Child abuse is a current problem in many countries, including the United States. For modern society, both throughout the country and in local settlements, this issue remains due to the imperfection of protection measures. When such violations are identified, the adequate solution is often to deprive the parents of their rights to the child and place him under guardianship. However, even in such cases, a common outcome is the manifestation of violence against them. Regardless of the type of abuse experienced and the surrounding circumstances, most children keep the abuse secret and never seek help. The reasons for this are varied but may include: fear of retaliation, guilt, shame, embarrassment, lack of confidence in the ability and willingness of others to help, or lack of information about existing support services.
To prevent any form of abuse from caregivers, it is essential to develop and implement a proper child protection system. As one such plan, it is possible to execute the strategy of supervision and social support for the guardians who have adopted the child into the family. This will help regulate the relationship between adults and children and timely identify illegal actions. This program creates a department that will have to control the entire process of the child’s adaptation to a new family and keep records of their treatment.
Problem Description
There are several reasons why child abuse can occur. One of these determinants is disappointment with unreasonably high expectations of guardians (Font & Gershoff, 2020). This occurs when people seek to involve children in the maximum number of activities that allow the child to exceed the load. Ignorance of the child’s age characteristics and the parameters of their growing up can lead to this. Thus, if they do not cope with the responsibility assigned to them, then parents or guardians resort to violence as, in their opinion, a fair punishment. This problem does not have any notable differences and can be equally manifested in local societies and worldwide. The difference, in this case, lies in the degree of impact on the child and their perception of what is happening. Another important reason is the impact of social factors arising from changes in society or the family (De Figueiredo et al., 2021). Such aspects may be unemployment, poor housing conditions, or the absence of important elements of normal living conditions. They can lead to a change in value orientations and manifest themselves in anxiety and aggression towards weaker people.
Thus, adults splash out their emotions on dependent people. This issue has some variations depending on localization. For example, in regions with a low level of social security and security, there is a higher chance of violence against children for this reason. The following reason that affects the manifestation of aggressive behavior toward children is sociocultural distortions (Ratner, 2019). This can be explained by the example of a family in which adults grew up in the same aggressive environment under the yoke of their parents. In this way, they adopt a behavioral model that they subconsciously consider more correct for raising a child. This variable also has a different character depending on the place of residence of the family. At the same time, it is not the size of the settlement that matters but its well-being, which directly affects adults’ moods. For example, in a city with a critical economic situation that has developed for a long time, many families can abuse children and pass on such a pattern of behavior.
Approach
Mention of the problem of child abuse, people can often be inclined to certain prejudices. Such thoughts may be that, in some cases, the child himself is to blame for his maltreatment of him. However, this thinking is wrong and can cause global damage to the entire work (Golightley & Holloway, 2019). Even in cases where a child has behavioral problems, it is unacceptable to blame and punish them physically. When conducting research, it is vital to protect it from the influence of biases that can adversely affect the final result. The problem voiced is relevant to society, so it should be considered. When designing a child protection program, it is vital to examine the prejudices that may arise in relation to a given social problem as good as possible. In this way, wrong conclusions can be avoided, and a better final strategy can be prepared to help children avoid violence.
In addition to the above prejudices, there are a number of those that apply to guardians. Prejudices about appearance can play a negative role when it comes to judging people not objectively on how they care for a child but on how they look. If a person has any traits that can be subjectively perceived as unpleasant, then they feel that they cannot be trusted (Golightley & Holloway, 2019). Thus, it is crucial to keep this in mind so as not to be influenced by prejudices. Bias can also be based on the financial situation of people, which makes sense because the child must be kept in suitable conditions. However, such judgments may be false, as the financial condition may be poorly assessed, and the conditions for guardianship would be entirely satisfactory. These biases can be curtailed by abstracting and understanding that a person should be judged primarily on the basis of their behavior towards children. Thus, according to Golightley & Holloway (2019), the best results can be achieved when working with caregivers. Prejudices should not become a determinant that will determine the course of work.
Global Impact
On a global scale, this social problem manifests itself everywhere. According to the World Health Organization (2022), more than one billion children around the world experience various types of violence. Such data may indicate a deplorable state of affairs regarding the safety of children. Thus, we can say that the problem of violence is relevant in all countries since the number of victims is enormous. The global and local way of existence the problem differs, in turn, in the number of cases of violation of children’s rights. In the United States, 3.6 million children are abused each year, according to the charity Child Protect (n.d.). The problem in one country is no different from the global one, except for the number of documented cases.
Based on this information, it can be concluded that globalization has implications for social problems. The instantaneous transfer of information, the mixing of cultures, and the adoption of social patterns of behavior led to the spread of the problem where it might not have been. Some people, under the influence of violent films or TV series, may begin to show their own misbehavior towards children. Similarities and differences in global and local manifestation can best be explained in terms of the integration and absorption of some cultures by others. Thus, the same social problem is presented both in a global sense and in a local one, ranging from small settlements to the whole world.
Potential Solution
There are many practices that are ranked according to their success in order to prevent child abuse. One of the failures can be called preventive conversations of psychologists with families in which parents are predisposed to violence. Such methods are not efficient and effective as they often do not prescribe any further action (Melendez-Torres et al., 2019). This is the error that needs to be eradicated, which the second method successfully does. Removing a child from an ill-treated family can have a significant positive impact on their future lives. This policy is more complex but provides children with a real chance to get rid of bad behavior. This decision usually ends in success because its difference from the previous one is that actions are taken here.
Based on previous studies, it is possible to propose such an effective strategy as the social support of children with guardians. This program assumes that there will be a particular body whose employees must implement the content and behavioral conditions of the guardians. In addition, the program provides interviews every week during the first half of the year to track the dynamics of relations. This approach can be successful because it offers specific actions to help detect and prevent violence (Russell et al., 2020). Previous research takes into account the fact that it is operative actions that can be more effective than psychological counseling.
References
Child Protect. (n. d.). Facts about child abuse. Web.
De Figueiredo, C. S., Sandre, P. C., Portugal, L. C. L., Mázala-de-Oliveira, T., da Silva Chagas, L., Raony, Í., Ferreira, E., Giestal-de-Araujo, E., Santos, A. & Bomfim, P. O. S. (2021). COVID-19 pandemic impact on children and adolescents’ mental health: Biological, environmental, and social factors. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 106, 110171. Web.
Font, S. A., & Gershoff, E. T. (2020). Foster care: How we can, and should, do more for maltreated children. Social Policy Report, 33(3), 1-40. Web.
Golightley, M., & Holloway, M. (2019). Social Work in the Eye of the Storm: Politics and Prejudice. The British Journal of Social Work, 49(2), 277-281. Web.
Melendez‐Torres, G. J., Leijten, P., & Gardner, F. (2019). What are the optimal combinations of parenting intervention components to reduce physical child abuse recurrence? Reanalysis of a systematic review using qualitative comparative analysis. Child Abuse Review, 28(3), 181-197. Web.
Ratner, C. (2019). Psychology’s contribution to socio-cultural, political, and individual emancipation. Springer Nature.
Russell, D., Higgins, D., & Posso, A. (2020). Preventing child sexual abuse: A systematic review of interventions and their efficacy in developing countries. Child Abuse & Neglect, 102, 104395. Web.
World Health Organization. (2022). Violence against children. Web.