More than 1% of children in the United States experienced abuse or neglect in 2010 (Cleaver & Unell, 2011). 75% of child abuse cases are associated with neglect, when parents or guardians do not provide for the child’s basic needs (Cleaver & Unell, 2011). Other types of child abuse include physical abuse, psychological maltreatment, and sexual abuse (Cleaver & Unell, 2011). Abuse has a significant impact on the future of such children, and this social problem should be properly addressed and mitigated at the state level.
According to Mustaine (2009), there are different explanations of the reasons causing parents to abuse children and/or neglect their needs. Main four explanations of child abuse include parent individual pathologies, social learning, reaction to situational factors, and cultural support for abuse and punishment (Mustaine, 2009). The first explanation assumes that parents who abuse their children have certain biological or psychological pathologies, experienced traumas in their past, etc. Second explanation states that since parents faced abuse and family violence in their childhood, they perceive such behaviors as normal and therefore carry on these behaviors further into their role model. Third assumption states that abuse happens due to an interaction of factors – parents who lack parenting skills or are more prone to abusive behaviors (for example, are impulsive) and children who are more prone to experience abuse (e.g. have attention deficit or misbehave often, etc.). The last explanation assumes that implicit cultural support of abuse and punishment accompanied by low cultural support of tolerant and respectful parenting causes parents to behave in abusive way.
Although each version explains a
certain amount of abusive behavior, the first theory, with certain
generalizations, actually covers other cases. Indeed, parents who were the
victims of abusive behavior themselves or witnessed abusive behavior, certainly
had traumatic experiences in their childhood, and these experiences could be
viewed as pathologies causing abusive family. behavior. The same logic extends
the first theory to cover the second explanation – only parents with certain
psychological or biological predispositions would respond to certain child’s
behaviors with abuse. From this perspective, it would be efficient to educate
people about such predispositions to abuse, and to provide means of finding out
if someone is in the “risk group”. In order to reduce child abuse, it
would be also efficient to provide training and consulting on child abuse – to
explain what this concept means, what the needs of the child really are, and
what the parents are responsible for. In many cases, education and consulting
would significantly help to reduce the probability of family abuse.
References
Cleaver, H. & Unell, I. (2011). Children’s Needs – Parenting Capacity. The Stationery Office.
Mustaine, E.E. (2009). 21st Century Criminology: A Reference Handbook. SAGE Publications, Inc.
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"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016
"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016
"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016