What Can be the Consequences of Child Abuse?
Child abuse is a situation when a caretaker, relatives or parents themselves cause harm directly or indirectly to a child. Such situations may include causing injury, potentially serious harm, emotional harm, death or failing to act when the child needs something.
Reportedly, every year almost 3 million cases of child abuse are reported in the whole United States of America. People need to be aware of it and talking about it. And that’s just the number of reported cases, so certainly the number is higher than 3 million. What is child abuse? What are the legal consequences of child abuse?
photo/ witwiccan
Types of Child Abuse
Child abuse is mainly of 4 types- physical abuse, child neglect, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse.
- Physical abuse is caused when the person-in-charge of the child or any adult causes harm or injury to the child which is not accidental in nature.
- Sexual abuse occurs when an adult or even an elder child uses a small child for sexual purposes. This can be direct involvement or just using the child to satisfy some other pleasure of sexual nature.
- Emotional abuse takes place when the parent or the caregiver harms the child in a way that can affect his mental and social development. This is a severe emotional injury and while one incident can just be a small case of child abuse, doing it repeatedly can cause worse effects.
- Child neglect is a term used for a situation in which the caretaker or the parent of a child overlooks the needs of the child. This can include ignoring the child’s health, well-being or safety.
You should immediately reach out to a criminal lawyer in Tampa for the best assistance in any of these sensitive cases. Now we will state the list of probable consequences if any of these categories of child abuse is proven in court.
Consequences of Child Abuse
If a child’s abuse and maltreatment are ignored and not acted against, it can cause several serious and complex consequences. These consequences are later very difficult to diagnose as well as very difficult to treat. Take a look at some of the probable effects.
- Physiological and Medical Consequences
Infants are in their growth stage and are immensely fragile. Even a harsh stroke of anger may cause severe damages. If a child is hit in the head or shaken vigorously, it can cause dangerous brain damage or cranial disorders. In the next stage, if these are not treated with proper medical assistance, they can become permanent and even lead to death.
- Intellectual and Psychological Consequences
If a child is constantly beaten up or mistreated, the effects will show in his behavior and personality for sure. He will be a frightened child and his brain will not function properly. This will eventually lead to low grades and poor performance in school.
- Behavioral Changes
When a child experiences violence and an unhealthy environment at home, it is evident that his behavior will show a clear picture of it. Becoming rude, introvert or a violent child is not at all a good sign for the society altogether.
- Adolescence
This is a very sensitive stage in a child’s life. This is when the body and mind cope with the effect of hormonal changes. The body, as well as the mind and thoughts of a child, moves beyond infancy and proceeds towards adulthood. This is a transit phase and children should be dealt with very tactfully at this stage.
This article is a basic overview of the meaning of child abuse and the harm it can cause in a child’s life.
Author: Story World
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