Child Abuse Guardian or the Caregiver of a Child

Question: Discuss about theChild Abusefor Guardian or the Caregiver of a Child. Answer: Introduction Child abuse occurs in instances when the parent, guardian or the caregiver of a child, whether through and form of action or fail to respond, causes harm, injury, death to a child. Child abuse has a broad spectrum in itself that include physical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation, Child maltreatment and emotional abuse. Child abuse may extend to a scenario where the parent or guardian neglects the care of the child or rather denies the child his or her rights as stipulated in the bill of rights. It is reported o an annual base many children all over the world are subjected to child abuse. To this extent, therefore, the global arena and all the actors in the international system ought to come together and fight this vice. Child abuse is a contemporary issue that is complicated as a result of numerous causes. About child abuse, the world health organization (WHO) and the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect have established factors the influence occurrence of child abuse scenarios. Child abuse occurs as a result of economic and social factors in the levels of a person, their local area, the community as a whole and the relationships that exist among themselves(Stoltenborgh, van Ijzendoorn, Euser, Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2011). Some of the social factors that lead to child abuse include the family structure, domestic violence, and stressful life events. About the family structure, children who live with single parents have a higher chance of being subjected to child abuse through physical and sexual abuse. Secondly, domestic violence according to research child abuse occurs in 30 to 60 percent of the families where couples abuse each other. Children in these environments may be physically abused, neglected and also witness the behaviors of their parents. On the other hand, stressful life events may play a substantive role in causing child abuse. Some of the life stressful events include loss of jobs, physical illnesses, and marital issues, the death of close relatives or friends. These cases may lead an individual to suffer from depression, hostility, and anxiety. As a result, the problem causes the degree of child abuses and family conflict to escalate. Another social factor that may lead to child abuse is disabilities. There is a high chance of a child with cognitive, physical, and emotional disabilities to be abused in comparison with those without any form of disability. On the other hand, economic factors may cause child abuse. Some economic factors that can lead to abuse include lack of any source of income or low income by parents enough to cater for their family needs. The parents develop discomfort and stress which may lead to child abuse. Another example is a scenario where parents suffer from bankruptcy and cannot pay the debts they owe others.As such, it may create discomfort aggravating the chances of child abuse(Wong, How, Yi Wong, Wong, 2013). In Singapore, measures have been put in place to curb abuse. Some of these measures are accelerated by governments developmental and immunization programs that allow children to be in contact with health professionals. The health authorities track children being denied this form of care and engage the guardians. Addition referrals are conducted on suspicion that a child has been maltreated. Another prevention measure is that the government is offering support in enrollment of toddlers in nursery, child care centers and kindergartens. More so, the authorities ensure that there is almost complete enrollment ion primary one. Social service agents have joined efforts with self-help groups to conduct community outreach to those enrolled. Lastly, the jury strictly convicts child abusers to lengthy jail terms of even 11 years. For instance, in the case against a toddler's mother and partner, Zaida, and her boyfriend were jailed for 11 and ten years respectively. Evidence of the community pa rticipation concerns the Child Protective Service 2022 reports had been notified to the authorities(Petersen, Joseph, Feit, Monica Feit, 2014) There has been evidence against the child abuse measures where the community is reluctant to inform the authorities on cases of child abuse around them. Such a scenario has been a big blow in the quest to punish the child abusers and also save the child from maltreatments. For instance, according to the minister for social and family development, he wonders why bystanders are reluctant to report, why they did nothing or why they did not say something(Wong et al., 2013) To this extent, therefore, the community should be at the forefront to look out among themselves cases of child abuse. The authorities, on the other hand, should be fast to ensure that appropriate measures and programs are implemented to curb the vice. Also, lobby groups, and human rights activists, and the media should provide massive awareness on child abuse so that each every societal member gets to know detailed information on child abuse. References Chan, J. S., Elliott, J. M., Chow, Y., Singapore Children's Society. (2000).Professional and public perceptions of physical child abuse and neglect in Singapore. Singapore: Singapore Children's Society. Petersen, A. C., Joseph, J., Feit, M., Monica Feit. (2014). New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research. Behavioral and Social Sciences | Children, Youth and Families. https://doi.org/10.17226/18331 Rong, S. Y. (2016, July 10). Playing a part in stopping child abuse. Retrieved February 14, 2017, from Asia One News: https://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/playing-part-stopping-child-abuse Top of Form Singapore. (2003).Protecting families children from abuse. Singapore: Ministry of Community Development and Sports. Stoltenborgh, M., van Ijzendoorn, M. H., Euser, E. M., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2011). A global perspective on child sexual abuse: meta-analysis of prevalence around the world. Child Maltreatment, 16(2), 79101. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559511403920 Tan, T. (2016, April 26). More child abuse cases being investigated. Retrieved February 14, 2017, from SPH Digital News: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/more-child-abuse-cases-being-investigated Wong, P. Y. P. C. Y., How, C. H., Yi Wong, P. C., Wong, P. Y. P. C. Y. (2013). Management of child abuse. Singapore Medical Journal, 54(10), 533537. https://doi.org/10.11622/smedj.2013196