Child Abuse: Examining Dynamics, Effects, Social Forces, and Trauma

This report provides a comprehensive overview of child abuse, exploring its dynamics, effects, and the social forces that contribute to it. It delves into various factors associated with child maltreatment, including caregiver characteristics, family situations, child-specific vulnerabilities, and environmental influences. The report highlights common myths and misconceptions surrounding child abuse, contrasting them with factual information. A case illustration of a 12-year-old boy, Peter, who experienced trauma, is presented to demonstrate the impact of abuse, including physical and emotional scars. The report further discusses the importance of social support, strengths, needs, and cultural background in helping children overcome abuse. It examines reactions to such cases and concludes with recommendations for prevention and intervention, emphasizing the need for strict rules against child abuse and raising public awareness. References include books, journals, and online resources.

Child survivors of abuse

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Describe the dynamics, effects, social forces .................................................................................2
Examples of myths and misconceptions surrounding child abuse...................................................3
Illustration of a person who has experienced this type of trauma....................................................4
Personal social supports, strengths, needs and unique culture background.....................................5
Reaction to the case and conclusion ...............................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Child abuse or maltreatment is a huge social problem in American society, there are more
than 2 million cases related to child abuse and many neglected are reported to various social
service agencies. The death rate of children have been continuously in America according to
annual research or analysis. The present report will identify various factors that are contributing
to this issue along with examples of misconceptions and myths surrounding it. The report will
also include a case illustration of an individual who experienced this type of issue or trauma.
Furthermore, it will also determine person's strengths, social support, cultural background and
needs. Reaction and experience to the case will be also presented in the study with a discussion
that would needed to be processed in supervision of the case.
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Illustration 1: Child abuse at young age
(Source: Death rate”Child Abuse”, 2015)

Describe the dynamics, effects, social forces
Studies and research has identified that there are various attributes and factors which are
associated with child abuse or maltreatment. Children living in the Society or families having
these factors are highly exposed to face this issue or problem(Herman & et.al, 2015) The factors
contributing to child abuse or maltreatment can be described as Caregiver or Parent factors – The
characteristics or personality of parents or caregiver highly contributes to child abuse there are
various types of factors such as - Mental health or Personality characteristics, History of abuse,
Substance abuse, Teen parent and Child rearing approaches. Family factors – Situations such as
domestic violence in the family, single parenting and stressful life events can also contribute to
child abuse or maltreatment, these factors can be described as below- Family structure, Domestic
violence and Stressful life events. Child factors – Factors such as physical, mental, social and
emotional may increase the chances of child maltreatment or abuse. For example - Birth to age 3
and Disabilities. Environmental Factors – There are various factors in environment which can
increase the risk of child abuse such as - Unemployment and Poverty, Social support and Social
isolation and Violence in communities . Risk factors by type of abuse – The certain risk factors
are generally related to various types of abuse such as - Sexual abuse, Child neglect, Physical
abuse and Emotional abuse
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Examples of myths and misconceptions surrounding child abuse
There are many myths and misconceptions related to child abuse such as -
Child abuse is rare – Each and every type of child abuse occurs at various levels in America, it
often goes undetected due to difficulty children experience in sharing or disclosing and private
nature of the crime.
It is only abuse if it is violent – The another myth state that child abuse is an abuse only if it is
violent. But the fact says that child abuse does not necessarily involve anger or violence(Albert
& et.al, 2017).
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Illustration 2:
Increasing types of child abuse
(Source: Statistics of Child abuse, 2010)

People lie about child abuse for sympathy and attention – Police and court statistics
determines that it is very rare for an individual of any age to say that they were abused when they
are not in real.
Children generally tell others about their child abuse
Children overcome bad experiences in childhood
People who sexually abuse children are mentally ill.
All the above mentioned statements are misconception of people related to child abuse
and are completely opposed to reality or facts.
Illustration of a person who has experienced this type of trauma
Peter, a 12 years old boy along with his aunt, visited at the local university dental hospital
in America on October 2015., with complaint of a painful and large left facial swelling due to the
left upper incisors. He was referred from a local hospital, same aunt took him there for the
treatment of the swelling. The swelling had occurred before two days when they visited the local
hospital and 4 days prior to visiting at there University dental hospital. From the inquiry of the
causes of the swelling unclear answers were determined. History of Peter's family indicated that
he was the first born child among three siblings and their single parent mother was suffering HIV
complication since 6 years. All the three children moved to live with their grandparents and their
seven sons. Peter had no past medical history and had never visited to a dentist regarding the
present issue or problem. The boy was in seventh grade in a primary school and had a dream of
becoming a medical doctor in the future
(Van & et.al, 2017).
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Personal social supports, strengths, needs and unique culture background
All kinds of child abuse and maltreatment leave the affected child with scars that are
long-lasting which may be psychological or physical. Additionally, there are emotional scars that
will remain with him for a long time and effect him. In order to overcome this incident support
form various sources is very important for the child. The various sources of supporting child can
be described as below -
Expectations – Teachers can honor courage and strength of the child by having expectations for
them.
Structure – Abused children may feel powerless to maintain much in their environment, in order
to overcome this he can deny to even try controlling what happens in the surroundings.
Identity – Parents and teachers should help the child in identifying his inner capabilities and
strengths. They can use inspiring statements such as you are a hard worker, you are a good friend
etc(Kleinman & et.al, 2015).
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Illustration 3: Peter's child abuse
(Source: Child abuse case, 2015)

Self-esteem – Children who are abused have self esteem, people around them should support
them in learning that they are accepted, valued and capable of bringing up an environment that
honors each and every child's uniqueness.
Reaction to the case and conclusion
It is very important to identify the possible clues to find out the reason of the abuse face
by a child. In the case Peter it is clearly determined that the child was beaten or abused by uncles
and people at his grandparent's home. Analyzing the situation I identified that It was a very
inhuman practice to beat a small child like that. Peter was bearing a lot of pain both physically
and emotionally. He got a painful swelling and scars on his face along with an emotional
breakdown that may remain throughout his life. I also observed that Peter was not confident
enough to study and learn new things, he had a great fear in his mind which may affect him for a
long time. It is important to take a strict action against his caretakers and support Peter in
overcoming this trauma.
The above report concluded that Child abuse is a major problem in America which need
to be controlled and eliminated. Government should make strict rules against people abusing
children as well as it is important to spread awareness among people regarding the effect of
abuse on a child's future and career.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Kleinman, P.K. ed., (2015). Diagnostic imaging of child abuse. Cambridge University Press.
Van der Kolk, B.A., (2017). This Issue: Child Abuse & Victimization. Psychiatric
Annals, 35(5), pp.374-378.
Albert, V., (2017). From child abuse to permanency planning: Child welfare services pathways
and placements. Routledge.
Herman, J.L., (2015). Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence--from domestic abuse to
political terror. Hachette UK.
Online
[Child abuse case, 2015]. Available through:
<https://www.childhelp.org/story-resource-center/handling-child-abuse-disclosures/>
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