An Examination of Child Abuse Prevention
Jason Schafer
Florida State University INTRODUCTION Child abuse is universal, it is not limited to poor families in destitute neighborhoods. Child abuse and neglect crosses all racial, cultural, and economic boundaries. Unfortunately, children are a common target of abuse and neglect. The abuse can come in a variety of forms: sexual, emotional, and physical. This abuse often leads to detrimental problems for the child. Children who are victims of abuse often experience emotional and behavioral problems that affect their well-being. They experience trust issues, damaged self-esteem, and emotional instability. Preventing child abuse and neglect is a top priority for the global …show more content…
Home visitors play a variety of roles for the family. Some home visiting programs focus on financial support for the family. While others focus on social support. The researchers looked at nine home-visiting programs and how they affected parenting and a child’s health. The nine home visiting programs varied greatly in location; the locations were not limited to but included New Zealand, Australia, Netherlands, and Hawaii. Through their results, the researchers could not say that home-visiting could directly help prevent child abuse but, they did conclude that home-visiting can improve factors that often lead to child abuse. The research concluded that low-income, first-time mothers had the most benefit from home-visiting programs. In summary, Home-visiting programs often improve a child’s environment, a mother’s parenting practices, and assist a child in …show more content…
Brian Oliver looked at how common females conducted sexual abuse to children, characteristics of female sex offenders, and what male and female sex offenders had in common. The research showed that around 10% of sexual abuse crimes against children were committed by females. Furthermore the research showed that adolescent female sex offenders generally target younger children of both sexes. While adult female sex offenders generally target adolescent teenagers. Generally, half of adult female sex offenders worked with a male partner in sexually abusing children. Adolescent female sex offenders often worked the same way as their male counterparts. The researcher offered ideas on how sexual abuse could be diminished. Brian Oliver said that it is important to get in contact with at-risk adults and adolescents. It is important to help someone before they abuse a child instead of after because of the damage it causes to the victim. Brian says that most programs designed to prevent sexual abuse against children are limited because they have gender bias. There needs to be more programs developed to reduce female sex