Research On Why Parents Abuse Their Children
Child abuse is one of the worse treatments you could ever get. It isn’t really recognizable due to the perpetrator having his or her motives (e. g: making “friends”, kidnapping the victim, and treating them anytime after they have been hurt). Abuse is more than injuries from kicking, punching, or slapping. It can impact the brain and emotional well-being. Even though I am not a person who has been abused before, I am aware of it. It is because I’ve read a news article on this teen named Abby Hernandez (who was kidnapped and abused sexually) and I’ve also read numerous books such as “Wintergirls” and “The Cellar”. Some examples include physical, self, domestic, animal, verbal, sexual, child, and drug abuse. The list is endless. The subject I’m going to research today is “Why do the Parents Abuse Their Child(ren)?”
First off, I know that abuse tends to affect the bodies and minds of the victim and the abuser. Secondly, the abusers can harm anyone, including themselves. The third thing I know is that abusers can range from drug addicts, rapists, and (maybe) normal people. One thing I know about abuse is that it can have phases for couples such as the “honeymoon”, the tension, and the actual violence. Ongoing issues can also trigger abuse to others because they may use their issues to hurt somebody and something such as a pet, property (of their´s or someone else´s). Another thing I know is that I´ve read and watched some movies, news articles, and books pertaining to abuse. Those news sources and books are “The kidnapping of Abby Hernandez”, “Wintergirls”, and “The Cellar’.
The news article shows that the victim named Abby had been sexually assaulted and tortured by wearing a shock collar made for dogs. The former book shows the protagonist abusing her body by starving and cutting herself. The latter explains the kidnapping of the protagonist and the captivity and (sexual and violent) torture of her and the other girls. I wonder what kind of abuse is defined as harmful by humans and society. The reason why I want to know is that there are many different types of abuse, however, some are a big deal, but others aren’t. Also, abuse comes in all shapes and sizes. I wonder how people become abusive. This is mainly because people would often use their problems to hurt others, but I just want to know much more than that. What type of things do they abuse? Drugs? Children? Sex? I am curious about this because there are many more things that people can abuse besides drugs and sex. I wonder if the abusers are in their right mind. The reason why I would ask this is that people might sometimes feel pleasure while abusing and seeing someone in pain. Other abusers would do this because of the lack of emotional and impulse control. I wonder what’s the percentage of people who are abusive. I have to know this because we need to know the dark side of society, the people we might associate ourselves with (either as a lover, friend, or family member), and/or maybe of out of curiosity. I wonder who is considered as abusive people. The reason why I want to know is that we do not have a tell on what’s their abusive traits. Their abusive traits can range from cursing at someone, wielding a knife or any weapon towards, testing makeup on animals without their consent, and abandoning their child without the basic resources.
I wonder if the victims of abuse have been in contact with the predator. The reason why I’m curious is that the victim might need to know about his/her whereabouts. I wonder if most victims feel numb, have any feelings, or are deceased after the incidents. I want to know this because we need to aid and help them and call for authorities if needed. We first began searching for sources at the library. In summary, the search at the library for resources to depend on came out to me as stressful, but I found what I exactly needed. Since I arrived late to class, I didn't have time to look through the database so I have to depend on my phone to search up the Dewey Decimal System, and the process was very difficult, stressful, and not entertaining. In the first five minutes, I easily found 3 books that were mainly about child abuse (one of them was a lot more specific by saying that it's about sexual abuse pertaining to children). Later on, I knew that I needed a second book that is different and unrelated to sexual and child abuse and I have difficulty finding another book about abuse that is not related to the first topic. This was mainly because everyone checked out the books that I needed the most.
By the time I found my fourth book, I felt reluctant to get it (since it doesn't have “abuse” in the title), but I took it anyways. When I got to the checkout, I narrowed it down to these two books: Child Sexual Abuse from the At Issue series and Somebody Hear Me Crying: Youth in Protective Services by Joyce Libal. By the time I got to my research, I used the latter book since the former does not have the information I needed. Over the weekend, I read Somebody Hear Me Crying: Youth in Protective Services to get certain ideas and something to fill in for my Source Matrix. A few things I’ve learned in this book is that child abuse and neglect occur with anyone (regardless of class, race, and education status), child abuse causes can range from a lack of education, poverty, and etc, and the definition of child abuse, which is when they cause a mental or physical injury on purpose. In class, I was told to find 6 sources which also includes the books checked out from the library. I thought this was easy, however, we were banned from using Google. As a result, we were provided the LAUSD Digital Library Database and another alternative called Google Scholar (which is more reliable and narrows down to multiples sources such as pdfs, newspapers, books, and etc). On the first day that the sources were revealed, I used the LAUSD Digital Library Database to find these sources: “Parental substance abuse and risks to children’s safety, health and psychological development”, “Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-4)”, and “Patterns and correlates of co-occurrence among multiple types of child maltreatment”. In the first source I’ve mentioned from the LAUSD Digital Library Database, I’ve found out that a dysfunctional life is common among youth who have substance-abusive parents, the mother’s substance abuse can be more troublesome than the father’s, and the cause of why the mother’s substance abuse is more troublesome is due to their daily responsibilities as a mother. In the second source I’ve mentioned from the LAUSD Digital Library Database, I’ve found out that children who are poor or live in poor circumstances will have a higher chance of being maltreated, children will most likely be attacked by a female perpetrator than a male, and children younger than 3 will have an unlikelihood of being maltreated. In the third source form that database, I’ve learned that substantial risk is when a child has a chance of being abused, caretaker incapacity is when the caretaker’s not present, and sexual abuse is hurting a child sexually with touching, intercourse, or exploiting them. When I got home, I tried using the LAUSD Digital Library Database and it didn’t work on me due to the location I was at (I wasn’t on campus). Thus, my substitute was Google Scholar, in which I didn’t use until the next day (which was the due date). On that day, I found these sources: Child Abuse and Neglect in the UK Today and “Neuroimaging of child abuse: a critical review”. In the former source from Google Scholar, I’ve learned that children who answered that they’ve been physically hurt had the highest rate of injury, exposure to maltreatment can lead to a higher chance of trauma impact, in the age range of 11-17 for males, they can get abused by any gender, and in the age range of 11-17 for females, they’ll most likely get abused by a female.
In the latter source from Google Scholar, I’ve found that child abuse can affect mentality such as the IQ and memory, children who have been abused have a hard time distinguishing emotions, and physically abused children quickly respond to angry faces. After I’ve found everything, I am ready to explain what I’ve learned. One thing I’ve learned about child abuse is that it can be caused by many different factors such as “extreme frustration, uncontrolled stress, lack of education, unemployment, poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, growing up without a good parental model, being abused or neglected as a child, isolation caused by lack of friendships, lack of good extended-family relationships, mental health problems, and some cultural backgrounds”. No matter who you are and where you reside, abuse can happen to anyone. According to Joyce Libal, “Child abuse and neglect occur in every economic class, at every educational level, and among all ethnic groups. ” No matter who you are and where you reside, abuse can happen to anyone. Secondly, I’ve found out that child can also happen due to the parental figure’s substance abuse. Most (or all) of the time, the parents can initiate the way they behave around their children. For example, in the article “Parental substance abuse and risks to children’s safety, health and psychological development”, it says, “Poor home environment, nutrition and hygiene, poverty, social disadvantage, witnessing conflict, and violence and child abuse are all commonly reported experiences for children living with substance-abusing parents. ” This explains that these characteristics are very prone to child abuse. Another thing I’ve found interesting is that “Children were somewhat more likely to be maltreated by female perpetrators than by males: 68% of the maltreated were maltreated by a female, whereas 48% were maltreated by a male”.
According to the article “Parental substance abuse and risks to children’s safety, health and psychological development”, it says, “Our results showed that the mother’s substance abuse has a more harmful effect on the small child’s well-being than the father’s substance abuse. ” This is mainly due to the daily care of infants and pre-school children still tends to be more often the mother’s than the father’s main responsibility of looking after the child’s safety” (“Parental substance abuse and risks to children’s safety, health, and psychological development”). The last thing I’ve found interesting is that abuse can affect mentality. For example, in “Neuroimaging of child abuse: a critical review”, it says, “Neuropsychological studies suggest an association between child abuse and deficits in IQ, memory, working memory, attention, response inhibition, and emotion discrimination. ” This shows that because of the abuse, children might only think about the abuse, but not anything else.
Overall, I have benefitted from the research about child abuse (even though I am not a victim or have experienced abuse). One thing I’ve learned is that child abuse could have many different factors such as the environment you live in, a mental disorder, or having terrible parental models. Secondly, I’ve learned is that child abuse can happen with the parent/guardian being absent from the child’s daily life. Another thing I’ve learned is that you’re more likely hurt by a female parent/guardian since they have daily duties. Lastly, abuse can affect mentality.
