Cross Cultural Analysis of Child Abuse, Research Paper Example

This paper addresses the concept of child abuse and how this has manifested itself across different countries throughout the world.  The analysis examines the potential causes of child abuse, the type of people that indulge in this practice, the psychological effects on the victims, the types of treatment that are available and the implications in both sociological and psychological terms. The paper concludes with a summary assessment and hope for the future.  The key question addressed is : What constitutes child abuse in different nations ?  How are different cultures impacted by this and what remedial actions may be taken.

The most abused children are those that have been neglected and never come to the attention of social care agencies or the government.  This is particularly true where the children have been sexually abused and there is no tangible evidence. This may leave the children with intense feelings of shame and the inability to relate the experience to care providers. Governments have produced statistics on reported child abuse cases but this is considered as just the tip of the iceberg.  The vast majority of cases go unreported hence we get no real feel of the magnitude of the problem  “A group of researchers conducted two surveys of child abuse, in 1975 and 1985. Their second survey found that reports of child abuse had dropped by almost 50 percent. In 1975, respondents were interviewed in their homes whereas in 1985 respondents were interviewed on the phone. Could this change in interviewing technique have contributed to the decrease?” (Hopper, 2009).

The Oak Foundation is one of a number of non profit organizations that have been established to assist different countries throughout the world.  Their efforts focusing on environmental and social conditions, including that of child abuse. The foundation has identified a number of priority countries  where there exists one or more of : sexual abuse of children, social exploitation of children and trafficking of children:-  (Oak Foundation, 2010)

• Switzerland;
• Bulgeria;
• Latvia;
• Ethiopia
• Uganda
• Tanzania

The latest scandal relative to child abuse has been with the Catholic Church. This particularly in the Irish section of that church. The Church has received a number of reports related to paedophile priests. Pope Benedict called this a ‘grave sin’. These claims escalated to Brazil and Germany where it was estimated that 2/3rd of the diocese were implicated. This has created a crisis of confidence in the Catholic Church and an immediate investigation into other countries. One of the areas under investigation is that of Munich and Freising, where Pope Benedict was the former Bishop from 1977-82 under the name of Joseph Ratzingen.  (Bush, 2010)

There is also the concept of child abuse in the context of juvenile crime.  This comes from abuse between juveniles and that of the system administering justice.  Some recent interesting statistics in the USA indicate that about 62% victims of non fatal violence occur at the hands of juvenile offendors.  95 % of sexual assaults were commited by youths under the age of 18.  Some 74% of reported juvenile offences said the purpotrator was a male.  61% of simple assaults were carried out by juveniles.  One area singled out as having the most continued troubelsome record was Los Angeles in California.  (Montaldo). The penalties for juvenile crime vary from State to State, with the death penalty being imposed at the severest end.  The Supreme Court generally does not advocate the death penalty for juveniles, nevertheless this remains at the prerogative of the State laws.  At the moment the USA has executed 6 juveniles this decade with Oklahoma and Texas strong advocates of this.  ” A 1988 Supreme Court ruling (Thompson v. Oklahoma) is widely interpreted as prohibiting the execution of offenders who committed crimes when under the age of 16, but individual states can set higher minimum ages.”  (Mark, J 2009)These vary from the nature of the crime ranging from community service, through imprisonment and ultimately the death penalty. In 2005 the USA was reported as having 2,250 juveniles serving life imprisonment.  This being highly criticised by Amnesty International who considered it a violation of human rights.  This ruling on life imprisonment was being exercised across 42 States.  It was stated only Tanzania, South Africa and Israel adopted such harsh practices.  An interesting case was that of Christopher Simmons who had been sentenced to death at age 17.  This occurred in the State of Missouri in 1993 and subsequent appeals lasted until 2002.  The US Supreme Court in Missouri stayed the Execution until the US Supreme Court has reached a final verdict on Atkins v Virginia ( a murder case based on someone who was mentally ill).  ” the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing the mentally ill violated the Eighth and 14th Amendment prohibitions on cruel and unusual punishment because a majority of Americans found it cruel and unusual, the Missouri Supreme Court decided to reconsider Simmons’ case.”  (Kennedy,2008).  The Government decided that a dangerous precedent would be set if State Courts would be allowed to overturn rulings of the US Supreme Court simply based upon popular beliefs of the people that it was in their business interests.

On October 11, 2006 United Nations released the first comprehensive study on violence and abuse against children.  They produced the following important statistics:

• 53,000 children died worldwide, owing to homicide;
• 80 to 98% of children suffer physical punishment in their homes;
• hundred 50 million girls and 73 million boys and 18 have experienced forced sexual intercourse;
• between 100 and hundred 40 million girls have undergone some form of female genital mutilation cutting.  Most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt and Saddam;
• in 2004 218 million children were able to child labour;
• in the 2000 it was estimated that some 1.8 million children have been forced into pornography and prostitution worldwide;
• 1.2 million children are the victims of trafficking.

The World Health Organization maintains that every day 2000 children die from an injury that could have been prevented.

In many parts of the world the concept of child abuse only recently surfaced as a problem.  Increased viability of the world media and international coverage shed more light on the problem.  Governments and agencies apply different definitions to how child abuse interpreted.  They consider this from the viewpoint of public policy, social and cultural perspectives.  Consider ..  “the Vietnamese practice of “coining” rubbing the chest and “cupping” placing heated cups over the chest of a child with respiratory illness instead of using antibiotics and humidification has been seen as a form of child neglect and abuse by Western health care professionals”  (Campbell, 2005).

The European Union [EU] recently produced a proposal that would block the depiction of child abuse sites on the Internet.  The concept being to stop the source of this type of material being available for pedophiles.  It was considered that they would just so convenient by the use of proxies or by using private websites in order to trade materials.  One of the most important challenges to this proposal came from the German firm of MOGIS[1] the victim action to child abuse survivors.  They maintain that this would do more harm than good, and were forced pedophiles underground and therefore make detection that much more difficult.  The actual image of child abuse is already outlawed all over the world.

Abuse can also happen after a divorce situation and the mother re-marries, consider :  I grew up living in a divided family.  My mother remarried a man that was very abusive to us.  Our mother  became indifferent to the abuse  that we suffered from our stepfather.  As such we ended up with two different parenting styles; that of the authoritarian from the stepfather and the uninvolved from our mother.  ” Authoritarian parents are highly demanding and directive, but not responsive. “They are obedience- and status-oriented, and expect their orders to be obeyed without explanation” (Baumrind, 1991, p. 62).” (Nancy Darling, 1999).

Owing to this physical and mental abuse that I endured as a child I became extremely angry.  This resulted in my getting into fights with no explicable reason.  The positive side from the abuse is that it built up my inner strength so as not to be afraid or give up my resolve.  In Adulthood it has made me  a better mother and wife.  I have learnt to control my anger and I have adapted this resilience to other aspects of my life.  The example of treatment from my parents directly influenced my adult behaviour to my spouse and children and made me more protective of them in ensuring they never had to endure similar treatment. ” If it is true that childhood attachment styles can predict the quality of adult interpersonal relationships, and if parenting styles reflect the same influence as attachment styles, then it seems likely that parenting styles should also predict relationship outcomes.” (Jennifer Neal, 2001).

In adulthood, when I became a parent, I was extremely nervous and I feared the concept of hurting or alienating my child.  As such I made extra efforts to ensure my child never had to experience the trauma that I experienced in  my childhood.  ” An uninvolved parenting style is characterized by few demands, low responsiveness and little communication. While these parents fulfill the child’s basic needs, they are generally detached from their child’s life. In extreme cases, these parents may even reject or neglect the needs of their children”. (Kendra Cherry, 2010)

The concept of role reversal in modern marriages is another contributing factor that is causing strain and suffering upon children.  In the modern marriages we are seeing a lot of role reversal taking place.  The wife is going out to work and having a career, essentially the money earner,  whilst the husband is staying at home looking after the kids and dealing with domestic chores.  Unless there is good synergy, communication and understanding in the marriage.  This can lead to a significant strain.  This is compounded with the role reversal occurred because the male partner  lost his job.  The loss of the masculine role, and feeling of shame often leads to extramarital relationships.  In the new relationship, the mail seeks to reinsert his masculinity and reclaim the position he believed lost in his marriage.  All too often in these situations.  It is the children that suffer creating divided loyalties, confusion, and ultimately alienation. ” ‘To accomplish this (the ability to love and be loved) a man must be willing to plumb the depths of his own psyche and to revisit the struggles, losses and traumas that lie at the root of his developmental crisis of self-formation and masculine identity. This cannot be accomplished through the nostalgic drumbeat of primitive masculinity” (Rowan, 2010)

There is no doubt that many young couples starting out on married life.  Need some degree of help in facing the challenges that lie ahead.  There is a bridge that needs to be built with recognition for the equality of women and the right to have a career, whilst being empathetic men in understanding their changing role.  Men need to find a greater balance in their life whilst communicating and supporting the wife; who after all is looking after the safety and interests of the family.  Marriage is essentially a partnership of mutual understanding, trust and working with each other, goals and objectives.

Men who experience high levels of male gender stress very often turn to substance abuse in order to manage the insecurity of the male role expectation.  This often manifests itself in verbal and physical abusive  behaviour.  Research is being conducted between the various income groups relative to male and female.  Early results indicate male low income groups tend to lean more towards this type of behaviour.  Hence the concept of insecurity and inadequacy to that of the female gender. The concept of gender role stress, illustrates that both women and men adopt different strategies to deal with the problem.  Men tend to focus on status and physical dominance in order to repress characteristics associated with femininity.  Research observations indicate that men in general terms tend to be more prone to anger and violence than that of women.  There is also evidence that suggests men and women differ in the emotional interpretation situations.  For men.  This is often situations associated with physical inadequacy or a feeling of being subordinate or intellectually inferior to women; this  being either at work or in home life.  All too often this manifests itself in child abuse situations.  The father feeling resentful of the career successful wife and his subordinate role, takes his anger out on the children.  This becomes even more complex when the father is being seen to have covert extra marital relationships.

Concluding Remarks

Child abuse can be seen to manifest itself in many different guises and remains prevalent in many different guises throughout the world.  It includes the criminal activities such as that of paedophiles, trafficking of children, neglect and forced violence.  It appears in the form of child soldiers being forced into armed conflict, the cruelty imposed by role reversal and the breakdown of the modern family.  It appears from poverty and children on the streets being forced to resort to a life of crime in order to survive.  The statistics presented in this report and truly horrifying and show a global social problem on an unprecedented scale.  At a time when prisons and correction centres are already full it is horrifying to see the global rise of juvenile crime in our Cities.  This is not a problem that the law enforcement agencies or courts can deal with; they simply do not have the manpower or resources to cope.  It is truly a social problem for consideration by the world governments if we are to both stop the abuse and the related crime that accompanies it.

Works Cited

Bush, A. (2010, 3 19). Pope breaks silence to calm child abuse row. Retrieved 3 24, 2010, from China Post: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/international/europe/2010/03/19/248948/Pope-breaks.htm

Campbell, E. T. (2005, 7 1). Child Abuse Recognition, Reporting and Prevention: A Culturally Congruent Approach. Retrieved 3 25, 2010, from BNet: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3919/is_200507/ai_n14825657/

Hopper, J. (2009, 9 23). Child Abuse. Retrieved 3 24, 2010, from Jim Hopper: http://www.jimhopper.com/abstats/#effects

Jennifer Neal, D. F.-H. (2001, 9). The Effects of Parenting Styles and Childhood Attachment Patterns on Intimate Relationships. Retrieved 3 1, 2010, from Journal of Instructional Psychology, : http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCG/is_3_28/ai_79370572/pg_2/?tag=content;col1

Kendra Cherry. (2010, 3 1). Parenting Styles. Retrieved 3 1, 2010, from About.com:Psychology: http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/parenting-style.htm

Kennedy, J. (2008). Cornell University Law School. Retrieved 10 27, 2009, from http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-343.ZS.html

Mark, J. (2009). A Crime against juvenile Criminals. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/646.htm

Oak Foundation. (2010). Child Abuse Programme. Retrieved 3 24, 2010, from Oak Foundation: http://www.oakfnd.org/activities/childabuse.php

Rowan, J. (2010, 2). A New Psychology of Men. Retrieved 2 18, 2010, from Achilles Heel: http://www.achillesheel.freeuk.com/br20_2.html

[1] MOGiS e.V. was formed in Germany in 2009 in order to fight censorship proposals there, and now they are extending their work across the EU, along with other anti-censorship groups, to call for meaningful solutions to the abuse of children and to fight against unworkable, dangerous knee-jerk censorship proposals. Their slogan is “Remove, don’t block! — Act, and don’t look away!”