse may occur at a more reasonable level. Solutions to the problem of child abuse are vague at best. Hutchings, N. There is also the readiness of society to address this problem in a constructive manner (Hutchings, 1988, pp. The violent family. Sexual abuse of children became the hot topic in the late 197 s. 215-16). Each personhas a different set of ideas about discipline, and the constitution ofabuse involves innumerable variables that theoretical models fail toconsider. U.S. 9 -1). Child Welfare, 69, 83-89. Find the children in theshadows. Henry Kempe arranged for an interdisciplinary presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics on the subject of the battered child syndrome. 91). Science News,136, 61. Sexual trauma in childrenand adolescents. Nazario, T. . Nevertheless, recent media attention has pointed out that manyparents, particularly in this "success oriented" generation of the 198 sand 199 s, expect their children to likewise be upwardly mobile and goalconscious. In defense of children. Learning theoriessuggest that parents would be less abusive if they knew, more specifically,how to best care for their children. Children were also viewed as the property of theirparents and could be treated accordingly. [Thus, the two major causes of child abuse are:] parents with similar characteristics [who] are less able to respond to problematic children or to problematic living situations, [and/or] events in a nonabusive or nonneglectful manner (Daro, 1988, p. Physical neglect is thefailure to provide a child with the basic necessities of life--food,clothing, shelter, water, hygienic care, medicine, etc. This is ironic since the idea of"childhood" per se is a relatively new phenomenon; previously children weresimply viewed as "little adults" and did not have adequate rights andprotection under the law (Hertzberger, 199 ). In order to understand the emerging awareness of child abuse, one canlook back into the history of child welfare. The dataindicates that about four percent of reported child abuse cases involvemajor physical injuries, 2 percent involve minor injuries, three percentinvolve unspecified physical injuries, sixty percent suffer deprivation ofnecessities, 12 percent from emotional maltreatment, seven percent fromsexual abuse, and 12 percent from other forms of abuse. 49). This has become rather societal, in that onlytwo or three generations past, it was the style to use stronger disciplinewith children (Child Abuse . prior abuse as a child, low self-esteem, social isolation, rigidity, drug or alcohol dependency, and mental deficiencies are considered among the primary contributions to maltreatment. Sexually, child abuse and molestation is not as uncommon as one mightwish to believe. News & World Report, 1 5, 8-9. (1989, May 1). The children thatare most at risk are those under the age of three and those between twelveand eighteen (Nazario, 1988, p. 5 ). The media have certainly been instrumental in bringing the problem ofchild abuse to the attention of millions, and a content analysis of thequantitative presentation of child abuse issues hints that almost everymajor publication regularly presents stories on the topic (Rosenblatt,1988). ., 1989, p. Nevertheless, none of the theories outlined above can adequatelyexplain child abuse and maltreatment on the societal level. Hertzberger, S.D. (1988). There are several national, and an equal number of local, agenciesthat are designed to help both children and parents in an abusivesituation. New York: HumanSciences. Time, 133,75.----------------------- 9 Since 1962 literally thousands of articles and dozens of books have added to the understanding of child abuse and neglect. (1989, July 22). (1988). In the fundamental definition, the National Committee for Preventionof Child Abuse defines child abuse as, "an injury or a pattern of injuriesto a child that is nonaccidental. 2 3). The history of the emergence of child abuse as a social issue involves a growing recognition of this maltreatment plus the technical capability of professionals to trace clues that tell the history of inflicted injuries (use of X-rays, etc.). It is also important to realize that there are a variety of causesfor child abuse, a subject that will be given more attention later in thispaper. Instead of outright sexual abuse,female traumatization often includes inappropriate caressing or fondling,or even sexually seductive behavior toward the child (Everstein, &Everstein, pp. Report cards can hurt you. Pardeck, J.T. These include Child Help USA, Parents Anonymous, and theNational Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse. Since this is such a sensitive topic, actual casehistories and examples of child abuse and molestation will be kept to aminimum, yet the interested party can find adequate material in thereference section of this paper. . . Research has shown thatit is possible to treat some of the symptoms of the Battered Child Syndromewith various techniques that help the child deal with the problem moreeffectively. If parents decided that harsh orpunitive measures were necessary, society believed they were justified inorder to maintain discipline, and give the children respect for society.However, things began to change in the late 19th century, at least in theUnited States, with the advent of the Children's Aid Society, and, . It will analyze the physical andpsychological aspects of abuse, as well as the principal causes andremedies available. Instead of poor personalpsychological functioning, this theory emphasizes the lack of skills andknowledge rather than poor psychological functioning of the parent. Rosenblatt, R. Confronting child abuse. by 1961, knowledge had progressed to the degree that C. The cyclical pattern of childabuse. It isvital that the local community insure that the proper agencies are in placeso that early detection of domestic violence and child abuse/neglect canoccur. (1988, October 31). Further,most sexual assaults against children are committed by men, although womenwho abuse children in more subtle ways. Child abuse includes nonaccidentalphysical injury, physical neglect, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse.Child means a person under the age of eighteen" (Hutchings, 1988, p. When this does not happen, for instance when a child bringshome a grade or report card with low or average grades, some parentsbelieve that punishment is the only answer. Underthis paradigm, abuse or neglect occurs because the parents do not know howto care for their children or have limited ways of dealing with disciplineor child care techniques. Finally, child abuse is a serious contemporary social problem. (199 , May-June). New York: Free Press. The role of child protective services workers is to identify children in possible need of protection, determine if abuse is occurring, work to stop it, and facilitate the delivery of appropriate treatment and services to the child and family (Nazario, 1988, pp. 7-8). . The idea of the cycle of child abuse is a problem on many levels.While the abuse of children can vary in extreme, it is sometimes left tothe community-at-large to decide what constitutes abuse. In other words, "rather than viewing the reasons for maltreatmentas resting in a lack of motivation or skill on the part of the parent, thiscausal analysis focuses on the potentially dominant role of certainsocietal conditions and values" (Daro, 1988, p. Sexual abuse isthe exploitation of a child for the sexual gratification of adults.Emotional or psychological abuse includes excessive, aggressive, orunreasonable demands from the parents that place expectations of a childfar beyond their personal capabilities (Hutchings, 1988). For example, some child psychologists note that the use ofchildren's literature is often an effective way to help the child come toterms with the abuse, express his or her anger and emotion at the activity,and help the child overcome the feelings of guilt and "aloneness" thatpermeate abuse in general (Pardeck, 199 ). Additionally, during the early 198 s, reports of the physicalabuse of children increased nationally by 16 percent, the reports of sexualabuse increased by almost 6 percent (Everstein, & Everstein, 1989, p. In this, legal advisors suggestthat, Once an adult reports a suspected case of child abuse, however, the local child protective services should get involved, and a child protective services social worker should be assigned to investigate the case and determine whether there is reason to believe that abuse or neglect has occurred. New York: Brunner/Mazel. One of the saddest, most heart-rendering problems confrontingAmerican society in the 199 s is the pattern of child abuse that has sopermeated contemporary society. References Child abuse: A cycle of violence? Moreover, there is often a fine line betweenpunitive discipline, doled out by an authoritarian parent, and the publicperception of child abuse. This paper will present an overview of child abuse, with particularreference to the Battered Child Syndrome. However, one of thesaddest problems with child abuse is that the children themselves are oftenunable to seek help on their own behalf. . In addition, the researchsupports the notion that mental health and social work professionals shouldinitiate the local directives so that with a concerted effort, children areallowed to be children, and have protection under both society and the law. There are three major theories surrounding the causes of child abuse. This moves the focus away from the individual and onto society atlarge. The broad categories of the theories are: 1) psychodynamic theories,2)learning theories, and 3) environmental theories. . Toufexis, A. only when personal and social factors are jointly assessed can effective intervention be achieved . In terms of the actual categories of child abuse, some basicgeneralizations may be made. Children's literature andchild abuse. The roots of maltreatment most assuredly lie both within the character of parents and in the character of the community and society in which they live . If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.