Child Abuse In California's Life In A Child Called It By Dave Pelzer

1769 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The effect of child abuse on child development

Dave Pelzer’s book, “A Child Called It” (1995), discussed unforgettable accounts of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California’s history. The book is a captivating, yet intimidating journey through the torturing childhood of the author, himself. The child, David (Dave) Pelzer¸ was emotionally and physically tormented by his mother who was unstable and addicted to alcohol. He was the victim of abuse in his own home, a source of ridicule at his own school, and stripped of all existence. This book left me in suspense as I waited with anticipation for the end of this little boy’s struggle to live. Throughout this paper, I will focus on the events that took place in this book and discuss my personal feelings and the effects this story …show more content…

It happens to children of all ages, communities, and socioeconomic levels at an alarmingly high rate. What is so astonishing is that this happens even at the hands of their parents. For the most part, these cases go unpunished for several reasons which could include lack of regulations to do so, corruption, or just unreported. For example, in David’s case, teachers, nurses, principal, neighbors, or even relatives could have been among the witnesses but they failed to report. Reasons were because they do not want any involvement, guilt of maybe reporting a relative, fear of retribution, afraid of starting trouble, or home privacy among others.
The traumatic effect of the physical, mental, and emotional abuse marked Pelzer’s life. Through a psychological point of view, it is visible that there are many ways the abuse affected David. David was mistreated in ways that made him wonder why. I was also left feeling perplexed and sometimes feeling frustrated, I wanted to know why David 's mother singled him out for her abuse. Then, I realized that this was the same frustration David has lived with most of his …show more content…

David suffered physical, mental, and emotional abuse from the age of four to 12-years-old. As his teachers and principal, neighbors, and even his maternal grandmother and father stand by and let the abuse happen, it makes me wonder what they could have done differently. For example, David’s father saw the abuse firsthand and he would try to intervene to help him out initially. David’s father was caught by the madness of his wife in calling him, ‘the boy’ and ‘It’. As much as his father tried to comfort David, he did not have the will to stand up against his wife. Another example, the maternal grandmother commented on bruises visible on David’s body and she did not take action to report her daughter for abusing her grandchild, David. Instead, David’s grandmother stated that she should stay out of it and let David’s mother raise her children as she saw fit. I believed the unreported instances observed by the public to be just as substantial a crime as the child abusers themselves. Also, the Department of Children and Social Services were contacted because of the alleged child abuse events that occurred previously; however, he was not taken from the home because the social worker of the agency sided with David’s mother. The social worker did not complete a thoroughly

Show More
Related

  • Abuse In Dave Pelzer's 'A Child Called It'

    1286 Words  | 3 Pages

    In childhood Pelzer could have developed severe anxiety, always fearing what his mother may do or say next and not knowing if he will survive it or not. He could have developed depression or suicidal thoughts. Being constantly treating like a slave and being abused may lead one to believe to think those things or just the lack of love may have led to depression. With that, never knowing when his mother may kill him, Dave could have decided just to do it himself, to not give his mother the pleasure and to finally escape the world where the only thing he knows is hate and abuse. As he grew up, even being away from the situation, Dave could have developed self-esteem issues and poor body health. Again relating to the negative image his mother forced upon him, Dave could have looked at himself as a “bad boy” or garbage as he was commonly called and that could have destroyed his confidence, and because his body was treated so poorly, he himself may not take the best care of it. Many child abuse victims end up having attachment issues as the grow up as well. The relationship between parents and child is supposed to teach the child what relationships should be like, that should be the foundation for love and trust in the future. However, when that bond is destroyed for whatever reason, in this case the abuse from the mother and

    Read More

  • Analysis Of A Child Called It By Dave Pelzer

    851 Words  | 2 Pages

    “A Child Called it” is a phenomenal book. After reading Dave Pelzer’s story about the horrors he experienced as a child, I’m glad he had the courage to share his story. As a child, Dave’s alcoholic mother physically, emotionally, and mentally abused him. The author portrays to the reader just how bad his childhood really was by writing about the time his mother stabbed him, the times she would make it sit in a cold bath, the times she would put him in a “gas chamber”, and even about the time she purposefully burned him using the stove. Even though Dave experienced all this traumatic events early in life and had many risk factors that put him at risk for failure, his resiliency and his will to live is what saved him in the end.

    Read More

  • A child Called It by Dave Pelzer

    2130 Words  | 5 Pages

    He, too, knew David was a "good boy." He did not join in the abuse, but he did not stop it, either. David was treated like a slave in his own home. His mother treated him as if he wasn’t even a member of the family, like a nobody or an “It”. She first referred to him as, “The Boy, then it quickly changed to It”. Nobody at his school liked him, they called him "Pelzer Smelzer" because his mom never washed his clothes and made him wear the same thing every day.

    Read More

  • Summary of A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer

    372 Words  | 1 Pages

    David was a young boy who got beaten everyday. He was very skinny, bony, and was beaten everyday. David wore threadbare clothing, he looked as if he hadn't changed or washed his clothes in months. This was the truth, his mother starved him and abused him. She never washed his clothes to embarrass him. This worked at first when people started making fun of him, but David got used to it. Bullies started beating the scrawny boy up everyday, it became a routine, but he was so frail and weak from being starved he couldn?t fight back. David looked muddled, he had a very terrible physical journey that made him mentally stronger.

    Read More

  • A Child Called It By Dave Pelzer

    831 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author is attempting to teach the readers that no one should treat people this badly. David is an innocent child and does not deserve his bad childhood. David does not even do anything wrong, and his mother continued to treat him like an object. Pelzer succeeded in telling how cruel the mother is. He also teaches that people can be cruel to each other, and that it is important to teach people that kindness can go a long way. The whole book discusses his childhood. Pelzer wrote some sequels to tell the rest of his child life for the interested readers.

    Read More

  • Child Abuse In David Pelzer's A Child Called It

    2246 Words  | 5 Pages

    A Child Called It depicts David Pelzer’s life and his incredible will of survival from an “It” to a man. David was emotionally and physically abused up until the age of 12, by his mother (Catherine) who was not only an alcoholic but a master of defamation. The cruelty David endured at the hands of his mother led him to believe he was nothing more than a worthless misfortune; he began to despise himself even more and started to believe that he was the cause of the abuse he suffered.

    Read More

  • Maltreatment In David Pelzer's A Child Called It

    2264 Words  | 5 Pages

    Pelzer informs the reader that his family was like that of “the ‘Brady Bunch’ of the 1960’s” and that “[their] every whim was fulfilled with love and care’ (Pelzer, 15). They would often go on vacation where his mother was known as the “mastermind” due to her excessive planning of fun activities upon their travels (Pelzer,19). As if “Everyday seemed sprinkled with magic,” things started to take a turn for the worse David himself states, “ My relationship with my mom drastically changed from discipline that developed into a kind of lifestyle that grew out of control. It became so bad at times. I had no strength to crawl away-even if it meant saving my life” (Pelzer, 19-20). David had the misfortune of having to endure emotional abuse from his mother. Emotional abuse can be defined as “rejection, terrorization, isolation, exploitation, degradation, ridicule, or failure to provide emotional support, love and affection” (Papalia & Feldman p. 161). An Example of such abuse that David had experienced, was when his mother degraded him by referring to him as an “it”. Proclaiming his own mother as, “the Bitch,” David’s experiences emotional maltreatment as his mother screams, “you’re a nobody! An It! You are non-existent! You are a bastard child! I hate you! And I wish you were dead! Dead! Did you hear me? Dead!”(Pelzer, 140). This quote is an example of emotional maltreatment

    Read More

  • A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book A Child Called “It” was written by Dave Pelzer. “In the years before I was abused, my family was the “Brady Bunch” of the 1960s. My two brothers and I were blessed with the perfect parents. Our every whim was fulfilled with love and care.” These are Dave’s words about his family before he was abused by his mother. Dave Pelzer has experienced a truly extraordinary life. As a child, he was abused by his alcoholic mother, which included physical torture, mental cruelty, and near starvation. Upon Dave's rescue, he was identified as one of the most severely abused children in California's history. At age 12, Dave's teachers risked their careers to notify the authorities and saved his life. Upon Dave's removal, he was made a ward of the court and placed in foster care until he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at age 18. As a young adult Dave was determined to better himself--no matter what the odds.

    Read More

  • Lessons Learned from the Story of Mary Ellen Wilson

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    What would you do if you were a witness to child abuse today? Would you turn your head as if it were not your business, would you intervene immediately, or would you report the abuser to the authorities? It was approximately 1869 - 1870 when a woman named Charlotte Fiehling "cringed at the sound of the child's beating. She had heard it before, but had never laid eyes the child. The little girl was no more than five or six if she was a day, judging by her size, and her poor legs were striped with the welts of a whip, her body bruised from blows. Her hair matted and infested with vermin, no doubt, and she did not appear to have had a bath of any kind for many days, if not weeks" (qtd. In Shelman 187). This little girls name was Mary Ellen Wilson. Prior to 1874, the United States did not have any laws to protect children from abuse. Though society is still learning, we have come along way. There are still many cases of child abuse, but as a society we now have ways to intervene, and prevent this abuse and neglect. It was in 1874 when the first court case of child abuse was argued. It was the case of, Mary Ellen Wilson. Mary Ellen as a young girl was severely beaten with whips, burned with the iron, cut with scissors, not to mention the sexual, and emotional abuse. It was in 1874 that a major change in our legal system took place in society. The change was a realization to our legal system that we have to do something about children like Mary Ellen. We have learned many lessons from this alarming event. Now we have choices, now we can help, and now we have child protection services. This case has delivered us, as a society, many messages. I am going to point out two major lessons I found are crucial to how we do thi...

    Read More

  • The Horrific Mcmartin Preschool Trial

    1314 Words  | 3 Pages

    Child abuse is an extremely sensitive subject to many people. But to many people from McMartin Preschool, it is something that will stick with them forever. According to The World Book Encyclopedia, child abuse is “a term that generally refers to mistreatment of a child by a parent of another adult” (Zigler). It could also be “limited to life-threatening physical violence, including severe beating, burns, and strangulation” (Zigler). The horrific McMartin Preschool Trial was crazy and disgusting, leaving children scarred, parents angry, and the accused wronged.

    Read More

  • Banning "A Child Called 'It'"

    451 Words  | 1 Pages

    A Child Called “It” brings our attention to mental abuse that adults may inflict on a human being and in this particular case, a child. David’s mother respects the family’s dogs more than she respects her own son. The dogs are fed every day, yet she attempts to starve David. Although David has two other brothers, they learn to call him “the boy” and to pay no att...

    Read More

  • A Child Called It

    1563 Words  | 4 Pages

    Dave Pelzer is the survivor of the third worst case of child abuse in California's history. Dave grew up with his two brothers and two parents. Catherine, Dave's mother, loved to cook exotic meals for her family and decorate their home in creative and imaginative ways each holiday season. She was full of energy, often taking her kids on tours of downtown San Francisco while her husband was at work as a fire fighter, exposing them to Golden Gate Park and Chinatown. Once, while on a family camping trip, young Dave was watching the sunset when he felt his mother embrace him from behind and watch the sunset with him over his shoulder. "I never felt as safe and warm as at that moment in time," he recalls.

    Read More

  • Mary Ellen Wilson: Child Abuse In America

    1207 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since the case of Mary Ellen Wilson in 1874, child abuse has seen it’s share of light in published news. It is disheartening to read countless stories of future generations being harmed to the extent of psychological damage or even death. Child abuse as a whole has been addressed multiple times in various news blogs, however, nothing has been done to work towards abolishing it at a larger level. The future of America is in jeopardy based on the level of abuse that children endure. Childhelp states that approximately 5 children die every day at the hands of child abuse. America struggles to find equality, and by bystanding the stripping of its youth, continual prolonging is inevitable. Raising this nation’s children in means of nurturing and care is the first step to uplifting America as a whole. In 2012 alone, 1593 of America’s children died at the hands of child abuse, 70.3% of which were younger than the age of three (Safe Horizon). In order to prevent further child abuse, the American government should address stricter child protection laws, psychological stability, and an increase the recognition of those that have released their stories.

    Read More

  • A Child Called It By Dave Pelzer

    1134 Words  | 3 Pages

    A Child Called "It", by Dave Pelzer, is a first person narrative of a child’s struggle through a traumatic abused childhood. The book begins with Dave telling us about his last day at his Mother’s house before he was taken away by law enforcement. At first I could not understand why he had started at the end of his tale, but after reading the entire book it was clear to me that it was easier to read it knowing there indeed was a light at the end of the dark tunnel. This horrific account of extreme abuse leaves us with a great number of questions which unfortunately we do not have answers for. It tells us what happened to this little boy and that miraculously he was able to survive and live to see the day he left this hole which was his home, however, it does not tell us why or even give us a good amount of background with which to speculate the why to this abuse.

    Read More

  • Child Abuse Therapy

    2360 Words  | 5 Pages

    When the topic of abuse comes up, many different forms of abuse pop into individuals heads. Whether its Physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse or even drug abuse, the list just keeps going. Now take all those different forms abuse and imagine them happening in a family. A father physically abusing his children, a mother verbally berating her daughter about her body image, a child growing up in fear. According to the research by David Wolfe in the Journal of Consulting and clinical Psychology, that the number of children that have suffered a physical injury due to physical abuse is between 1.4 and 1.9 million annually. With such a high number of physical abuse happening to children, one can imagine how high the number of all the

    Read More

More about Child Abuse In California's Life In A Child Called It By Dave Pelzer

Open Document