Child and Elder Abuse

Child and Elder Abuse

Many children and frail elderly people are at risk of being abused largely because their ability to defend themselves is impaired. In the recent past, the media has been awash with many cases of abuse and neglect involving children and the elderly. In this text, I conduct an online research in an attempt to identify and analyze two recent cases of child and elder abuse.

Case

Recently, Alyssia Skinner - a resident of Hernando, was according to Rojas (2013) "charged with child neglect, aggravated child abuse with great bodily harm, and torturing and caging a child." This severe case of child neglect and abuse was discovered after detectives visited her home and found a 17-month-old baby living in deplorable conditions. The said baby had been living in a small room which was largely disorganized and had no toys. Further, the room in question had several soiled diapers and in addition to being wet and discolored, the carpet smelled of urine. This is a clear indicator that the room had not been tended to in a long time.

When law enforcement officers visited her mobile home, they found the baby in a sorry physical state. In addition to being malnourished, the toddler was rather cold to the touch. She also had red rashes on both her public area and legs. On being taken to the hospital, the child was according to Rojas (2013) diagnosed with hypothermia. She had to be flown to another hospital for specialized treatment after subdural hemorrhaging was found with the help of a CT scan. To drown the baby's cries whenever she had visitors, Skinner would play very loud music from a radio that was located in the toddler's room. In the words of Rojas (2013) "investigators said they were told the girl's legs cannot be straightened from a curled, fetal position because they had been contracted for extended periods of time in an attempt to conserve heat."

Case 2

Due to their advanced age, elders tend to be physically frail and weak. This effectively makes them more vulnerable to bullying and other forms of neglect. Last month, a male health care worker was charged with indecently assaulting an elderly lady in one of Citrus County's facilities. The victim of the attack was blind. At the time of the attack, the 90-year-old woman was in the toilet when a man walked in and told her that he intended to prepare her for bed. The accused, 39-year-old Daniel Christopher Hall, then proceeded to sexually molest the elderly lady by fondling her private areas. As Hollingsworth (2013) further points out, he then "penetrated her with his finger."

According to the elderly lady, she could not identify the man at the time as in addition to being blind, she hadn't heard his voice prior to the incident. She described the entire encounter as rough and hurting. Following the incident, the victim in this case complained of experiencing burning urination. On being arrested, Hall at first denied of sexually assaulting the old lady. However, he later on admitted that he had indeed molested the victim. The accused claimed that he chose to take advantage of the old lady as he was fully aware she was blind and therefore couldn't identify him. Hall in the words of Hollingsworth (2013) "was charged with sexual battery and lewd and lascivious battery on an elderly person."

Forms of Abuse Involved in the Cases Above and their Impact on Victims

In the very first case (i.e. case 1), the form of abuse is child neglect. Neglect in the words of Starr and Wolfe (1991) "is the failure to provide basic necessities for the child that may or does result in damage to the physical, emotional, or intellectual development and well-being of the child." Clearly, Skinner's failure to provide the toddler with necessities regarded basic borders on child neglect. Already, there is evidence to demonstrate that Skinner failed to provide the toddler with basic needs including but not limited to a decent shelter. At the time of rescue, the baby was also in dire need of medical attention. Skinner failed to ensure that the child was attended to by competent medical personnel. As a result of the said neglect, the baby's physical as well as emotional well-being could have been injured.