It Follows Me Around: A Case Study

Although child abuse has had a long-standing presence throughout United States history, laws to protect children only began in the early 20th century. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), approximately 3.4 million cases of child maltreatment was reported to Child Protective Services (CPS) in 2011 involving about 6.2 million children. Of those, approximately 681,000 children, were determined to be victims. Child maltreatment has become a widespread public health issue that requires careful attention from professionals and lawmakers in order to protect the safety and health of children across the country.

1. The major issues related to abusive parents and child neglect is that it can harm the members in the family. Abusive parents can abuse the child physically, sexually, and emotional. Physical abuse can be hurting, injuring, drowning or poisoning someone. Sexual abuse can be direct or indirect sexual exploitation or corruption that involves the children involved in inappropriate sexual activities.

The relationship between poverty and child neglect has been studied vastly. It is a relevant topic to child welfare because the implications of poverty and the implications of child neglect are both far reaching. The effects of poverty and neglect on child welfare are immense on their own, but together they can create a storm of problems within developing children. A large proportion of neglect cases are found in impoverished neighborhoods, which makes poverty and important factor to look at when trying to prevent child neglect. It is important to note that poverty is not the cause of neglect, as there are many factors which affect the family system leading the neglect of a child, but it does play an important part in how we look at cases.

Maltreatment has a severe impact on a child’s current and future functioning and development regarding their emotional, social, cognitive, behavioral, and physical wellbeing.(Frederico 345). Different types of abuse, such as physical, emotional, and sexual have different consequences, but the consequences of all maltreatment, are likely to happen in three stages. Firstly, a child may have an initial reaction such as post-traumatic symptoms, painful emotions, and cognitive distortions. Secondly, children develop coping strategies that are aimed to help increase their safety or reduce their pain. Thirdly, a child 's sense of self-worth is damaged and develop the feeling of shame and hopelessness..

Caetano, R., Schafer, J., & Cunradi, C. B. (2017). Alcohol-related intimate partner violence among white, black, and Hispanic couples in the United States. Domestic Violence: The Five Big Questions. Thornton, V. (2014). Understanding the emotional impact of domestic violence on young children.

It’s though mother emotional neglect the main type of abuse that generally leaves the most permanent marks on children. In his article, Glayer references two studies in which a number of children had experienced some source of neglect and or emotional unavailability by their mothers. The findings demonstrated disabilities in social situations and attentiveness with elementary school children. Cognitively underachieving characteristics were also observed in the children. Even though neglect has been observed as principal form of maltreatment, physical and psychological abuses are not to be taken out of the picture.

"Child Abuse and Neglect" says that Physical abuse can include "striking a child with the hand, fist, or foot or with an object, burning, shaking, pushing, or throwing a child; pinching or biting the child, pulling a child by the hair or cutting off a child’s air." However, physical abuse is considered to be a use of punishment in wrecked as well as normal families such as the use of physical force with the intent of inflicting bodily pain, but not injury, for the purpose of correction or control or discipline. Yet, there is a thin line between physical punishment and abuse which many parents seem to lack notice of. "Child Abuse and Neglect" explains that the level of force used by an angry or frustrated parent can easily get out of hand and lead to injury. Emotional or verbal abuse is one of the worst forms of mistreatment due to its invisibility.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.12.002 Font, S. A. (2015). Child protection investigations in out-of-home care: Perpetrators, victims, and contexts. Child Maltreatment, 20(4), 251. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1732543511?accountid=7098 Morton, Brenda. "

In the article “ The Developmental Impact of Child Abuse on Adulthood: Implications for Counselors,” Adultspan Journal explains the multiple effects of child abuse. The authors April Sikes and Dancia Hays explain how child abuse has an extremely negative effect on children as they transition into adulthood. These effects can be physical, social, and even mental. Being treated badly as a child increases the risks in social development. Some examples of this are substance abuse, criminal behavior, violence, and risky sexual behavior.

Nor is there any single description that captures all families in which children are victims of abuse and neglect” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Administration on Children, Youth and Families Children 's Bureau, 2003). Research has recognized that there are numerous risk factors or characteristics parents or caregivers may show or have experienced that could increase the likelihood of child maltreatment, e.g., financial instability, participation in social service programs, family factors such as: age, personality, substance abuse, history of maltreatment stress, domestic violence; environmental factors and disabilities (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Administration on Children, Youth and Families Children 's Bureau, 2003 & 2015). Because of the data, these commonalities are able to be precursors leading up to child abuse or maltreatment but many times it is hard to measure the severity of them and therefore they may end up undetected (U.S DHHSA

The study by Child Abuse and Neglect and the Brain—A Review Authors Danya Glaser First published: January 2000Full publication history DOI: 10.1111/1469-7610.00551, that the shows that injury can cause some terrible affects to the brain which in turn affects the attachment with the child and parent. Whole this damage of the brain can affect the physical ability to have secure attachment, issues relating to the cognitive ad emotions; behaviour of the child also comes into play. A child who has is unaware of the response from the carer giver will have unsecure attempt (reference text

It isn't always easy to notice emotional abuse because there are not any physical signs as there are in physical abuse. But, like physical abuse, hyperactivity, depression, and PTSD is seen, in emotional abuse. But there are other consequences of emotional abuse, as well. And even though it's hard to determine a direct cause and effect, of abuse, these are some of the most seen, consequences for children who have reported being emotional abuse. Some of these consequences include insecurities, suicidal behaviors, self-harm, distorted view of self, and impaired social development(Frederico 346).

The substance abuse theory has been a disputed claim as a cause of child abuse. As stated, “Although it would be convenient to blame substance abuse as the cause of family violence, to do so would be to overlook all the interlocking dynamics that are both involved in both substance abuse and family violence” (Wallace, 24). Nonetheless, he did mention substance abuse as a factor of child abuse that he witnessed personally in his career. The last aspect he mentioned which I found interesting was generational ignorance of the family. The lack of knowledge to raise a child has a role in an abusive household, and it continues from parent to child.

According to Hodgkinson et al, there are “disparities in poverty rates depending on age, race or ethnicity, family structure, and geographic location. Although the largest number of poor and low income children are white, minority children are disproportionately affected, particularly African American, American Indian, and Hispanic children. In 2013, Hispanic and African American children were ~3 times more likely than white and Asian children to be poor. Children raised by single parents and children raised in the South or West are also more likely to be poor or low income than children residing in the Northeast” (Hodgkinson et al, 2016). Children and youth are a vulnerable population because they have no control over their situation or environment;

It's hard to believe that in a country as wealthy as the United States that poverty, and the difficulties of poverty even exist. As a result of this, it is extremely unbelievable how many children suffer from poverty every day. With that in mind, it makes it harder to imagine that more than one in five children in the United States has the misfortune of living in a family, whose income is below the official poverty threshold alone. That's 15.7 million children living in poverty to this day (Brown, 2015). In this paper, I will be discussing the different origins of childhood poverty, the effects of child poverty into adulthood, as well as eliminating childhood poverty.