Child abuse is the physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment or neglect of a child or children.[1] In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department for Children And Families (DCF) define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child.[2] Child abuse can occur in a child's home, or in the organizations, schools or communities the child interacts with. There are four major categories of child abuse: neglect, physical abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, and sexual abuse.
Different jurisdictions have developed their own definitions of what constitutes child abuse for the purposes of removing a child from his/her family and/or prosecuting a criminal charge. According to the Journal of Child Abuse and Neglect, child abuse is "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, an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm
Types
Child abuse can take several forms:[4] The four main types are physical, sexual, psychological, and neglect.[5]Physical abuse
Physical abuse involves physical aggression directed at a child by an adult. Most nations with child-abuse laws consider the deliberate infliction of serious injuries, or actions that place the child at obvious risk of serious injury or death, to be illegal. Physical abuse is the intentional or non-accidental production of a physical injury. Bruises, scratches, burns, broken bones, lacerations, as well as repeated “mishaps,” and rough treatment that could cause physical injury, are the results of physical abuse.[6] Beyond this, there is considerable variation. The distinction between child discipline and abuse is often poorly defined. Cultural norms about what constitutes abuse vary widely: among professionals as well as the wider public, people do not agree on what behaviors constitute abuse.[7] Some professionals claim that cultural norms that sanction physical punishment are one of the causes of child abuse, and have undertaken campaigns to redefine such norms.[8][9][10]Sexual abuse
Main articles: Child sexual abuse and child-on-child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older
adolescent abuses a child for sexual stimulation.[11]
Sexual abuse refers to the participation of a child in a sexual act aimed
toward the physical gratification or the financial profit of the person
committing the act.[6][12]
Forms of CSA include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual
activities (regardless of the outcome), indecent
exposure of the genitals to a child, displaying pornography to a child,
actual sexual contact with a child, physical contact
with the child's genitals, viewing of the child's genitalia without physical
contact, or using a child to produce child
pornography.[11][13][14]
Selling the sexual services of children
may be viewed and treated as child abuse with services offered to the child
rather than simple incarceration.[15]Effects of child sexual abuse include guilt and self-blame, flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, fear of things associated with the abuse (including objects, smells, places, doctor's visits, etc.), self-esteem issues, sexual dysfunction, chronic pain, addiction, self-injury, suicidal ideation, somatic complaints, depression,[16] post-traumatic stress disorder,[17] anxiety,[18] other mental illnesses including borderline personality disorder[19] and dissociative identity disorder,[19] propensity to re-victimization in adulthood,[20] bulimia nervosa,[21] physical injury to the child, among other problems.[22]
In the United States, approximately 15% to 25% of women and 5% to 15% of men were sexually abused when they were children.[23][24][25][26][27] Most sexual abuse offenders are acquainted with their victims; approximately 30% are relatives of the child, most often brothers, fathers, mothers, uncles or cousins; around 60% are other acquaintances such as friends of the family, babysitters, or neighbours; strangers are the offenders in approximately 10% of child sexual abuse cases.[23] In over one-third of cases, the perpetrator is also a minor.[28]
In a 1999 news story, BBC reported, "Close-knit family life in India masks an alarming amount of sexual abuse of children and teenage girls by family members, a new report suggests. Delhi organisation RAHI said 76% of respondents to its survey had been abused when they were children - 40% of those by a family member."[29]
Psychological/emotional abuse
Main article: Emotional
abuse
Emotional abuse is defined as the production of psychological and social
deficits in the growth of a child as a result of behavior such as loud yelling,
coarse and rude attitude, inattention, harsh criticism, and denigration of the
child's personality.[6]
Other examples include name-calling, ridicule, degradation, destruction of
personal belongings, torture or killing of a pet, excessive criticism,
inappropriate or excessive demands, withholding communication, and routine
labeling or humiliation.[30]Victims of emotional abuse may react by distancing themselves from the abuser, internalizing the abusive words, or fighting back by insulting the abuser. Emotional abuse can result in abnormal or disrupted attachment development, a tendency for victims to blame themselves (self-blame) for the abuse, learned helplessness, and overly passive behavior.[30]
Neglect
Main article: Child
neglect
Child neglect is the failure of a parent or other person with responsibility
for the child to provide needed food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or
supervision to the degree that the child's health, safety, and well-being are
threatened with harm. Neglect is also a lack of attention from the people
surrounding a child, and the non-provision of the relevant and adequate
necessities for the child's survival, which would be a lacking in attention,
love, and nurture.[31]
Some of the observable signs in a neglected child include: the child is
frequently absent from school, begs or steals food or money, lacks needed
medical and dental care, is consistently dirty, lacks sufficient clothing for
the weather.[32]Neglected children may experie
No comments:
Post a Comment