Assignment #9: Psychology Of Child Abuse

          
     My assignment was to write about the Psychology of Child Abuse. As a researched, this topic I begin to feel very emotional. The assignment was to answer these following questions; What are the psychological issues which cause adults to hurt children? Can these illnesses be corrected? What are your personal views on this topic after you have perused the research on this topic? What would be your suggestion and plan of action for correcting this problem in American society? I became very emotional and sick, in attempt to research and answer those previous questions. Therefore, I wrote my blog entry bases on opinion and statistics.

     Let us begin with information on child abuse and the types of child abuse. One type of child abuse is physical abuse. Abuse can be labeled physical by any of the following; Punching, Beating, Kicking, Biting, Shaking, Throwing, Stabbing, Choking , Hitting with a hand, stick, strap, or other object or Burning. A second type of abuse is Emotional abuse. Emotional abuse is Terrorizing, Isolating, Exploiting or corrupting a child. A third type of abuse is Sexual abuse. Sexual abuse is abuse by act of Anal or genital digital or other penetration, Genital contact with no intrusion, Fondling of a child in any way, Inadequate or inappropriate supervision of a child's voluntary sexual activities. Another type of child abuse is Child Neglect. Child Neglect, Physical, educational, and emotional neglect are considered the three major types of neglect. Then there are the other types of abuse such as medical abuse and psychological maltreatment.

      Some statistics show that child abuse is a leading cause to criminal behavior. Studies show that 14% of all men in prison in the USA were abused as children. In addition, some studies have proven that 36% of all women in prison were abused as children. Also studies show children who experience child abuse and neglect are 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28% more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30% more likely to commit violent crime. The statistics also show child abuse information about consequences and substance abuse. One study showed that a consequence of abused children is the fact that 25% more likely to experience teen pregnancy. In addition, they show that abused teens are three times less likely to practice safe sex, putting them at greater risk for STDs. The statistics show the results of substance abuse. The statistics infer that children who have been sexually abused are 2.5 times more likely to abuse alcohol. Also I found statistics that prove children who have been sexually abused are 3.8 times more likely to develop drug addictions. A third statistics also shows that nearly two-thirds of the people in treatment for drug abuse reported being abused as children.

     I also studied statistics on a general note. One showed that a report of child abuse is made every ten seconds. Also almost five children die everyday because of child abuse and more than three out of four are under the age of four. In addition, it is estimated that between 60-85% of child fatalities due to maltreatment are not recorded as such on death certificates. A scary statistic showed that 90% of child sexual abuse victims know the perpetrator in some way; 68% are abused by family members. Child abuse occurs at every socioeconomic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions and at all levels of education. About 30% of abused and neglected children will later abuse their own children, continuing the horrible cycle of abuse. A statistic showed that more than less statistics showed that about 80% of 21 year old that were abused as children met criteria for at least one psychological disorder. On a report issued by the Federal Burrow was the estimated annual cost of child abuse and neglect in the United States for 2007 is $104 billion.

      Children are suffering from a hidden state of child abuse and neglect everyday. Over 3 million reports of child abuse are made every year in the United States; however, those reports include multiple children. In 2007, approximately 5.8 million children were involved in an estimated 3.2 million child abuse reports and allegations. Now that you have read about the real life statistics and about the child abuse epidemic that the United State is in now, think. The world has a big set of rose-colored glasses on and are blind to the truth. Many people shine away the bad because they fear to face it. The world needs to understand and accept that we are not perfect and we need to fix our flaws before we begin to move on.

For help or to report child abuse please conceder the following links;
http://www.hhs.gov/
www.childabuse.org