The Risk Factors of Child Abuse
By: Karla Cardona
Tags: Child Abuse, Mental Health, Personal Growth, Abuse

Knowing that many children are abused each year in the United States, why is it still unknown what drives adults into mistreating their children? The issue of child abuse is viewed as a whole rather than the small steps that build towards it. Many believe that their parents are simply evil psychotic individuals with emotional problems. The public goes after the parents without knowing that the actual cause is their life’s background. That’s what influences their destructive behavior. Personal events and cultural influences can shape abuser’s lives, causing them to mentally and physically abuse their children.

Personal issues in an abuser’s life, like income, can be a huge cause of abuse. Thinking about the amount of income that one makes can induce anxiety because no one knows if it is enough to maintain oneself and the family. This then can lead to stress and harsh emotions. In the article, “Integrating child injury and abuse-neglect research: Common histories, etiologies, and solutions”, it states, “Other characteristics often co-occur with low income and have been found to be associated with both kinds of child injury, even in studies sampling a wide range of income levels” (Peterson 1). Peterson argues that child abuse can occur in both high and low-income families, but more cases of abuse are found in low-income families due to high stress. This high measure of stress can create a frustration level for parents that results in fatal mistreatment of their children.

The parents being together or divorced can also have a lot to do with child abuse. I would believe that if a single parent is in charge of their entire family, a lot of stress can be involved, and it can lead them into conducting maltreatment. The divorcement itself can be harmful because it can lead the single parent to depression which can then cause them to take their anger out on their kids. Byambaa Norman in the article, “The Long-Term Health Consequences of Child Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, and Neglect: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis’’, argues that parents in this place of time can have many breakdowns and cause fights between the families in which it can accelerate and lead to mistreatment. There can also be cases in which abusive relationships are the reason for divorce, and it can carry onto the parent due to the stress and for being so used to that environment. The divorce can affect a parent a lot in a way that it can influence them to do misconduct, such as doing drugs or being addicted to alcohol. Commonly, certain abusive parents that have encountered these situations tend to target one child due to a characteristic that they don’t like about them which can remind them of someone they don’t like.

One’s culture can influence the way one lives and their belief in certain circumstances. Culture is such a beautiful thing, especially the variety of styles and its unique qualities. Not all cultures have the same way of thinking though. In the following article, “Students’ perceptions of the prevalence, forms, and causes of child abuse in Edo state, Nigerian/ Percepción de Los Estudiantes Acerca de la prevalencia, formas y cause de abuso a menores en edo Nigeria”, it states, “child abuse could stem from a culture that permits and even encourages corporal punishment of children, either by parents, teachers or the society” (Momoh 1). It claims that culture can encourage parents to induce maltreatment on their children because they believe it’s a good thing. It definitely is not a good thing, and it is something that should be handled professionally. All cultures have their parenting styles and beliefs as to how a parent should treat and educate their children. It is understanding that many parents punish their children when there are wrongdoings because they believe it is a way to learn from mistakes and become a better person. Many agree with this kind of belief because of personal experience and how effective it can be. The one thing to be aware of is that it can accelerate pretty quickly if not controlling one’s emotions. There can be people who take advantage of this belief just so they can abuse their children, and it is heartbreaking. Another big problem, especially for incoming parents, is that they try to do everything they can to fit in the cultural norms because they believe it’s the ideal way to raise children, although it can lead to stress and can induce disturbing behavior. It is good to be inspired by one’s culture, but one should also respect it and know how to control oneself.

There are many causes and things that occur behind the scenes that lead to child abuse. It can be induced by simply having influences from the outside world from the failure of handling one’s emotions to having impactful situations in one’s private life. Personal events and cultural influences can shape abuser’s lives, causing them to mentally and physically abuse their children. It can start from something small and then it can lead to mistreatment of children. Due to the articles above, this type of treatment is usually caused by an outside factor rather than just the abuser itself. Income, parent’s relationship status, and cultural beliefs are some of the many causes that child abuse is derived from. If everyone eventually finds out about the certain risk factors and causes of child abuse, people can get together and finally do something about it.

Solutions to Prevent Child Abuse

Introduction

Why is it hard for the public to track the one risk factor that causes child abuse? That’s the problem. Many risk factors induce child mistreatment, not just one. Some causes are parent’s relationship status, family income, and cultural background. Parents who have experienced or been in these situations can have difficulty controlling their emotions and decisions. All of their anger and pressure can then build up and become a bigger problem for themselves and their children. It can lead them to physically and mentally harm their children with or without intention. There are many people and even parent abusers themselves that want to prevent these types of situations and find solutions to bring their family back together but do not know where to start. Solving the problem of child abuse requires a few different solutions such as strengthening social bonds, joining help programs, and raising awareness to educate people.

What is the Problem?

Impactful events in one’s life can drive into child abuse by not being able to act and handle the situations properly. In the article “The Long-Term Health Consequences of Child Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, and Neglect: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis’’, Byambaa Norman argues that being in the middle of a divorce or not having enough money to support your family are several ways that can lead one to stress and increase emotions which can eventually imply into making harmful decisions. All of the pressure that one is handling from these situations is hard to hide and take in all at once, so many turn to their children to release their anger which does not end well. Children are not meant to solve the personal problems of their parents or guardians. They are supposed to be heard, understood, and loved. These types of mistreatments can lead children to severe behavioral problems which can continue for the rest of their lives. The article, “Sexual Abuse of Children- Causes, Diagnosis, and Management,” states, children “tend to develop behavioral problems due to anxieties, and masked depression manifested as sleep disturbances, frightful dreams, and general withdrawal” (Blumberg 1). Blumberg argues that child abuse is a very serious problem, and it should not be taken lightly. Abusing children is not short-term. It’s definitely long-term because of their harm and trauma stick with them for the rest of their lives. Since this is a known belief, parents think it’s okay to keep on hurting their children because they believe they will forgive them and get over it. Parents tend to follow social beliefs rather than their own beliefs which is why this cause and child abuse is bigger than it should be.

Cultural beliefs are another huge risk factor in child abuse. As said previously, many abusers and people, in general, tend to follow what others believe which is not good because it can create more harm. In the following article, “Students’ perceptions of the prevalence, forms, and causes of child abuse in Edo state, Nigerian/ Percepción de Los Estudiantes Acerca de la prevalencia, formas y cause de abuso a menores en edo Nigeria”, Momoh states that there are many beliefs where punishing your kids is good because it educates them and makes them become better children. This is not always false. I actually agree with this but to a certain point. My parents raised me and my siblings well as a child, and I’m so thankful that they did to this day. They did punish us sometimes but for our well being, and I truly believe it made us better people, and it showed us the difference between good and bad. The variance between my parents and abusive parents are abusers take it up a notch and don’t know what’s right and wrong. They usually do not know how much punishment is enough and when to stop. They do not know how to control themselves which leads them to mistreat their children and abusing them. Instead of trying to make their kids be better people and educated well, they’re leaving them with lifelong trauma and harm. There need to be more ways to control one’s decisions to make their decisions effective and have a purpose.

Possible Solutions

Strengthening social bonds with the people you love and trust can be a huge step for abusive parents to reach success and overcome their abusive habits. It can be a way for them to express their feelings and not have it build up from there. This can be a way to prevent child abuse because if parents talk to their loved ones or a therapist, it would be less likely for them to release their anger on their children since they already talked about their problems to trusting or professional people. The article, “Neighborhood Social Capital and Infant Physical Abuse: a Population-Based Study in Japan”, states, “To prevent infant abuse, interventions should consider strengthening community social bonds in addition to strengthening the social network of isolated mothers” (Fujiwara 1). In this statement, he argues that being social and talking to others is a way to be free about one’s emotions and not always lock and hide them within oneself. It can also prevent other issues such as depression or anxiety which can arise when someone has personal issues and are lonely and doesn’t have anyone to talk about these problems to. It can be a huge step to bring families together and it can be effective in a way that it can reduce the tendencies to conduct child abuse.

There are certain help programs that abusive parents can join to get advice on how to deal with their problems and create a safe environment for their children. Everyone deals with problems but not everyone knows how to handle them. It’s understandable because it can be hard at times, but many do not make the right decisions and tend to go the easy route which is alcohol or drugs. This is a huge problem because this will just add to their unbearable behavior. Many programs are held in many locations such as schools or health facilities in which it can help parents to treat their health to prevent further harm for not just them but their family as well. In the following article, “Application of a child abuse prevention programme in an educational context. [Aplicación de un Programa de prevención del maltrato infantil en el contexto educativo]”, it states, “This supposes the setting up of very different types of intervention programmes, among which the following are included: programmes aimed at rehabilitation treatment for parents/careers… and prevention programmes aimed at eliminating the negative conditions that predispose minors to abuse or provide the spark to set it off” (Moreno-Manso 1). The author argues that these types of programs can be very effective in preventing further child abuse because it can soon provide a safe environment for the families and provide the children comfort. It can help parents overcome their drug, alcohol, and personal problems to become better role models for their children. They will also have people to talk to and will not have to deal with their problems by themselves. They won’t have a reason to mistreat their children if the problem is already being taken care of.

Raising awareness is a great way to educate other parents and prevent them from adding to the abuse. If they are educated about this problem ahead of time, it will be unlikely for them to do it because they well know the harmful and negative outcomes. Educating parents will help them deal with their problems more efficiently and in another way that does not involve their children. It will be more likely for them to reach out for help if they’re dealing with problems that are too much for them to handle by themselves because they would not want to take it out on their children since they would already know the bad outcomes of abuse. In the article, “Parental awareness and child abuse: A cognitive-developmental analysis of urban and rural samples”, it states, “With an awareness of these shortcomings and their ramifications for cautious acceptance, we can discuss some of the ways in which an analysis of parental conceptions may expand our knowledge of parental dysfunction” (Newberger 1). This article argues that raising awareness about child abuse will reach a bigger audience and educate them on ways to prevent abuse and options of how to deal with their problems. It can also influence them to help others and do the same which can reduce child abuse even more. Educating their children about it can also prevent it even more and they can help friends that are experiencing it. It will create a better and safer environment overall for everyone and there will be no reason for child abuse if people are educated and their problems are taken care of.

Solutions can come with Objections

There are many solutions that I introduced that are great ways to prevent child abuse. Some solutions are much more effective than others. For instance, according to the article, “Neighborhood Social Capital and Infant Physical Abuse: a Population-Based Study in Japan”, it states how strengthening community social bonds can be an effective way to prevent abuse. I think it can be a great way, but I don’t know if it will be that effective. Previously, I stated how people that follow cultural or other people’s beliefs does not mean that their beliefs are always correct, and it can lead to mistreatment of their children. This ties into the article that cultural beliefs can encourage abuse, so talking to people in a culture that encourages abuse may not always be beneficial. It is good to be social and talk to people to not feel lonely and trapped, but you need to be aware of who you talk to and you need to make sure it’s someone you trust because they can eventually brainwash you. Instead of them helping you with your problems, they can just add to them which will not help at all. It will just lead people to continue releasing their anger onto their innocent children. There are other ways like being educated by others, spreading awareness, reaching out for professional help, or joining help programs that guarantee better advice and effective ways to keep families safe and away from abuse.

Conclusion

Many solutions can be helpful to prevent child abuse or adding to it, but it does not mean that they will all be effective or that it will be an easy journey. Usually, the best solutions take a while to show progress and success. Since child abuse can affect children forever, it will take a while for them to gain their parent’s trust again and it also took a while for the parents to cope with the harm they cause as well as their problems. Some potential solutions to this problem have to be derived from strengthening social bonds, joining help programs, and raising awareness to educate people. According to the articles above, being open about one’s problems to trustworthy and professional people is one of the best ways to cope and prevent abuse. Parents will be advised on ways to be better for their children and be reassured that the positive changes they make are good. It will reconnect them to their children and create an absent bond. Overtaking these solutions will not just help abusive parents but also incoming parents. It will educate them on parenting styles and the things to prevent when encountering problems, so it won’t escalate onto their children. If everyone eventually follows these solutions, the cases of child abuse will decrease or lessen because many parents and guardians will not be lost in their problems and will find ways to cope with them to prevent alternate behavior that is unnecessary for their children.