What Leads a Parent to Mistreat Their Children for Attention?

Childhood abuse may be our number one public health issue (Wylie 1). Munchausen By Proxy is a type of child abuse, where the perpetrator is most commonly a parent or guardian of a small child. The parent will purposely neglect and abuse their child to receive attention from doctors and other individuals. This leads us to question, what leads a parent to mistreat their children in the first place?

In several cases the cause of the abuse can be linked to family relationship issues. In the novel Sickened, by Julie Gregory, Gregory recounts her childhood with a mother who was diagnosed with Munchausen By Proxy. She tells the readers that her “mother married at the tender age of nineteen.” Marrying him when she was young caused them to argue with each other and they did not have a genuine relationship. Soon after her first husband’s death it seemed as though she was very desperate to find another husband because she felt isolated and alone, she craved the attention of being in an intimate relationship. Her crave for attention was the fuel for her desire to make Julie sick. A parent is also more likely to mistreat their children if their spouse has very little, or no, input in the family’s activities which leaves it to the abusive parent to control everything. In another situation where family relationships could be an issue, a woman named “Shannon Hudson had been trying to break up with the boys’ [her sons’ abusive] father when he shot her three times. Then shot himself” (Burling A1+). The abuses that lead up to the husband getting angry and frustrated with his wife caused the violent act that was a result of their relationship failure.

“Domestic violence is often not so much physical as emotional or financial – a man with a big ...

... middle of paper ...

...owing up, they often look to their parents to see how they should act themselves. If their parents act a certain way then those children grow up believing that what their parents do is right. This is the cycle of child abuse. Likewise, we also take into thought that people diagnosed with Munchausen By Proxy are most commonly in financial binds, have uncontrollable anger, have low self-respect for themselves, or have conflicts with their relationships. Researchers have come up with all of these notions that are said to lead to the abuse of children. They procured that the main reason abusive parents are compelled to abuse, is if they were abused by their parents, or close family members. Researchers also believe that the only way to ensure that the cycle is being intercepted is to protect the children before they start developing the same behaviors as their parents.