Discuss the various forms that abuse and neglect may take

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• Physical abuse includes throwing, shooting, stabbing, burning, drowning, suffocating, biting, or deliberately disfiguring a child. Included within this category is shaken-baby syndrome (SBS), a form of child abuse affecting between 1,200 and 1,600 children every year. SBS is a collection of signs and symptoms resulting from violently shaking an infant or child.
• Physical neglect results from parents' failure to provide adequate food, shelter, or medical care for their children, as well as failure to protect them from physical danger.
• Emotional abuse or neglect is manifested by constant criticism and rejection of the child. Those who suffer emotional abuse have significantly lower self-esteem as adults.
• Emotional neglect includes inadequate nurturing, inattention to a child's emotional development, and lack of concern about maladaptive behavior.
• Abandonment refers to the situation in which parents leave their children with the intention of severing the parent-child relationship.
• Sexual abuse refers to the exploitation of children through rape, incest, and molestation by parents, family members, friends, or legal guardians. Sexual abuse can vary from rewarding children for sexual behavior that is inappropriate for their level of development to using force or the threat of force for the purposes of sex. It can involve children who are aware of the sexual content of their actions and others too young to have any idea what their actions mean.