Child Abuse Rough Draft

Introduction

Child Abuse is an aspect that is typically ignored by society at large. Just by mentioning the phrase Child abuse, what comes into mind is children working in factories instead of going to school, or children being subjected to other misdemeanors such as prostitution or pornography. One clear thing is that child abuse is broad, and without much information, it is hard to establish a child when a child is going through it. Child abuse can be emotional or physical, what is most severe and has concerns is the emotional abuse, not downgrading abuse but it is clear that emotional scars are hard to heal as compared to physical scars. All these types of abuse have various effects, and that is why this paper is looking at how child abuse can be dealt with and how victims of child abuse can be assisted. Caregivers and parents are the most notorious groups of people when it comes to child abuse; others suggest that it is their cultural way of doing things (Corporal punishment), others don't have an excuse for their actions. The problem is that child abuse is an aspect that is ignored; therefore, to ask if looking at the elements of child abuse will help in dealing with the issue? There are some aspects discussed in this paper that associate with child abuse that will help in the discussion of child abuse.

Background

Child abuse, also known as child mistreatment, is sexual/ physical and psychological neglect of children by mostly the parents and the caregivers. Child abuse involves not only abuse but also negligence or failure to act by a parent/a caregiver, in a situation that may harm the child is considered as abuse. This occurs at home, in schools, communities, and other organizations that the child is likely to be present. Child abuse can get serious as it is considered a criminal offense in all countries, and in such a case the caregiver or the parents can lose the custody of the child with the orders from the court if they found guilty of child abuse. Although child abuse varies at various cultures and countries, it is a discipline that was developed in the 19th century (Hutchinson 2014). In some states/ cultures, corporal punishment is considered as a discipline method, while in others, it can lead to being charged in the court of law.

Child abuse it is an aspect that was developed in the 19th century as a unit to be studied, and through the years it has grown into a complex issue that actually, has pieces of law developed to look after child abuse. But all in with these efforts it is still sad that people have not fully complied or understood this matter of child abuse. Hence what can be done is making sure parents, caregivers, and all people, in general, understand what child abuse is. As mentioned before child abuse might be physical, emotional, or sexual, which means that a parent/ caregiver acting in neglect in any of these items as mentioned above is guilty of child abuse. It is also very crucial that during this process, people are given the insights into the causes of child abuse; which includes effects like victims of child abuse engaging in crime or violence when they become adults. The immediate consequences for caregivers are also vital for them to understand the severity of the situation (KOziel et al. 2015 pg. 447-454)

Child Abuse Detection is the other important factor in the case of educating individuals on child abuse. There are various ways of detecting neglect; for one, there is physical neglect that involves the child lacking physical necessities of life, emotional neglect whereby the children lack love attention and emotional comfort they require. Medical negligence failing to meet the health needs of the children, educational neglect, that includes failing to enroll children in school or rather an inattention to their other requirements such as special education and finally there is lack of supervision.

At the moment, people have understood what child abuse is and how to detect child abuse, it is critical to give proper remedies of child abuse, or instead how they can prevent child abuse. This is because one might not be a parent, but they might be a whistleblower when they come to recognize the following aspects of child detection. Child abuse is a critical factor, while most of the signs involve the neglect of the parent, some parents have the excuse of poverty, while it is a distinct and genuine problem but there is help for needy families hence that should not be an excuse. On the other hand, other factors can prevent child abuse, such as; spotting the warning signs; where one needs to be aware of neglect signs and abuse. This might be your child or neighbors after this then appropriate action need to be taken (Mendelson & Letourneau, 2015 pg.844-852).

Refutation of Opposing Arguments.

Child Abuse, just like any other social issue it has people opposing, people who are obstructing justice of the children. As mentioned before some cultures don't consider this an item that is serious and in return, no one looks after the children if they are in good care or not. Well, watching it in another perspective the caregivers and the parents brought the children to the world or instead accepted the responsibility of the children hence, one would have a point when they argue that only them have a right over the children and not the government or the child services. Well, the child indeed belongs to the parents, but it does not mean that should neglect them because children cannot defend themselves, and that's where the government comes in and the child protection services.

In conclusion, child abuse is a serious issue that needs to be dealt with. Children have no strength to defend themselves against harm, especially if it comes from the same people who are supposed to be protecting them. Child Abuse civic education is the best way to solve this issue, as seen from the research that some parents and caregivers might not understand what child abuse is. Providing the proper knowledge to these people is the best way, to deal with the issue as it will help in avoiding the parents or the caregivers having excuses for being poor.

Works Cited

Shafe, S., & Hutchinson, G. (2014). Child sexual abuse and continuous influence of cultural practices: A review. The West Indian Medical Journal, 63(6), 634–637. doi:10.7727/wimj.2013.246

Mendelson, T., & Letourneau, E. J. (2015). Parent-focused prevention of child sexual abuse. Prevention Science, 16(6), 844-852.

Tiyyagura, G., Gawel, M., Koziel, J. R., Asnes, A., & Bechtel, K. (2015). Barriers and facilitators to detecting child abuse and neglect in general emergency departments. Annals of emergency medicine, 66(5), 447-454.