Psychology Essays (UOP)

Psy/400 Altruism in society campaign

Altruism in society campaign

Andrea Bonanza, Sandra Martin, Samantha Craig, Shinall Van Ross, Jeanine Jones, Caryn Abraham

PSY/400

September 29, 2015

Sherri L. Sedler

Introduction

Child Abuse is a huge issue that is on the rise all over the world. In the year 2007 "Child Protective Service in the United States has received 3.2 million cases of child abuse reports." (Noremy, Zulkarnain, Kelvin, Adanan, & Sarah, 2012) What many do not know is that many of these reported cases usually involve a family, member. There are signs that show when a child is being abused, and usually these children are young and go to a pedestrian. In 2009, there was a recorded "6 million children referred, 702,000 confirmed cases of abuse, and 1,770 child deaths." (Levi, Dellasega, & Boehmer, 2012) These deaths happened in children who were too young actually to tell what happened, and the doctors overlooked the problem. Considering Altruism is when individuals do acts that help others without any personal gain. Providing doctors and new parents with information on what child abuse is and what the signs. This is considered an altruistic behavior because it is giving information out freely to help parents and their children.

Nature of Child Abuse

An individual who abuses a child has a significant impact on the past and future well-being of an innocent child. Physical force is not the only type of child abuse. The nature of child abuse can be either mental or physical abuse that can take place in a public or private setting. Mental abuses consist of yelling, threats, name-calling, and intimidation. Physical abuses consist of hitting; kicking, pinching, poking or it could be sexual that involves intercourse or touching inappropriately. After the victim experiences child abuse, he or she will feel a sense of guilt, pain, confused and being shameful (Nico Trocmé, Harriet Mac Millan, Barbara Fallon, Richard De Marco (2003).

History of Child Abuse

Child abuse has an extensive history. Children have been abused by parents or caretakers since the beginning of time. Many centuries laws ignored to protect children from child abuse. In the 1800s the English common law believed children were the property of their fathers and women were the property of their husbands (Rodriguez CM, Tucker MC (2011). In 1974 federal law, Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Act (CAPTA) was developed to decrease child abuse, recognize and report child abuse and to provide shelter and other protective services to victims (Rodriguez CM, Tucker MC (2011). Children's world revolves around parents or the caretakers. It is the parents or caretakers responsibility to provide love, understanding, security, nurturance, safety, and support. When a parent or caretakers fails to provide those things, it violates child's trust and affects relationships with the world. Child abuse history results in a negative impact physically and mentally on the individual. Unfortunately, the impact on child abuse doesn't end when the abuse stops. Long-term depression, anxiety disorders, poor self-esteem, aggressive behavior, suicide attempts and use of drugs will effects their daily living.

Effects on Society

Child abuse no matter what form, verbal, physical, or sexual all have long term effects on society that can be seen worldwide in our children, and the adults they become.Child sexual abuse is considered a modifiable risk factor for mental disorders across the life course (Norman, Byambaa, De, Butchart & Scott, 2012). Exposure to non-sexual child maltreatment, namely, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect is associated with increased risk of a wide range of psychological and behavioral problems, including depression, alcohol abuse, anxiety, and suicidal behaviors, and with increased risk of HIV and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV2) infection (Norman, Byambaa, De, Butchart & Scott, 2012)