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

Dave Pelzer’s book “A Child Called ‘It’” told his story of growing up in an abusive household. Pelzer’s family at first was just like any other, his parents loved each other and their children and they would do many fun activities together. As time progressed a change happened and his mother began to always punish Pelzer rather than any of the other children. The small punishments soon began to grow and become more and more serious. Soon, Dave’s father and siblings could not help him out of fear that their mother and wife would turn on them. Dave was banished to the garage where he would have to sit at the bottom of the stairs waiting until his mother called him to do his chores. Usually Pelzer would be starved for very long periods of time

The abuse had many negative effects on Dave physically. Dave’s mother accidentally stabbed him and wouldn’t go to the hospital to get him treated. This lead Dave to losing a lot of blood, which is never healthy, and being much slower in doing the chores his mother still made him do. Pelzer could not move much without intense pain so he did not finish his chores in time. When Pelzer didn’t finish his chores, his mother made him go without food. Not having proper nutrients made it extremely hard for Dave’s wounds to heal and after it finally healed, Dave still had a scar in the place he was stabbed. The physical impact of not being fed effected more than just not being able to heal the stab wound. When a child is deprived of food there are many negative effects. Dave was constantly hungry which lead to stealing food, stunted growth, loss of focus in school and desire to learn, and he became weaker and weaker. The situation Dave was in also lead to many psychological problems as well. After constantly being referred to as “the boy” and even “it” Dave began to believe these things about himself, that he was no more than just a boy and he didn’t have special talents or abilities that made him a worthy part of his family. Dave soon left that mindset but grew to hate his family, which isn’t very healthy for a child either. Dave had to develop a strong will in order to survive, which most children

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