Child abuse and neglect: causes, effects, and prevention

Child Abuse and Neglect

As children grow up they require a lot in order for them to develop. For instance a child has no capability to provide for itself food, shelter and clothing. It is its parents' responsibility to see the child's basic needs are provided to it. They too are the people who determine how the child grows up, in terms of character, and their general view of the world. In case one is denied all these, that too is a form of abuse which can be described as neglect. Many a times child neglect is associated with the mothers, as they are believed to be the one who determine how their children grow but it should be both parents' responsibilities to see that their children get what they deserve Pelzer, 1995.

Basically there are two types of abuse; physical and neglect. Physical entails sexual abuse, extreme punishments like beating of children in the name of discipline among others, while neglect is where by parents or guardians ignore their duties of providing for their children. "Within a narrow definition, the behaviour of caregivers has to result in specific physical harm or identifiable symptoms of emotional harm in order for their behaviour to be considered neglectful" Polansky, 1993()

Depending on cultural and social context child abuse can defined differently. In some cultures it is okay to discipline a child through caning or any brutal punishment but according to many governments' laws it is illegal. Most people don't consider neglect as form of abuse this is because neglect is hard to define considering it exists in different forms and they vary from one culture to another.

Causes of abuse

Child abuse is caused by various factors depending on the form of abuse. Stress among parents is one main cause of neglect of children. Among them the family's financial status is one of the key factors that cause child neglect. Children from poor families are most of the times not fully provided for by their parents. This is due to lack of funds to support their children and thus make them miss out on some essentials in life.

Another cause of child abuse is different social and cultural practices. People's beliefs can also be a cause of child abuse. Children are physically abused when they are brutally hit by their parents in the name of disciplining them. 'Spare the rod spoil the child' this is a phrase that most people have misinterpreted and have ended up when inducing punishment to the children.

Domestic violence is also another cause of child abuse. When both parents are fighting at times one of the parents, in this case the mother may at time lack the ability to protect the children from their violent father.