Norma's Blog

Violence against children can be defined as various acts that a child is subjected to by a parent, caregiver, and other adults that may impair or endanger the emotional or physical development of the youth. Violence towards young children can also involve deprivation and neglect, and it has a negative impact on all sectors of the society. Moreover, it does not differ even if one was to consider socioeconomic, ethnic, cultural, or religious lines. Some of the factors that contribute to child violence include substance abuse, alcoholism, poverty or economic challenges, poor parental skills, victimization, and various forms of domestic violence. Generally, violence against children can be categorized into four major groups, including physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect or deprivation. This paper critically analyzes the issue of violence against young children, its impact, and how it can be prevented within the society.

In the United States, children have a higher probability of being subjected to violence than adults. Millions of children are subjected to a wide range of violence every year in their homes and other environments, either as victims or witnesses of violence. Even when children are not physically abused, they may be negatively affected by other types of violence, such as assault or murder of a relative or a neighbor. Historically, children have reacted to violence in numerous ways, and most of them have expressed incredible resilience. Nevertheless, children who are subjected to violence tend to suffer emotional, physical, and mental harm on most occasions. These children start experiencing attachment difficulties, depression and anxiety, regressive behavior, conduct problems, and aggression known from master dissertation.

Studies have also shown that exposure of children to violence affects the ability of the children to form effective social relationship in the future, a factor that may negatively affect their ability to be responsible parents. This is because violence can form a never-ending circle that continues from one generation to another. Over the years, various stakeholders have tried to detect and intervene early, while making constant follow-ups with the aim of preventing and reducing the effects of exposure to violence. These stakeholders include parents, teachers, law enforcement agencies, health providers, domestic violence advocates, child protection employees, and others. Since they are constantly interacting with children, they have a responsibility to develop various psychological and physical intervention measures that would prevent exposure of children to violence. Despite huge amount of studies conducted on child violence, people are yet to identify the exact number of children who are abused. This is because most studies make partial measurements that do not reveal the full extent of exposure.

Nature of Violence

Violence among young children tends to occur in many different environments; this may include school, home, community, and online spaces. Research studies have shown that the main perpetrators are individuals who are well known to the child, such as family members, relatives, intimate partners, neighbors, teachers, other children, and strangers. It is important to note that this kind of violence not only causes pain, humiliation, and harm to children; it can also contribute to the death of an exposed child. The society is required to ensure that the rights of children are protected, irrespective of the severity or nature of violence. Evidence shows that all violent causes harm the children, affronts their dignity, affects the sense of their self-worth, and hinders their physical and psychological development.

Women are often subjected to domestic violence and the devastating impacts have been clearly documented. However, very little is known about the effects of domestic violence on the children who witness one parent being battered. These children are the forgotten victims, yet they suffer a wide range of lasting and severe effects. Domestic violence increases the probability of a child being subjected to child abuse. Children who are not directly violated tend to have similar psychological and behavioral challenges as children who were physically assaulted. Studies have also shown that children who are subjected to violence at home have learning difficulties, display violent behaviors, have limited social skills, have delinquent and risky ways of acting, suffer from severe anxiety or depression. The most vulnerable children are those in the earliest years of their lives.

Statistics

The National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV) produced a national-wide survey detailing the rate of violence among children and young people younger than 17 years of age. The violence was categorized as child maltreatment, conventional crime, victimization by siblings and peers, indirect victimization (witnessing), sexual victimization, internet victimization, school threats and violence. Among the children surveyed, 60% were exposed to a certain form of violence over the past year either indirectly or directly. Close to a half (46.3%) of the children surveyed were subjected to violence at least once over the past year, and more than one in ten (10.2%) got injured during the instance of the violence. One in four (24.6%) became a victim of vandalism, robbery and theft, while one in ten (10.2%) suffered from violence, which included emotional and physical abuse, family abduction, or neglect.

One in 16 (6.1%) was sexually victimized, while more than 1 in 4 (25.3%) witnessed an act of violence. Close to one in ten (9.8%) saw a family member being assaulted. These are some of the numerous kinds of violence that children are exposed to on a daily basis. Another common issue observed in the survey is multiple victimizations. One third (38.7) experienced two or more forms of direct victimizations over the past one year, over one in ten (10.9%) experienced five or more violent incidences, and one in 75 (1.4%) experienced over ten direct instances of violence over the past one year.

Impacts

Children who are exposed to domestic violence between parents become victims of violence both directly and indirectly. The risk of harm to the emotional, physical, and social development of the child is connected to being increasingly exposed to a wide range of risks. Small children and infants who are exposed to domestic violence at home suffer from increased emotional stress the the extent that the development of their brain is negatively affected and their sensory and cognitive growth may be impaired. Behavioral changes as a result of violence may include sleep problems, excessive irritability, fear of being left alone, emotional distress, delayed language development, and immature behavior. During the early years of childhood, the brain is developing for long term emotional and physical functioning. However, when a child is exposed to violence, this development may be negatively affected. As children are growing up, exposure to violence makes them have problems with school work, and reduces their ability to focus and concentrate. A study has found that 40% of children exposed to violence had reduced reading abilities compared to children not exposed to violence.

Children who are brought up in families and communities that are full of violence tend to internalize these actions as the only way of solving disputes. Therefore, they have a higher probability of repeating these patterns of abuse and violence against their colleagues in the future. Apart from the tragic impacts on families and individuals, child violence is exposed to severe social and economic costs both in terms of reduced productivity and lost potential. Although all children are usually exposed to violence, female children tend to suffer more, especially when it comes to sexual violence. Not only does sexual violence increase the possibility of death, but it can lead to long term and irrevocable results that completely destroy the self esteem of the child involved in the future.

Prevention

Children should be protected from all kinds of violence. This is a basic right which The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees. This convention and other international standards and treaties have been instrumental in the protection of children from violence. However, violence against children has remained an unending problem across the world, irrespective of social and economic circumstance, religion, cultural, or ethnic background. Government officials should come up with policies that are aimed at protecting the rights of children. These policies can then be implemented through child rights enforcement agencies that will be responsible for investigating any cases concerning violence against children.

Governments can raise awareness and enable society to understand how children are affected by violence. It is possible to control vice when it is exposed to the public. Moreover, public education and campaigns can be instrumental in teaching people about the impact of violence on children and the importance of ending it. Laws and public policies should also be created to protect the rights of children. Laws, policies, and regulations should reinforce the idea that violence against children is a crime which is punishable. When violence towards youth is criminalized, it will send a clear message that vice is not a private issue and it is not accepted in modern society.

The policies need to center directly on child protection and address the effects of child violence both at home and in other environments. Government departments and other law enforcement agencies need to have the power and specialized policies that will protect victims of violence. It is important to note that different forms of domestic violence usually affect the spouse being violated, as well as influence the child witnessing the violence. Therefore, policies are required to criminalize all forms of violence in order to reduce the long term negative impacts on children. Government agencies need to take a leading role to ensure that violence against children is eliminated.

This paper has critically analyzed the issue of violence against children, its impact, and how it can be prevented. From the above analysis, it is evident that the issue of child violence is a global issue that remains pertinent across all ethnicities, religions, and cultural or socioeconomic backgrounds. Although numerous studies have been conducted on the impact of domestic violence, very little is known about its effect on children who are exposed to this violence. A study carried out recently showed that 60% of the respondents have been exposed to a form of violence over the past one year. This is a clear indication that although violence against children is prohibited in modern society, it is still rampant. The government needs to come up with policies that will protect the rights of children in society. Public education and campaigns are essential to inform the society about the negative impacts of violence towards children. Studies have shown that children who are exposed to violence at an early age tend to suffer from physical and cognitive development issues, a factor that may result in brain impairments. Therefore, governments need to implement legislation that will criminalize child violence. This way, any perpetrator will know that they will be prosecuted.