Child Abuse: An Inexcusable Crime

Child abuse occurs in families of all different social classes and of all different cultures. According to the Heritage Foundation, abuse and neglect of American children has increased 134% since 1980 ("The Child Abuse Crisis”). No excuse for child abuse exists. Children are among the most defenseless group of people in society, and to harm those who are defenseless is simply unacceptable. Abusers may make excuses for their actions or even deny they are harming the child, but they are wrong. Child abuse causes significant damage to the victim’s physical and psychological health, the victim’s behavior and social skills, and society as a whole.

The most obvious form of child abuse is physical abuse, which involves physical harm or injury to a child (Smith and Segal). While physical abuse can come through the form of neglect, inaction on the parent’s part is not the only issue. Other common examples of physical abuse include actions such as the following: Chocking, shoving, pinching, spitting, hair pulling, arm twisting, pushing into or pulling out of a car, banging someone’s head, pinning against a wall, punching, attacking, and even harming to the point of death. According to Dr. James Kent, there are four different categories of physical abuse; these categories are termed “flashpoint,” “spare the rod,” “you asked for it,” and “who needs it.” The term “flashpoint” refers to the parent’s need for psychotherapy to address the root of the problem. The “term spare the rod” refers to the parent’s need for help in learning alternative discipline methods. The term “you asked for it” refers to the parent’s need for help in actually managing the child’s behavior and the need to address the parent’s or parents’ lack of economic stability....

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