Adapting To Life After Child Abuse: Dave Pelzer

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It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games that left him nearly dead. Dave's bed was an old army cot in the basement, and his clothes were torn and raunchy. When his mother allowed him the luxury of food, it was nothing more than spoiled scraps that even the dogs refused to eat. The outside world knew nothing of his living nightmare. He had nothing and no one to turn to, but his dreams kept him alive. To this day Dave Pelzer still suffers from lingering pychological effects. The willful infliction of pain and suffering upon children is known as child abuse and is treated by society as a serious crime. Children are so extremely vulnerable and defenseless, it is thought, that no excuse is possible for mistreating them. Even so, abuse is believed to be widespread. Despite strict laws against it, it sometimes goes unreported and unpunished. Perpetrators of child abuse are most often the child’s own parents. A study done in 2005 showed 79.4 percent of perpetrators were parents, and 6.8 percent were other relatives. Almost 1 out of every 100 children in the United States are abused as a child and an average of 5 children die everyday from child abuse (USDHHS). Some cases may be more extreme then others, but child abuse still has a dramatic effect on a person’s life as it continues to effect the victim through their adoloscence and into their adult hood. Not only does child abuse affect a person’s relationship life, but structuring them on who they become in life by altering specific triggers in their brain. What effects does child abuse have on a child’s life from their adolescence and into their adulthood? When chi... ... middle of paper ... ...her harm. Children are the future of our society and if they are getting abused what kind of fate will their children’s future hold? Protecting them from the harm of child abuse will insure a positve future for them and our society. Works Cited Larsen, Carly D., Sandberg, Jonathan G., Harper, James M., Bean, Roy. "The Effects of Childhood Abuse on Relationship Quality: Gender Differences and Clinical Implications." Family Relations 4(2011):435. eLibrary. Web. 09 Mar. 2014 Kirby, Carrie. "Talking it out." Parenting. Aug. 2008: 42. web. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. Nauert, R. Psych Central. University of Miami, 2013.web. 9 March 2014 United States Department of Health and Human Services. Blending Perspectives and building Common Ground: A report to congress on substance abuse and child protection. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. (1999) Web. 09 Mar. 2014.

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