About 0.1% of children are abused/neglected. Abuse can take on three different forms: physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse. The majority of cases occur from someone the victim is related to or intimate with. Some potential victims could be the assailant's spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, or ex-spouse. Women are much more likely to be abused than men are. Men are more likely commit familycide--murdering one's family before committing suicide. These men are usually "white, middle-aged, breadwinner with a potential economic-loss, or with at least some form of a mental illness such as depression." Younger individuals are more likely to be victims than older individuals, multiracial or American-Indian, female, and low-income families. Marital rape is a common form of abuse, and is the most common form of rape. Since it occurs from a spouse though, it is rarely reported. Abuse usually occurs in three phases. First, the tension-building pause, second, the battering incident, and third, the "honeymoon" phase. Women often stay in these types of relationships because they have a very low self-concept, believe the abuser will change, they are faced with homelessness, they need to support their children, they feel shame about the incident, they blame themselves, they fear their abuser, and they cannot escape the home because it becomes a prison. However, men are also abused by women. This mostly occurs when the IPV is mutual. Child abuse can occur in the same types of abuse mentioned above (physical, emotional, and sexual) along with neglect. Neglect accounts for 60% of all child abuse cases. 80% of all child abusers are their own parents. This can occur from substance abuse, stress, poverty, partner abuse, or divorce. Other forms of abuse of sibling, adolescent, and elder abuse. Anyone can be affected by this abuse, no matter what type of relationship they are in: homosexual, heterosexual, parent, child, relative, etc.
2. Interesting
I was very surprised to learn that one to two million Americans 65+ years old had suffered from elder abuse at least once. It is so sad that they abusers aren't caught more often. Also, I can't believe the man that shot his wife in the face was only sentenced to seven years in prison.
3. Questions
What do you think can be done to lower the number of abuse cases in the United States?
In order to lower the number of abuse cases, I think the first step would be to get people to speak up about it. Many women are too afraid to report the incidents, and many men are too embarrassed to report being victim. I think the more people feel comfortable speaking out about there abuse the more they will start to do so, and then we cant start be prosecuting those perpetrators and then think of ways in which to prevent them. Most of the time, when it comes to breaking the law, people are going to do thing that they know they can get away with. So if we show that this is unaccepted and they will get caught and prosecuted maybe that will stop the perpetrators. Them if victims start to speak up, the will be able to stop there attacker from harm someone else.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Jade when she said that the first thing we need to do is have people speak up about it. I also think people need to be able to go and talk to someone they feel comfortable enough with to be able to speak up. I think it starts with building a strong and trusting relationship with a friend and having the courage to confide in them about such personal things. Once one person speaks out, I think other people who have been getting abused will start to speak out as well.
ReplyDeleteI think that to reduce the incidence of abuse, you have to address its root causes. There have to be efforts made to lessen alcohol abuse, increase people’s socioeconomic status, raise self-esteem, reconsider gender roles/power in relationships, mental illness issues, and so many other things. Until people have made more strides to fix these societal problems, family abuse will continue to occur.
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