Child Abuse

Child abuse is the maltreating of children physically, emotionally, sexually or even by neglecting them. As a phenomenon it has started since ancient times and the proofs are found in the mythology of different countries (Guerber,1912). Killing not wanted children was allowed in ancient Greece and Rome. The reasons of this violence towards children were: financial (to help save the country from getting ruined), social (jealousy) and religious (punished for offending god). This violence that existed before is still practiced today in almost the same ways.

Statistics clearly show that child abuse exists everywhere in the world and this is one of the most disturbing problems for the society now days. These statistics are based on the age, number of abused kids and show which sex has a higher probability to be abused. 19 countries were part of a study made in which resulted that 98% were physically violated, about 35% were girls and 28% boys (Finkelhor, 2006). It is clear that girls are more disposed of getting violated then boys. From this study also resulted that all ages can go through abuse but kids under four years old are more likely to become victims. From 1.2 million children, 554000 of them were physically abused.

Referring to the historical background and studies made for children abuse we can definitely say that violence is progressing from time to time. As very often discipline is confused with violence it is important to know which type of punishment is considered as an abuse. Hurting a child and having aggressive actions towards him is considered as a physical abuse. A parent can give to his kid a slap in the face which would be a simple punishment but it often happens that this parents abuses the child physically by kicking, punching, chocking, bruising which will leave marks in this kid's life forever. As a result of the violence this child will not only have physical consequences but emotional and psychological ones as well. The most important factors that lead parents in abusing their kids are: the relationship between parents and children, the use of alcohol and the stress parents have at work.

No parent in the world has the desire to turn himself into an abuser. It often happens that these persons are not good at controlling themselves in certain moments. There might be different reasons that lead parents to violent behaviors but none of them justifies the fact that a child is being abused. Communication between parents and kids it's essential and the key of developing a good relationship. Violence wouldn't exist if the two parts shared more things with one other, opinions and be part of each other's life more. On the other hand when the relationship is cold, the kid feels like he doesn't have the attention or love of his parents' and this is where the problems and misunderstandings start. A lot of parents confuse abuse with discipline. Instead of teaching to their children good actions, behaviors and help them correct errors in live, they abuse them by pulling the ear or giving a slap. Some parents don't understand that this methodology is not appropriate and it definitely doesn't teach to a child how to act and behave in the future. Violence exists when there is a lack of communication.

Abuse (simple or severe) is equal to violence. This problem is spread all over the world today. Children are being violated in the most extreme ways by their parents or folks leaving marks in their lives forever. Not long term abuses can include simple physical abuses such as: slapping, beating, kicking, pulling the ear and cause injuries like: swelling, bruising which recover with time. Objects like: bottles, belts, knives are being commonly used and the bruising just represents the shape of the object. These injuries are mostly located in the face and head of children. By pulling the hair or ear might cause to these kids chronic headaches, neck and ear pain. According to Smith (1997), most parents think that by giving a slap to their children is a way of teaching them discipline but actually it is not. Straus (1995) states that "slapping is a physical punishment". Kids are most likely to get a slap in the preschool years by their parents and after Gallup poll was made it resulted that 73% of these children were under the age of five.

Except simple abuses, there are severe abuses as well which may have irreversible consequences for the child's life. The most common injuries of this kind of abuse are bruising, burning(caused by cigarette, heat), poisoning(using drugs, gas),chocking which leaves marks around the kid's neck and represents the fingers of the abuser. The child experiences difficulties in breathing, marks in the body, sleepiness, high blood pressure and if he was poisoned the kid might have frequent vomiting and not be conscious for a while. Shaken baby syndrome results the most fatal of all these abuses as it causes cerebral contusion, brain bruising which in most cases lead children to death.

Violence doesn't affect children in the same way and this depends on five factors: The first one is gravity of the physical abuse. After the terrible act of violence was completed, the ways or objects used don't matter because they all affect a kid's life (more or less). With a higher frequency of abuse, the impact it has for a child obviously grows. Age of the child is also another important factor. The impact of the violence is greater when the kid is younger. The relationship child has with the abuser can be crucial sometimes. When this relationship between them is close and affectionate, is very hard for a child to accept that he got