CHILD ABUSE – STRESS
Usually the parents themselves are under stress. The child may cry a lot, be fussy with food or often ill. The parents may be under stress for financial reasons, or may be a single parent.
Poverty, unemployment, isolation and inadequate housing may all cause stress which can show itself in abuse of children. The parents may have little understanding of child care and may see the child’s frequent waking or crying as a deliberate show of misbehavior.
Many of these parents have experienced problems in their own childhood. If they themselves have been mistreated during infancy and childhood, this may be seen by them as “normal” parent behavior.
Doctors and nurses are usually th^f irst people to be aware that child abuse may be occuring. Children are often brought to the doctor or hospital with unexplained injuries or the explanation does not tally with the injuries. Recognising that a problem exists and then seeking to refer the parents for counselling is better than seeking to punish the parent for their “crime”.
Sexual abuse of children is far commoner than we have believed. And that abuse is more likely to take place inside a family than outside.
The discovery of incest usually has led to conviction, and in the case where the father is the offender, to a jail sentence. This usually disrupts the family and may lead to pressures on the sexually abused child by the mother and family members due to the social stigma or financial problems which the family then suffers.
The United States seems to have a better policy in seeking to offer counselling to the offender, the abused child and the other family members in an attempt to preserve the unity of the family and the mental and physical health of its members. Punishing the offender often punishes the family as well.
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