CAUSES OF CHILD ABUSE

CAUSES OF CHILD ABUSE

• Family structure

Certain types of families have an increased risk of child abuse and neglect. However, single parents families usually earn less money than other families. So this may account for the increased risk of child abuse. Families with chronic marital discord or spousal abuse have higher rates of child abuse than families without these problem. In addition, families in which either the husband of wife dominates in making important decisions. Such as where to live, what jobs to take, when to have children, and how much money to spend on food and housing- have higher rates of child abuse than families in which parents share responsibility of these decisions.

• Social stress

Stress brought on by a variety of social conditions raises the risk of child abuse within a family. These conditions include unemployment illness, poor housing conditions, a larger than average family size. The presence of a family member. A large majority of reported cases of child abuse come from familiarities living in poverty. Child abuse also occurs in middle class and wealthy family, but it is better reported among the poor several reasons. Wealthier families have an easier time hiding abuse because they have less contact with social agencies than poor families.

• Social isolation and low community involvement.

Parents and caretakers who abuse children tend to be society isolated. Few violent parents belong to any community organizations, and most have little contact with friends or relatives. This lack of social involvement deprives abusive parents of support systems that would help them deal better with social or family stress. Moreover, the lack of community contacts makes the parents less likely to change their behavior to confirm with community contacts the parents less likely to changes their behavior to confirm with community values and standard . Cultural factors often determine the amount of community support a family receives. In cultures with low rates of child abuse, child care is usually considered the responsibility of the community. That is, neighbors, relatives and friends helps with child care when the parents are unwilling or unable. In the United State, parents often shoulder child care demands by themselves, which may result in a higher risk of stress and child abuse.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

CHILD ABUSE FROM SCIENE REFERENCE

Child abuse is the physical or psychological maltreatment of a child by an adult,ofter synonymous with the term child maltreatment or the term child abuse neglect.There are many forms of abuse and neglect and many government have developed their own legal definition of what constitutes child maltreatment for the purpose of removing a child or prosecuting a criminal charge.

LEGAL DEFINITION OF CHILD ABUSE

The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (Public Law 100-294) defines child abuse and neglect as the physical or mental injury, sexual abuse or exploitation, negligent treatment, or maltreatment: of a child (a person under the age of 18, unless the child protection law of the State in which the child resides specifies a younger age for cases not involving sexual abuse) by a person (including any employee of a residential facility or any staff person providing out-of-home care) who is responsible for the child's welfare under circumstances which indicate that the child's health or welfare is harmed or threatened thereby