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CHILD ABUSE.
Term Paper ID:19770
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Essay Subject:
Focuses on black & Hispanic families. Socioeconomics, cycle of abuse, causal differences, prevention & treatment.... More...
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9 Pages / 2025 Words
8 sources, 17 Citations,
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Paper Abstract:
Focuses on black & Hispanic families. Socioeconomics, cycle of abuse, causal differences, prevention & treatment.
Paper Introduction:
Child Abuse Patterns in Black and Hispanic Families
A society's attitude toward children is part of a whole texture of values that may vary greatly from one culture to another, even among neighboring peoples. American cultural attitudes toward children are very complex. They derive from a mix of cultures; American black, Hispanic, Latin, Caribbean, Puerto Rican, European; from dominant American attitudes toward youth and vitality; from a European tradition that has over the last several hundred years gradually increased the dependency of youth.
Although politicians, social workers, the media, even congressional committees are railing at parental abuse of children, in fact it is our institutions-our schools, our legal
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Under the circumstances, it would seem anabusing parent might benefit from treatment. Violence, conquest,submission, exploitation are part of the history of America. In M. Statistics repeatedly point out this cycle of abuse. Social behavior problems should be dealt with in the community;that's the place for more caring relationships. Hispanic parents have a higher rate of child abusethat reflects their economic deprivation, youthfulness, and urbanresidence. Inaddition, the number of Hispanics in a given community may be under-reported because of immigration laws. They donot have the skills or knowledge to parent in another more appropriate way. American cultural attitudes toward children are verycomplex. However,greater disclosure, more awareness of the problem, and the recognition ofthe child abuse as a societal problem, are the positive steps to take inthe health process for both sets of victims--the child and the parents. Blackparents who experienced child abuse or neglect were more prone to becomeabusers themselves (Cazeneve, 199 ). These groups do have higher reported rates ofchild abuse. One of the mostcommon characteristics of abusive parents is their own abused childhood(Hyde, 198 ). Denver: American Humane Association.Straus, M. This would help bridge the gapregarding social isolation issues. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.Helfer, R. Straus (Ed.), Physical violence in American families (pp. Solutions Short of a national family policy there are still some partialsolutions. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press.Russell, A. Communities, even neighborhoods, are likely to becollections of strangers where no one knows the next-door neighbor's name.Religion has lost much of its natural force. Support programs for new parents help prepare people for thejob of being a parent. As of 1984, Hispanic children madeup 12% of all reported cases of physical child abuse and made up 9.7% totalof all children in the U.S. Unfortunately, all societies have some childrenthey value less than others. Amajor element of the Gestalt approach is to try and keep the familytogether and not put the child with foster parents. When there is no father and the mother is the head of a family onrelief, it is often worse-as she is usually young, unskilled, unable to getjob training, unable to get a job once trained, and unable to escape fromthe stressful conditions of their life. For Blacks, there is a definite difference in child abuse behaviorbetween those who do and those who do not have relatives living nearby. (199 ). While there is nodoubt about the impact of economic levels and family size on abusebehavior, analysis of research regarding racial tendency toward child abuseis not as clear cut as the study indicates. Self help groups and other neighborhood supportgroups reduce the isolation often associated with abuse, especially thosewho are high risk. Cycle of Abuse Culturally sanctioned violence is shown on our TV programs, movies,crime rate shows, the fear of the rich and poor in the big cities shows it.Our violence is familial, racial, and generational. (1987). (eds.). Yet even when these factors are removed, Hispanic parentscontinue to have a higher rate of child abuse (Straus, 199 ). There arefactors that indicate that Blacks do not report child abuse higher than thenational norm nor higher than other ethnic groups. The reason for theirover-reporting may be the close attention that Black families receive fromsocial services who act as reporting mechanisms versus White families. Additionally, age has a lot to do asa predictor of violence. In M. In a recent study of 711 families, nearly one out of sevenHispanic children were severely assaulted by their parents (Straus, 199 ).Almost one out of four Hispanic households witnessed a scene of an assaultbetween married or live-in partners. Straus (Ed.), Physical Violence in American Families (pp. This, coupled with the presence ofviolence and crime in the community, and the socio-economic patterns facedby Hispanics, provides food for thought. The result is that a "higherprobability of parent-to-child violence in Hispanic families may well bedue to a lack of social support for many of these families" (Straus, 199 ).In fact, many Hispanics attempt to reject the culture, at least initially,in favor of their own. Although politicians, social workers, the media, even congressionalcommittees are railing at parental abuse of children, in fact it is ourinstitutions-our schools, our legal system, our welfare system, ourunemployment system, even our child-custodial system-that have mostneglected and abused our children. Yet, experts are quick to point out that in general the abusepatterns are linked more to the economic conditions faced by Blacks andHispanics in the United States, than to the culture itself. (1984). They derive from a mix of cultures; American black, Hispanic,Latin, Caribbean, Puerto Rican, European; from dominant American attitudestoward youth and vitality; from a European tradition that has over the lastseveral hundred years gradually increased the dependency of youth. ReferencesCazenave, N. However this pattern did not reflect minoritybehavior directly. (198 ). M. These mechanisms include family andsocial service support. Unplanned pregnancies, family planning problems, and child maltreatment. Overall, studies indicate that child abuse is lesslikely to occur in societies where children are valued for their economicor emotional contribution. Violence in Hispanic families in the United States: Incidence rates and structural interpretations. Without strong parental guidance backed up bysociety, children look for other models, and increasingly these models aretheir peers. They have no real friends, they areloners and they shun other people. Research conducted over the last 1 years indicates that childrenfrom families whose income was less than $15, experienced maltreatmentat a rate five times higher than children from higher incomes. Social servicesshould not be located in the basement of a court, but in schools,hospitals, in local health centers. Educationalprograms try to provide parents with information about local service andhealth resources are also shared. Predictives Those people who grow to adulthood without parental love are likelyto be emotionally isolated; suspicious of others, unable when they have achild to provide him/her with mothering-instead, expecting the child toprovide the gratification that their lack of internal development hasdenied them. (1968). The pattern of child abuse inferred by this treadmill of despair foreconomically disadvantaged children--in this overview, for Blacks andHispanics--are grim indeed. Cry softly. Child abuse. In a family with many children, as happens in Hispanicfamilies, this parent is likely to select the most frustrating ones andsingle them out for his rage. That is where is also whereit may be possible to influence or change institutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Hyde, M. All theprograms in the world can't make up for the pain of child abuse. Family Relations: The Journal of Applied Family & Child Studies, 36, pp. 321-4 ). Abusersshare two common characteristics--they abuse theirchildren and they need and usually want help (O'Brien 198 ).Many abusive parents are isolated. Philadelphia, NY: Westminster Press.O'Brien, S. The battered child. Likewise, the West has customs that could be taken out of contextand misinterpreted. Child abuse and neglect: A shared community concern. Unfortunately they come from all groups ofsociety: Abuse is found in every category we might define.It cuts across every spectrum of life regardless ofthe color of skin, ethnic background, religious heritage, place of residence or money earned. Researchers show that thehigher the number of years a family has lived in a community, the lessincidence of child abuse and greater reliance on the extended family(Cazenave, 199 ). Information isstill limited. "Simply removing thechild from the trouble and abusive parents will not stop the abuse or stopit from occurring in the future" (Helfer, 1968). It is common knowledge, documented statistically and inghettoes throughout the United States, that with unemployment andunderemployment go high crime rates, alcoholism, addiction, and familybreakdown, as well as high rates of infant mortality, poor physical andmental health, malnutrition, bad schools, and eventually children introuble with society and the law. The same government survey went so far asstating categorically that there is no racial bias or tendency toward childabuse (Department of Health and Human Services, 1989). In Black families, there is a tendency for families to interact withextended kin more. Race, class, network embeddedness, and family violence. Americans today are experiencing a social disorganization caused bythe breakdown in the family and the deterioration of the cities, butespecially by economic fluctuations that have put large numbers of peopleout of work. Largerfamilies, with four or more children, also showed higher rates of bothphysical abuse and neglect. There aredifferences culturally however between Blacks and Hispanics regarding theoverall effect of this strain on resources. Children are in trouble because families are in trouble, and familiesare in trouble because the other institutions which helped keep themtogether have also been falling apart. Researchers point to onedominant factor associated with family violence as "social isolation"(Cazenave, 199 ). Child Abuse Patterns in Black and Hispanic Families A society's attitude toward children is part of a whole texture ofvalues that may vary greatly from one culture to another, even amongneighboring peoples. In essence the entire family is seen as the patient andmust be addressed since the sum of its parts are greater than the whole. Parent support programs try to aid in the development of a lovingrelationship and strong attachment between parent and child. There is nodata on the likelihood for Hispanics to form extended families. J. A. Early family screening and treatment isprovided by home health visitors to identify and deal with any problems.Programs for abused children and young adults try to minimize the long termeffects of child abuse. Another aspect of abusive parents istheir belief in hard physical punishment. Behavior patterns in both Black and Hispanic communities seem toconfirm the cycle of family violence begetting family violence. Other economic factors aside, therefore,Blacks proportionately represent a far less threat of pattern child abusethan Hispanics at this stage in their cultural development (Cazenave,199 ). (199 ). Washington, DC: Author.Zuravin, S. Hispanics, where there were morerecorded patterns of physical violence as part of child rearing, alsoexhibit this behavior (Straus, 199 ). (198 ). Children arethe most fragile members of a culture, the ones most affected by troublesin the family or upheavals in society. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.U.S. Thehighest rates of child abuse occur among black parents whose husbands haveno relatives (35%) or wives have no relatives (2 %) living within an houraway. A. A., & Straus, M. In this setting, Blacks haveconsistently comprised about 2 percent of the population of all reportedcases of child abuse (Russell, 1984). Causal Differences of Child Abuse While child abuse can and does exist at all levels of the population,its higher incidence among lower-income groups cannot only be explained bythe argument that the poor are more likely to be reported, but because,compared to other groups in the population, they live under conditions ofmuch greater strain and frustration in their daily lives. These types of social isolation appear to have adverse consequencesfor Blacks (Cazenave, 199 ). 341-64). A. This extended family is an important support system thatserves as a buffer from a racially hostile environment (Cazenave, 199 ).The existence of the extended family is closely related to the number ofyears which the family has lived in an area. Zuravin found that low-income womanwith unplanned pregnancies in fact were predictive of both child abuse andchild neglect (1987). (1989). Since then anumber of cross cultural research studies have been done. B., & Trainor, C. In America, less than 5 percent ofthe population has more than two generations in a household. Cultural Context of Child Abuse Prior to 198 most studies looked at Western nations. A host of factors increasingly isolates children from parents andparents, particularly young, stay-at-home mothers, from the rest of life.The separation of work from leisure, the separation of generations, theincreased mobility of the population, the relaxation of many of the oldforms and standards, and the American emphasis on individualism have allweakened the social fabric. Family support services provide families with whatthey need to cope with the stresses of life and stay together. A., & Smith, C. "Cross cultural variability indicates there is not auniversal definition for what is good child care or what is child abuse"(Helfer, 1968). These parents want control andauthority over their children and will use force to get it. In addition, the family still is affected by strongeconomic factors that deny the father or mother with fair, or comparablepaying jobs. While certainly not representing a majority of the Hispanicpopulation, instances of child abuse and violence in the Hispanic family doraise concern. Social behavior problems have no place in court unless they'recriminal. We will investigate some of thesefactors later in the paper. Focusing on the family helps break the cycle of abuse from generationto generation. This approach is consistent withGestalt principles. Department of Health and Human Services. Most researchers concur that Blacks today areover-reported statistically and have remained consistent at 2 % of thepopulation despite a continuing rise in child abuse statistics. We have become casuallyaccepting of it, and we have institutionalized it. Hispanics on the other hand have not yet developed an extended familystructure and may have resisted interaction with the community. Child Abuse Treatment While there are many methods of treatment, the most prevalentapproach is to treat the family unit. But the parent would benefitmore from a decent standard of living. Adultswho grow up in an environment of abuse often repeat the pattern. Family Dynamics and Behavior Patterns Who are child abusers? There should be community facilities todeal with neglected and abused children who are really in trouble, andneighbors, or family centers, willing to take a child for a night if that'surgent. The extendedfamily hardly exists. A more endemic problem may exist within the Hispanic community atlarge. There should be help and counseling for the parents and probationservices. Social isolation results from the lack of supportmechanisms for the family or within certain communities because of the ageof that family or that community. Initiation rights in many parts of the world are an exampleof this. Trends in child abuse and neglect: A national perspective. 135-39.----------------------- 11 In large urban centers where the public-school population is predominantly black and poor, or Hispanic and poor,the schools are consistently turning out children who can't read, aneducational system indifferent to the fate of poor black and Hispanicchildren [who are] regarded as sub-human and non-educable.
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