Iil testo è in inglese poichè vuole essere uno strumento
di studio per chi si appresta ad affrontare l'esame di maturità e deve
produrre un dialogo in lingua che abbia dei fondamenti scientifici e si
basi sulle problematiche attuali relative ai minori.
Child abuse is defined as a variety of abnormal
behaviors directed against children. It can take many forms. Child abuse
in general is a psychological problem or perversion of the abuser. The
abuser is referred to as the perpetrator of abuse.
• Child abuse includes the following conditions:
o Child sexual abuse
o Pedophilia
o Physical abuse
o Child neglect
o Emotional neglect
o Failure to thrive
o Munchausen by proxy syndrome
The descriptions of child abuse in the next section are intended for
people who have questions about abuse, what it is, and how it may
present itself. Although some cases of child abuse are obvious, many are
not. Early recognition of child abuse tendencies and intervention at
the point of recognition is the only way to avoid the liability of
criminal prosecution.
These descriptions may help you identify abuse in its various forms. You
will also find information about what you can do if you observe child
abuse or if you are a parent dealing with problems that are straining
your capacity to cope with the parenting experience.
If you think you are acting in an abusive way or are having a difficult
time with your children or yourself as a parent, you may have identified
a tendency to be abusive. These tendencies can include the following:
• Excessive and loud verbal confrontation
• More corporal punishment than is needed
• Sexual feelings or feelings of anger about children that you sense are wrong and that you have not acted out yet.
Tendencies can be treated more effectively than the frank abusive
behavior that can evolve from a tendency. You will want to seek help
early to avoid the tendency evolving into a criminal act of abuse.
If you observe child abuse in others, you are obligated to report the abuse to the police or medical authorities.
Forms of Child Abuse
Child sexual abuse includes any activity that uses a child to create
sexual gratification either in you or in others. Although the touching
of children as a sign of affection and for hygiene is considered normal
and necessary, there is a way to distinguish normal touching from child
sexual abuse.
The key is the intention by the perpetrator to be sexually aroused
by the activity or the intention to create sexual arousal in others. The
intent to use children in any way to create sexual arousal is illegal.
This is criminal behavior that is aggressively prosecuted and severely
punished by our legal system.
Child sexual abuse can include a wide variety of activities. Some are
obvious acts of sexual abuse and others must be evaluated to determine
if they are designed to create sexual gratification.
• Activities can include any conventional adult sexual activity with a
child. Also included are acts such as touching the child's genitals or
fondling with the intention of arousing sexual feelings.
• Child sexual abuse includes prolonged kissing, cuddling, French
kissing, and excessive touching. Looking at children either with or
without clothes with the intent to be sexually aroused can also be
included.
• Photographing, videotaping, or filming of children with the intent to
create sexual stimulation is a form of child abuse as well.
• Other forms of child sexual abuse include exposure of a child to
erotic material in the form of either live behavior (excessive nudity),
photographs, film, or video. The collection of any photographs or images
of children taken by others in suggestive poses is illegal. The
collection of any excessive number of photographs of naked children in
any pose may draw the attention of law enforcement.
• Any efforts to seduce a minor into a sexual relationship, whether the
act is accomplished or not, will likewise be considered a form of child
sexual abuse and will result in severe legal consequences. Inappropriate
intimacy with children will also be regarded as child sexual abuse.
• Most child sexual abuse will ultimately be discovered. Once
discovered, the perpetrator will be prosecuted to the full extent of the
law. Broad and flexible laws have been crafted and are aimed at
preventing child sexual abuse. These laws give law enforcement personnel
and prosecutors great latitude to classify and prosecute as child
sexual abuse behavior that they believe is intended to produce sexual
gratification.
• Take care around children at all times to prevent activities that
might be construed as sexual abuse. If reasonable care is taken,
displays of affection or inadvertent incidents that result in exposure
of a child to a sexual act or sexual material (for example, a child
walking into a closed bedroom while the parents are having sex or
finding an adult magazine) are not considered criminal.
• To identify the physical signs of child sexual abuse, parents
should know the normal appearance of the genitalia of their child so
that they can identify if any changes occur. If a child complains about
problems with his or her genitals, take the child to the family doctor
for examination. Children in day care, children cared for by others, or
children who spend time alone with other people are at risk of sexual
abuse.
• Changes in behavior, including discipline problems, fecal soiling, bed
wetting, insomnia, nightmares, depression, or other changes in the way a
child normally acts can be signs of sexual abuse. Parents should
discuss the possible reasons for such changes in behaviors with
professionals who are in a position to do proper evaluations of the
behavioral changes and explore the possibility of child sexual abuse.
Pedophilia, a form of child sexual abuse, is an abnormal interest in
children that is based on the intention by the perpetrator to be
sexually aroused by children.
• Someone with an erotic interest in children may collect material that
showcases a child in sexual poses. The person may seek interaction with
children with the intention of satisfying an erotic or sexual desire or
actively seek a sexual relationship with a child. These nonsexual forms
of interaction, even if well intentioned, can be construed as sexual.
Adults who seek actual physical sexual relations with children are the
most extreme and deviant of the pedophiles.
• Using children to create erotic materials or for erotic acts with
other adults is another form of child sexual abuse. In this form, the
intention is not to arouse the abuser, but to arouse others. The law
does not distinguish one from the other. Both are severely prosecuted.
• Pedophilia, although a mental disorder, if not resisted, repressed,
and treated will result in the most severe legal consequences. The law
will not tolerate pedophilia. It is imperative that any person who feels
sexually attracted to children immediately seek help from a qualified
therapist. People who use children to create sexual arousal for others
are already involved in serious criminal activity.
Report any suspicions to police immediately.
Physical abuse of children is defined as excessive intentional physical
injury to a child or excessive corporal punishment of a child. Torture,
beatings, and assault of children are obvious forms of physical abuse.
• Corporal punishment by parents is subject to evaluation and
interpretation. In general, spanking with a hand and other forms of mild
physical punishment that do not leave any marks are considered within
the realm of parental discretion.
• Punishment that leads to marks that last for more than a few minutes
can be interpreted as abuse, regardless of intention. The use of any
objects to strike a child (other than with your open hand) is wrong.
That includes belts, paddles, sticks, or any other object. A family
tradition of beatings or the fact that the parent was subjected to
physical abuse is not an acceptable excuse for severe injury to a child.
• Excessive physical discipline is harmful and dangerous to children.
Small children can be killed by relatively minor acts of physical
violence (for example, shaking, dropping, or throwing the child against
hard surfaces). Any severe beating with an object, forceful shaking,
submersion in hot water, intentional burning, and other forms of
intentional infliction of pain are inappropriate and criminal behaviors.
• Any person who has been reared in an environment of violence may be
more likely to inflict violence on others. People who recognize their
tendencies to get angry, out of control, or violent should seek help.
They can learn anger management and child rearing techniques, and try to
suppress their violent tendencies through conscious and diligent effort
at all times.
• Seeing others inflict physical abuse on children should prompt
immediate action by the observer. People who are physically violent
generally demonstrate violence again—at escalating levels. Early
intervention is the best strategy to avoid lifelong consequences.
Child neglect in any form, when it concerns a child’s welfare, is
generally considered to be criminal behavior. Child neglect is
considered as a possible diagnosis for children who are poorly cared
for, not fed properly, improperly clothed, denied basic necessities,
denied proper medical care, or treated with indifference to a degree
that appears to cause damage or suffering.
• Parents, caregivers, and guardians of children must seek help from
medical and social services in situations in which children have
less-than-adequate care. Children can develop long-term medical and
developmental problems from such neglect.
• Failure to continue to get help for a child who is not doing well or
who is improperly cared for may be interpreted as another form of
neglect. This can result in criminal action or action by child
protective services that may result in children being removed from the
home and placed in foster care.
• This effort to seek help often falls on agencies that are
fundamentally incapable of providing help due to lack of money and
resources.
Many social service agencies have been progressively more
handicapped by government policies that reflect less empathy for
struggling parents. This can be frustrating and exasperating. These
feelings can lead to giving up efforts to get help. This sense of
futility must be overcome and continued efforts expended either through
repeated requests or by seeking out other people who may be able to help
(family and friends). Trying to get help is looked on in a positive way
by authorities even if the agencies and people you ask are unable to
help you.
Emotional neglect is a condition in which children do not get adequate attention from their parents or guardians.
• With mild forms of emotional neglect, children can develop rebellious behaviors or become alienated from their parents.
• In more severe cases of emotional neglect, especially with babies
or very young children, neglect can result in very abnormal behaviors,
such as these:
o Listlessness
o Profound detachment from the parents
o Poor bonding with other people
o Poor interactive skills with other children or at times inappropriate attachment to anyone who will pay attention to them
• These abnormal behaviors in young children continue as they get older
and can transform into other personality or mental disorders that can be
difficult, if not impossible to treat.
• Parents who feel their relationship to their children is causing
problems, is stressful, or not working well should consider the
following questions
o Are you spending time with your children in recreational or learning activities in which they are the focus of your attention?
o Do you show your children love and affection?
o Do you feel out of control of your children or detached from them and their activities?
o Do you have excessive behavioral problems with your children?
o Are you supervising their time during which you are caring for them or letting them be on their own and unsupervised?
o Is there excessive yelling, anger, or punishment?
o Do you yourself exhibit bad behaviors in front of your children that
disregard the children such as drug use, profanity, physical violence,
bigotry, or ignoring the child's feelings and concerns?
• Parents who recognize any of these problems can avoid the consequences
of emotional neglect through parental training courses, reading, and
effort. Seeking a little help can achieve big results. Children are very
responsive to any positive effort put forth by a parent to improve the
parent-child relationship, especially when children are young. Children
need to be shown that they are cared about and that you are aware of
their need to be loved as they grow up.
Failure to thrive is a condition in which children fail physically to
develop to their normal full genetic potential. It is caused, most
commonly, by medical conditions that can result in children not growing
as expected. At times, though, it can be caused by intentional or
unintentional behavior on the part of the parent.
• The diagnosis is made when a doctor compares the growth of a child on
standard growth charts and looks for changes in the rate of growth of a
child. These measurements are usually taken during well-child visits to
the family doctor.
• Any decrease in the rate of growth of a child with respect to weight,
height, or head size will raise concern and force the doctor to consider
the diagnosis of failure to thrive. The doctor begins to seek a reason
for the decrease in the rate of growth and tries to make sure that there
is no intentional behavior by the parents responsible for the child's
slow growth.
• Medical conditions that affect growth are generally tested. If no
other explanation for the abnormal growth is present, parents will be
suspected of intentional abuse. This could include these behaviors:
o Denying the child food
o Feeding the child the wrong foods
o Emotional neglect
o Allowing a child to remain ill (not seeking medical care)
• Once failure to thrive is considered, parents must comply with their
doctor’s recommendations regarding testing and any other investigation
into the child’s failure to thrive. If not, the doctor's suspicion may
increase that the parent is contributing to or causing the condition.
• Although some children are destined to be small, they generally grow
at a predictable rate. If a child is eating adequately and consuming an
adequate number of calories and generally appears happy and healthy,
regardless of size, there is little reason to worry.
Munchausen by proxy syndrome is a serious psychiatric disorder of
parents or guardians of children. The parent or guardian referred to as
the perpetrator manufactures, intentionally or unintentionally, signs
and symptoms of disease in the child they are caring for. They do this,
not for the good of the child, but generally to satisfy their own
abnormal need. By literally making the child sick, the caregiver has
excessive contact with doctors and hospitals. Children undergo
unnecessary testing and treatment for diseases that they do not have.
• This condition is difficult for doctors to identify. It is easier for
other family members or friends to sense an excessive amount of medical
activity surrounding an apparently healthy child being orchestrated by
the offending parent or guardian.
If you suspect this is happening in another family, you should
inquire of the parent or guardian and listen to what they say and see if
your concerns are resolved. If not, notify the authorities. If the
behavior is in your own family, you can discuss this with the family
member and the family physician. Once the concern is in the open,
determining if the condition actually exists and determining its
treatment are much easier.
• Parents can ask themselves these questions with respect to seeking medical attention for their children:
o Are you overly concerned about the health of your children?
o Do you remain concerned about minor problems that you have been told not to worry about?
o Do you find yourself obsessing over possible medical problems that might affect your children?
o Have you ever done an intentional act to make a child appear ill?
o Do you have any motivation or will you derive any benefit if you make your child appear ill?
• Parents who see this behavior in themselves should stop the medical
attention-seeking behavior and seek psychiatric help as soon as possible.
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