Chapter 14

Chapter 14 covers topics such as child abuse and neglect, spousal abuse and domestic violence, and abuse and neglect of elder members of the family. The book goes in detail to show the statistics and the motivations behind such behaviors. Consequences of abuse(substance abuse, repeating abusive or neglectful behavior) are mentioned as well, illustrating that the abuse or maltreatment stays with the victim for the rest of their lives. There is also discussion about how which cases are reported and convicted, and why, and strategies to better report and solve these social problems in the future.

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There was a lot of details about this topic that I didn't know. For instance, I didn't know that the vast majority of child maltreatment cases were neglect or mixed cases that included neglect. A lot of them were really small details, but were still very useful to me.

Some of my surprise was also at some of the ignorance of more common knowledge of these subjects. After looking at the popular myths of incest, I was pretty shocked that enough people actually believed these myths to the point that such a list needed to be made.

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1. What do you think is the best way to reduce child maltreatment?

2. Which theory do you think best illustrates the reason why maltreatment and violence happen in the family? (Ecological Systems Theory, Exchange Theory, Patriarchy Theory, Social Learning Theory, Resource Theory)