Offenders often look for a specific type of child to abuse. They are attracted to passive, quiet, troubled, lonely children who are often from a single parent home or broken family (Understand the Risk Factors). They also look for children who are trusting and work to establish a trusting relationship before the abuse occurs; the offender can also try to establish a trusting relationship with the family (Understand the Risk Factor). Children who live with their biological, married parents have the lowest risk for being sexually abused (Understanding the Risk Factors). The risk increases when children live with step-parents or a single parent, also when they live without either parent they are ten times more likely to be sexually abused (Understanding
Child maltreatment has been extensively studied in the past decades and it has shown to cause significant risks for both psychological and biological development. Although these risks arise during childhood, they often initiate a negative developmental cascade that continues throughout the life span . Because of the pervasive effect child maltreatment promotes, research in this field has a critical role in both exploring which developmental processes child maltreatment influences and for improving the quality of clinical, legal and policy-making decisions for maltreated children . Research in child maltreatment, however, has also the role of informing how to develop interventions which meet the specific psychological needs of maltreated children
“Every eight minutes, a child is sexually assaulted in the U.S., and 93 percent know the perpetrator. Many perpetrators of sexual abuse are in a position of trust or responsible for the child’s care, such as a family member, teacher, clergy member, or coach.” (United States Department of Health and Human Services) A child who has been sexually assaulted and did grow up to be an adult usually is brought up with emotions, such as guilt, shame, and/or even blame themselves for what had happened. The individual will feel guilty that they were not able to stop it when it was happening and shame if they felt any psychical pleasure out of it. As they get older, the victim will have trouble with intimacy in relationships--having trust issues because
The effect of abuse endangers the life of a child in different ways. While the effects of abuse can be severe and long-lasting, children who have been abused or exposed to violence can move on into healthy and productive childhood and adult lives. Children are resilient, and we can have the ability to discuss and guide our children through a recovery process that is crucial to their success. It is often the first step towards healing. In most cases, once their safety is assured, children can overcome the effects of trauma
“Estimates of abuse or neglect by parents or guardians range from about one in every hundred to more than one in every seven, and figures are far higher if emotional abuse and neglect are included” (Jenkins 1), that means the rate of children being abused is rising. “Abuse is more common toward children who were born premature, low birth weight, or have developmental disabilities.” (Westby 140+). “The child being abuse can have major consequences, including delays in physical growth, impaired language and cognitive abilities, and problems in personality development, learning, and behavior” (Jenkins 1), and depending on how serious the abuse is and the type of abuse, it could result in death to the child.
Foster care is a system in which a child under the age of eighteen, is placed in a temporary home away from one’s parents due to physical or mental neglect. Children from as young as a few days old to teenage years are placed in foster care every day. The amount of children in the system affect how needs are met and how high these youths are placed on a need of special care for problems that were developed before and while in the system. Most of which occur because they are abused and that is why they were taken away. Foster care is an escape for those being mistreated. It gives a chance to do things that maybe would not be possible if stuck in the situation that originally caused such problems. Foster
Neglect is a harsh thing to go through when you have no one on your side especially by the people that are supposed to help you find a loving and caring family. Foster Care workers aren’t caring and looking out for the children like they are supposed to so that’s where the neglect comes from and that’s why this paper is getting written. Are kids in foster care in the United States safe?. The Foster Care System in the United States is neglectful and unsafe for children because foster care workers aren’t screened correctly, the system is not monitored appropriately, foster care can negatively affect the mind of a child.
While the effects of abuse can be severe and long-lasting, children who have been abused or exposed to violence can and go on to have healthy and productive childhood and adult lives. Research has found that children exposed to violence, abuse, left unaddressed, or are ignored are at an increased risk of having emotional and/or behavioral problems in the future. Children who are abused may not be able to express their feelings safely and as a result, may develop difficulties regulating their emotions. In their adult, they may continue to develop a struggle with their feelings, and this may lead to depression or anxiety. Direct effects include: depression, anxiety, dissociation, difficulty concentrating, problems with learning, difficulty connecting with others, flashbacks, Increased hyper-vigilance, and difficulty sleeping. The overall impact of abuse also depends on the child’s natural reactions to stress and ways of coping with stressful situations. Other factors can include age at which the trauma occurred, previous exposure to unrelated traumatic incidents and extent of therapy or timing of
Parental dysfunctions play a role in sex offender’s behavior problems. According to Netland and Miner , they suggested that poor parental guidance is the one of the reasons why young male sex offenders commit sex offenses. It has been discovered that alcohol abuse during pregnancy can interfere with the development of the unborn children. This is also a reason why young sex offenders and non sex offenders committed crimes. Parents that have mental , and drug problems are more likely to have children with behavior problems . Children that are exposed to hostile environment are most likely to become sex offenders and non sex offenders. (Netland and Miner, 2012).
It is estimated that about one third of females and one sixth of boys will experience sexual abuse before the age of 18 ((Kendall-Tackett, Williams, & Finkelhor, 1993).Most studies on CSA suggest that girls are greater
Most child sexual abuse offenders are relatives and acquaintances of victims’ families. Sexual offenders take advantage of naive children to sexually abuse them because children are not wary of their relatives or of people they know.
This source examines the nature of neglect in children describing their experiences to further understand how different types of neglect can occur with other types of maltreatment. This source is of major significance as it suggests that the term neglect cannot be labeled, as the nature of neglect experiences through children is usually quite diverse. Additionally, it discusses how children who are reported as neglected are likely to experience other forms of maltreatment, disproving thoughts that neglect is closely related to isolation. In this source there is little to no bias due to the fact that the study examined a diverse range of children, with no regards to their ethnicity or gender. This source is extremely relevant to my work and
The exposure of adolescents to domestic violence has sparked debate and invoked studies that seek to unearth the effects of this violence on adolescents. Literature reveals that increase cases of domestic violence and child abuse pose a great risk to the later development of a child. Evidence reveals relationship between child exposure to violence and subsequent internalization and externalization of the outcomes in future life of the child.
They have also noted that these adults who offend choose to replicate their sexual abuse experience as a child or adolescent with a victim of the same age as they were (Glasser, Kolvin, Campbell, Glasser, Leitch and Farrelly, 2001: 482). According to Hall (1996:58) sexually abused children are at risk of becoming sexually aggressive. As these children are sometimes rewarded for their engagement in sexual relations, these children may use these sexual behaviours as a means of manipulation when they themselves become sexual offenders. When sexual aggressive behaviour is experienced, the victim might identify with the offender rather than forming a victim identity (Hall, 1996: 58; Erikson, 1963: 14). Hall mentions that a developmental approach to the occurrence and cycle of sexual aggression explains how different cognitive distortions come to