Seeking a cure for child abuse

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Sept, 1998 by Alex Morales

Mary Ellen, a frail eight-year-old, stood before the Supreme Court of New York in 1874 and told the painful story of how she did not recall ever being kissed or hugged, and testified that she was beaten and whipped daily by her mother. A neighbor had become concerned about the girl's suffering and shared her fears with a social worker. Together, they attempted to get society's attention, but no one would respond.

Finally, the social worker and neighbor turned for help to a community activist who had founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He had compassion for Mary Ellen and used his resources to bring her plight before the court. The girl's mother was placed in prison, and Mary Ellen later was adopted. Shortly thereafter, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in New York was formed, thus formalizing the regrettable need to protect youngsters from their parents.

Today, Mary Ellen's story still raises two challenging questions: What are we--neighbors, the business community, concerned citizens, and professionals--going to do about the escalation of child abuse? Most important, can we truly act to prevent it?

It is estimated that each year in the U.S., 1,500,000 children (up from 900,000 in 1986) are moderately to seriously abused. Three thousand of the youngest victims will die because their bodies are too weak to stand up to the abuse, with half of victims being under the age of one and 90% under the age of four. This year, out of every 100 American kids, 2.3 (up from 1.5 in 1986) will be abused. If nothing in American society changes, one out of 10 babies will be abused before they reach adulthood. Today, there are 72,000 abused youngsters receiving protective services from the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Families Services. Approximately 42,000 of them have been removed from their parents, with half living with foster parents or in institutions and the other half with relatives. The financial cost of a child in institutional care is more than $50,000 per year.

There are four major forms of child abuse. Approximately 55% of the kids who are seriously mistreated suffer from severe neglect. These include very young children who are abandoned or left alone for more than 48 hours, aren't fed, do not receive needed medical treatment, or are not sent to school for days at a time. Approximately 25% are physically abused to the extent that the injuries will take at least 48 hours to heal and, in some cases, they never will do so. Twenty percent are sexually abused--and the risk of this happening is the same for a three-year-old as it is for a teenager. Emotional abuse underlies all the other forms of abuse and, while not outwardly visible, is insidiously present nonetheless. The latter often causes the most disabling and lasting injury, as the emotional foundation of the child is eroded and he or she feels unloved, unworthy, exploited, and enraged.

Seventy-eight percent of all child abuse in this country is committed by birth parents. In American society, despite women's increasing role of participating in the workforce, the mother--whether working full or part time or staying home--remains the primary parent who faces the daily challenges of raising the youngsters. Therefore, one erroneously might think that the problem invariably lies with mothers. This is not so. Physical abuse is carried out relatively equally by mothers and fathers. Sexual abuse, in 90% of the cases, is perpetrated by a man. Sexual abuse is the one form of abuse in which the majority of perpetrators are neither the mother nor the father, but, most often, a male adult who has an ongoing relationship with and access to a child. In 87% of the neglect cases, it is the mother who is the neglectful parent.

Research clearly has revealed that child abuse is not associated with race or ethnicity in this country. The strongest correlating factor is poverty. However, abuse is found at all socioeconomic levels. Parents are 22 times more likely to abuse their offspring if they live on less than $15,000 annually than are those who eam more than $30,000 per year. This explains why many professionals dedicated to the well-being of children are deeply concerned that the new welfare reform strategy must assure the economic survival of families, or else the youngsters will pay the price.

Drug and alcohol abuse devastates parents and highly is associated with abuse of children. Substance abuse undermines adults' ability to function in many areas, including parenting, work, and personal life. There are many who have great emotional problems because of unhealed traumatic childhoods or adult experiences, such as growing up in a home with child abuse, spousal abuse, or alcoholism. These parents can be unstable; sometimes, substance abuse is a destructive anesthetic for them.

There is a strong relationship between stress and violent physical outbursts directed at a youngster who is in the wrong place at the wrong time. To understand stress, it is necessary to examine the causes and seek coping resources to manage the condition. One very important resource to help manage personal stress is the support of others--i.e., a spouse, relative, friend, or even a compassionate stranger. However, some people do not have a network of supportive relationships due to the high mobility of society, poor decision-making in forming relationships, or insecurity about forging new ones. Stress can come from many sources, but often its strongest forms are associated with poverty. It can arise when a parent does not know how to deal with a child, especially a difficult one. Mothers and/or fathers who have had a poor upbringing particularly lack good examples for parenting.