Classmate Response
Alma Response
I agree with Alma that Psychological maltreatment is a severe form of child abuse. The maltreatment, also called emotional abuse, involves communicating with the child directly or indirectly her worthlessness. This form of abuse may occur as a distinct entity by exhibiting characteristics that are unique from other physical and sexual violence. Due to its unique nature, it takes a lot of keen observation from the parents to detect a child is being abused emotionally. The effects of this form of abuse may become detrimental, especially when there is a repeated action of emotional torture. Some maltreatment may occur as a result of triggers such as alcohols and other forms of drugs. Cruel behavior towards the children may also be triggered by unfortunate occurrences such as divorce. Caretakers, therefore, need to be keen on events unfolding in the family and child life that may change their interaction. This can be achieved by teaching the parents on the best ways of dealing with such events. Parents need to be informed on the importance of not exploding to their children either verbally or physically (Kairys et al.,2002). parents need to be aware of the negative consequences of emotional abuse in the lives of the children, especially during the future.
I also agree with Alma’s suggestion that therapy should be used to help the parents. Parents themselves need to be strong emotionally. A parent who is quick to anger or who is quickly disappointed by an event is more likely to abuse his or her children emotionally than a relatively stable parent. Parents needs also to be aware of people who spurn, terrorize, exploit, deny emotional response, or reject and avoid interaction with their children. Parents should cut children’s interactions with such people to prevent further emotional abuse.
Adeyinka Response
Adeyinka has stated Sexual abuse to be the most challenging form of damage to deal with. He has mentioned embarrassment to be the main reason why it is difficult to deal with sexual abuse. Although shame is one of the reasons why victims of sexual violence do not get justice, many other reasons deter this justice. Most communities still stigmatize victims of sexual abuse and do not readily accept them back in society. Many people still blame the victims of sexual abuse instead of the perpetrators. Some communities have accepted sexual violence as a norm and do not aggressively fight those behaviors. Sexual assault of minors has been normalized, and the children have been made to see it as regular occurrences. Lack of proper mechanisms to report cases of sexual abuse is also a severe challenge of prosecuting sexual offenders (National Institute of Justice,2017). Most cases of sexual violence are done by close members of families and solved within the family setting. The cases are never settled in a just manner making the children intimidated to report such incidents in the future. The sexual offenders who are taken through the legal systems usually are not charged due to a lack of evidence. There is a lack of coordination between the victim, police, and prosecutors. The judicial process is further interfered with by bribes from the offenders. Apart from the challenges of finding justice for the children who are sexually abused, most parents do not know how to deal with the aftermath of sexual abuse. These children therefore sunk into depression, anxiety, and trauma.
References
Kairys, S. W., & Johnson, C. F. (2002). The Psychological Maltreatment of Children.
National Institute of Justice. (2017). The Many Challenges Facing Sexual Assault Survivors With Disabilities.