Child Abuse

Child abuse is pervasive. It is an extensive social phenomena on a global level that occurs through four methods. Child abuse can occur from neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse or sexual abuse. While the forms of abuse may overlap, the most alarming statistic throughout a vast body of literature supports the fact that birth parents are the perpetrators of child abuse in eighty percent of all cases on record (Morales, 1998). This issue is complex and of great significance for society, because many sociological and psychological studies contend that abuse suffered during the critical development period of childhood greatly impacts adult identity formation and behavior. In the U.S., more than one and a half million children suffer from some form of child abuse yearly. Because of the scope of this report, this analysis will focus on child sexual abuse, which studies show is most commonly carried out by the male gender, "90% of the cases, are perpetrated by men�Sexual abuse is one form of abuse in which the majority of perpetrators are neither the mother nor the father, but, most often, a male adult who has an ongoing relationship with and access to a child" (Morales, 1998, 1).

The unfortunate conclusion from the above data results from eighty percent of abuse cases being perpetrated by birth parents. If this is not the case with sexual abuse, that means all the more children suffer from some kind of neglect or physical

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jail time. According to government documents, recidivism rates for untreated sex offenders are "13 to 40 percent for child molestors preferring boy victims, 10 to 29 percent for child molesters preferring girl victims, and 7 to 25 percent for rapists" (Wetzstein 1-2). Because of the extensive nature of child abuse worldwide (heightened by the Internet), agencies intended to investigate cases of suspected child abuse are often overwhelmed and understaffed. Many times the phone is not answered, or callers on hold hang up in frustration (Rainey and Nazario, 1998, 3). The exact wording and cautious nature of child abuse legislation and intervention guidelines also pose problems. In one Los Angeles case, after getting no action on a suspected case of child abuse, the informant called the Division of Family Services to make a complaint about the case. The perpetrator was a known sexual offender. However, the child abuse continued to occur for a long period after the call because the informant's call had not disclosed an actual allegation just a suspicion of abuse, "The initial call hadn't met the hotline's criteria for a child abuse report because there was no specific allegation", said on official of the Division of Family Ser

Category: Psychology - C