Child Abuse

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, although great strides have been made in detecting and preventing child maltreatment, confidentiality and expungement laws are some inadequacies that contribute to the ongoing problems in investigating and convicting perpetrators. The author points out that confidentiality laws mandating silence and expungement laws mandating ignorance leave a system of child protective services, which cannot monitor its own work, which is insulated from outside scrutiny and which is unable to publicly account for its actions. The paper stresses that a child who is abused today is at risk of becoming an abuser or may continue the abuse pattern themselves throughout their lives; maltreatment as a child can have far-reaching consequences including fear of intimacy and low social integration.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Critical Evaluation
Supporting Arguments
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Throughout the history of our nation, child maltreatment has been a part of life. Prior to the 1960's, little was thought about this being a problem. In fact, during the late eighteenth, early nineteenth centuries, there was little focus on sexual and physical abuse. What we consider physical abuse today was actually an acceptable way to discipline your child. And what is now known about sexual abuse, well, it just wasn't talked about. Only the most horrendous abuses were noticed. As in the case of an eight year old adopted child named Mary Ellen who, in 1874 was found chained, beaten, and malnourished. The media attention generated for this little girl led to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 1875.Since that time there have been hundreds of organizations established to aid abused children."

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