About Child Abuse

Children’s Rights and Child Abuse

Children have some basic rights that vary depending on the laws of the country in question, and when these rights are violated, it is considered child abuse. Child abuse refers to the treatment of children in a way that violates their rights to psychological and bodily integrity and to protection from external aggression. Neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and physical abuse are the four main types of child abuse, commonly referred to as child mistreatment. When capable parents neglect to assist a child’s growth in these and other areas, such as nourishment, shelter, education, and health, it is considered to be neglect. A child’s emotional growth and health are impacted by emotional abuse, which occurs when caregivers become emotionally distant from their charges. Physical abuse entails harming a kid physically, for instance, through massive physical work. Sexual abuse relates to all actions by caregivers to a child seeking sexual gratifications (Runyan, Wattam, Ikeda, Hassam & Ramiro, 2002). Understanding these terms will help develop a connection between the causes of child maltreatment and the possible ways of controlling or ending this social concern. The research objectives will include establishing the cause of child abuse and the methods of curbing this social menace.

Background and Significance

Over the past years, the issue of child abuse has existed with evidence of cases and reports recorded in several regions of the world. We have heard and read reports of child abandonment, mutilation, infanticide and other elements of children based violence even in the ancient civilization. There are existing reports of sexually abused children, malnourished and weak children renounced by families and saved by government agencies or through incentives by charitable organizations. Even in the current civilization, it is crystal clear that child maltreatment is a global problem. Acts of abuse occur in different forms embedded in our economic, social and cultural practices hence requiring sufficient understanding of the range of settings for maltreatment occurrence (Van der Kolk, Hopper & Crozier, 2001). Additionally, the consequences and causes of these settings will also require understanding. This research paper will reach out to all parents and caregivers, government agencies and charitable organizations, activists and all individuals, providing information on how to curb child abuse based on the possible and new causes identified by the research.

Literature Review

Larrain and Bascunan (2009) emphasize that households and families are legally and socially interpreted as spaces for safety and protection of adolescents and children. However, these conceived spaces sometimes turn into dangerous zones of unnoticed violence. The situation implies that parents are the precise perpetrators of striking, threatening, assaulting, abusing and punishing children. Despite efforts for effective child abuse response, lack of information is a major difficulty in realizing the true characteristic and scope of child abuse, especially in the contexts of families and homes. Fatal instances of abuse lead to deaths followed by lack of accurate investigations making it difficult to track the root causes of some child maltreatments. According to Klein (2010), Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) victims face lifetime struggles after enduring several psychological and physical problems. Klein also agrees that it is difficult to get information on CSA, especially if taking place among family members and the home settings. As child maltreatment adversely affects victims, there is the probability of involvement in criminal activities as well (Currie & Tekin, 2006). However, Larrain and Bascunan (2009) insist that there is little connection between child abuse and crime since the victims are subjected to coercion.

Research Design and Methods

The research will use quantitative data and take an explanatory research design targeting a minimum of three states to conduct a thorough survey. The research will cut across organizations, agencies, bodies such as police stations and household forming a quite significant population. Statistical sampling will apply to reduce the errors and variance due to the large data collected. The study will use questionnaires to collect primary data, administered personally or through the use of electronic and mailed questionnaires. For the security and privacy of respondents, any information provided will be held confidentially with codes assigned to names of participants. Data analysis will utilize Excel and special software such as SPSS, helping in establishing the major causes of child abuse and solutions from the study.

Implications

The study will create awareness on child abuse by improving the will of revealing information on maltreatment by the victims and perpetrators before taking actions. The research will come up with new causes and solutions to child maltreatments, shedding light on some possible areas of enacting new legislations to overcome the social concern. The research will provide room for extensive research on possible communal incentives to help reveal instances of abuse and eliminate fear and intimidation among victims. The study will also provide insights on the most appropriate approaches to helping child abuse victims by charitable organizations, well-wishers, and government. Such approaches include accurate need analysis on the victims requiring immediate attention and care. Lastly, the study will guide the government on the most appropriate projects to fund, concerned with child abuse such as non-governmental organizations to bring urgent and lasting solutions to the problem.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this research will focus on some the root causes of child abuse. The root causes include a review of the previous causes and the upcoming new or undiscovered causes that are prevalent in the current society and civilization. Additionally, the study will utilize extensive research to bring innovative ideas of doing away with child maltreatment, such as the use of technological surveillance to identify possible motives and actions of child abuse. The research methodologies of using open-ended questionnaires will enhance the ease of data collection and motivate the willingness of revealing information regarding child abuse among respondents. Among the major implications of the study include influencing policymaking and enactment of new legislations relating to child maltreatment. The study will also come up with new strategies for resource allocation to fund activities of abuse control and elimination.

References

Currie, J., & Tekin, E. (2006). Does child abuse cause crime? (No. w12171). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Klein, K. (2010). The Reality of Child Sexual Abuse: A Critique of the Arguments Used by Adult-Child Sex Advocates.

Larrain, S., & Bascunan, C. (2009). Child abuse: a painful reality behind closed doors. Recuperado el, 15.

Runyan, D., Wattam, C., Ikeda, R., Hassan, F., & Ramiro, L. (2002). Child abuse and neglect by parents and other caregivers.

Van der Kolk, B. A., Hopper, J., & Crozier, J. (2001). Child abuse in America: Prevalence and consequences. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma.