Introduction about Child Abuse
The effects child abuse and other types of domestic violence could be lasting (Hopper, 2012). This was according to Jim Hopper, a therapist and a researcher specializing in psychology. The historical development of child abuse actually started a long time ago. We could see in history books and even in some very old ones (more than a hundred years old) how child abuse cases were given little attention although they could easily be spotted. Because of this, some would assume that scenarios wherein a child gets abused have been happening since the beginning of human history. This paper will tackle three different statistical findings that are significant to child abuse along with their corresponding explanations.
Child Abuse in the United States of America
Child abuse cases in the U.S could be divided into 2 categories: the ones that are reported and the ones that are not. According to the United States Government Accountability Office (2011), over 3 million cases of child abuse are being recorded every year. It is surprising that in a single child abuse report, multiple children could be involved. This is why there is a certain discrepancy with their findings in 2009 wherein they discovered that some 3.3 million children get abused. According to the synthesis of their statistical report, there a child abuse report could surface every ten seconds. What’s disturbing here is the fact that a significant number of children also die as a result of child abuse. Currently, the number of pediatric deaths per year due to child abuse is more than five, which is already alarming since we want to keep mortality levels low as much as possible.
What Groups of Children are more Susceptible and Vulnerable to Child Abuse?
Researchers from the Child Welfare Information Gateway (2011) have identified particular criteria that could make a child more susceptible to suffer from a child abuse case. According to their findings, children who are aged 4 and younger are the most frequent victims of child abuse. Factors that could contribute to the amount of vulnerability from child abuse include the children’s dependency level, size, and inability to defend one. Now, children who are aged 4 and below would most likely suffer because they tend to be more dependent on their guardians. They would also normally be of small size since their musculature isn’t well developed yet. Lastly, they could not easily defend themselves from threats such as child abuse.
Child Abuse and its relationship with Ethnicity
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (2009), more than 80 percent of the child fatalities were comprised of Hispanic, White and African-Americans. To be more specific, 29.1 percent were African American (nearly a third), approximately 17 percent came from a Hispanic race and 39 percent were White which so far is the biggest percentage among the three races. These statistical findings just shows how ethnicity could be associated with the incidence rates of child abuse. It shows that White American children tend to suffer from child abuse more than any other race or ethnic groups in the US. It would also be worthy to note that children from Alaska, multinational, multiracial, and Pacific Islander racial categories only accounts for 3.6 percent of child abuse fatalities in the US collectively.
Significance
All of the statistical findings are basically important to know because it could serve as an eye opener for us to realize that children, who can barely defend themselves, should not be abused physically or emotionally. These statistical data could also serve as a significant tool for the authorities the child abuse incidence rates in a particular area or within a particular population. A high rate of Child abuse on a certain area or population could potentially trigger the authorities to consider making steps to decrease those values.
References
Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2011). Child abuse and neglect fatalities 2009: Statistics and Interventions. Washington, DCL US. Department of Health and Human Servics, Children’s Bureau.
Hopper, J. (2012). Child abuse statistics, research, and resources. Accessed February 2012. Available at http://www.jimhopper.com/abstats/#s-intro.
USGAO. (2011). Child Maltreatment: Strenghtening National data on child fatalities could aid in prevention. United states government accountability office. Print.
US Department of Health and Human Service. (2009). Child Maltreatment. US, Department of Health and Human Service. Print.
