What Parent Characteristics Are Related To the Physical Abuse of the Children?

Introduction

Purpose

The purpose of this paper seeks to know whether the characteristics shown by some of the parents are directly or indirectly related to the physical abuse of the children. And the acknowledgement is going to be made basing it at the conclusion arrived.

Justification of Proposed Research

What have prompted this study are the rampant cases of physical child abuse which have been escalating by the day .This vice his wide spread across the United State of America. The perpetuators of the physical child abuse have been found in most cases to be the parents who gave birth to these children. This phenomena is actually not limited to any subset or any section of the population as it has been shown to affect across the social divide, where families regardless of their social economic status or ethnic .The children also undergo physical abuse irrespective of their age or sex .Demographic and social factors have been identified with the cause of physical child abuse. The increased levels of physical abuse of children are associated with stress the parents undergo especial single parents who have to juggle everything including their careers and their responsibilities as sole providers. Sadly these abuses thrive under secrecy where the victims hide their sorrows because they fear their parents and also holds the believe that they must have been on the wrong while others still have gotten used to these kind of harsh treatment. Physical a buse can be easily noticed because of the physical signs like bruises or injuries inflicted on the victims. This glaring risk needs to be studied exhaustively and hence this research comes in hand as it points out correlation between the traits the parents bear and the physical abuse of the children.

Null Hypothesis

The parent's characteristics have no relationship with the physical abuse of the children.

Definition of Key Terms

Physical abuse is mostly a kind of mistreatment and is a wide category of mannerism that can include caning, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. As a normal rule physical abuse can be defined asthe infliction of physical harm by caretaker or apparent on a child. It is not a mustfor the harm to be knowinglyinflicted, and in mostof situations physical abuse is never intended and maybe as a result of intensedisciplinary actionsor corporal punishment that are too much resulting inphysical injury or the risk of inflicting physical injury. Physical abuse usually occurs at the same time with other forms of child maltreatment. A primitive and common example of this is when a father hits his boy with a closed fist and at the same time being intimidated or belittled through verbal abuses .Such cases are considered to be both physical andat the same time emotional abuse because both of them have occurred simultaneously.

Coming up with the best definition of physical abuse is hard because of different standards that can be applied to it. For example, determining the point at which normal child up bringing behaviors can turn out to be an act of child abuse? In the United States, definitions vary according to different states however; there are two types of definitions standards that are used to specify and clarify what physical abuse mean. The first is the harm standard, which considers behavior as abusive only if it results in demonstrable harm or injuries. This harm could be in form of scalds, bruises, bites, burns, abrasions, cuts, fractures, or any of a number of other injuries. For this standard, physical harm or assault by either a birth parent or caregiver that pose a substantial risk of physical injury is taken to mean abuse.Examples of actions and behaviors that would be classifiedabusive when it comes to this standard definition, is among others, punching a child, subjection to heat, drowning,, scalding, poisoning, suffocating, biting, shaking, choking, and stabbing.

However these actions and behaviors might not result in demonstrable injuries like cuts or bruises, they are still classified as abusive when it comes to endangerment standard. Making comparisons between the two standards, it can always be seen that injury to the kid is equal to definitions of harm while action towards harm behavior is centre of endangerment definitions. More so, harm definitions standards are more precise and more objective as compared to standards ofendangerment. The difference between corporal punishment and physical abuse is never precise.

Limitations

The major limitations of this research is that so many physical abuse go un reported hence getting exact statistics is so difficult and this might lead to making wrong conclusion. A also arriving at concrete definition of physical child abuse will be a problem because toeing the line between normal child disciple and physical child abuse is difficult .Less research has been exhaustively done basing on this topic and so getting enough material will prove as a challenge since there is scarcity of reference. The chosen topic also is so sensitive and while collecting data it will be so hard because people will be so suspicious especially the victims themselves because this particular behavior happens in most homesteads but the victims are usually quiet about the issue.

Review of Related Literature

Most of the recent research has focused mainly on child abuse in families undergoing divorce as compared to the population in general. In one of the studies of families preferredfor child counselingfor custody or evaluations, for example, therewere so manyallegations of childabuse leveledagainst one parent or caregiver in at least three quartersof the families, and out of this, almost halfof the allegations were mentionedirrespectiveof the social status orgender of the birthparent involved. The overall rate of substantiation for all types of child abuse was the same as for previous studies of the general population, contradicting the idea that parents are more likely to make unfounded allegations of abuse during custody disputes. The idea that most child abuse cases reported are stemming from families which are falling apart is so true because of the pressure and stress related to this.

In addition, American families are undergoing a lot of changes and divorce is taking a toll order on. The statistics has it that nearly a million people usually undergo divorce and marriage nullification yearly. It is estimated that 40% to 50% of adults will eventually divorce (Bee, 1992). Including this has a direct effect, friends and more so children who bear the whole effect of child especially where children are subjected to abuse as a result of psychological torture inflicted on the divorcing parents. This has also had ripple effects not only within family members but also on the society as a whole. Parental alienation syndrome, however, is much more serious. It involves the systematic vilification by one parent of the other parent and brainwashing of the child, with the intent of alienating the child from the other parent.

The parental alienation syndrome which occurs due to this unfortunate incident will affect the children adversely. The parent undergoing divorce is mourning a terrible loss due to lots of social values like friendships as well as economic value loss. This is often compounded by the depressions and isolations. The amount of pressure may result in helplessness which can convert to aggression, anger and loss of moral values.The parents manipulate the feelings of a child hence leading to alienation of the other parent and this can lead to frustrations due to depression which increases on the side of a parent hence leading to increased feeling of helplessness. This may be manifested by anger and harsh treatment towards the other parent and this already is a form of child abuse where the psychology of the child has been manipulated with the purpose of ill motives of trying to make the child hate another parent.So it is probably a suggestion that this might lead to some characteristics in parents that are linked to what children may be subjected to child abuse. Review of perpetrator characteristics has examined this literature carefully. Some certain traits or characteristics are discussed exhaustively this is because they are very vital to the treatment and maintenance of abusive interaction which are in form patterns. Many of these suggested parent characteristics raises levels of stress and psychological disturbances for example depression, mental disorders and physical symptoms or bad parenting strategies .Some evidence vividly highlights parental role which trigger specific examples of psychiatric disorders. These characteristics have been found out to have triggered the parent's attitude towards a child change as they try to concentrate on the problems which seem to have inflicted pain in their lives. So stress will change the traits which the parent usually portray and may result in aggression or anger and in the process of diffusing these feelings the parent will vent their frustrations on the children and may lead to such things like insult or physical abuse like beating, burning, punching etc. This point of view however has not been so common from the past research and hence cannot be relied upon entirely.

In one of the rare empirical evaluations of conceptual model of parenting tested a discipline mediated model with a sample of adolescents and their parents. It was initially hypothesized that harsh discipline actions would be generated by primitive and inadequate disciplinary actions or tactics and skills. The findings did reveal that the birth parental discipline triggered the relationship between mental stress and inadequate parental practices of disciplinary actions. Parental harsh behavior was not found to be major predicator, but indiscipline children led to parental discipline but never to physical abuse parenting practices. The connection between stress and improper parenting was completely taken over by parental discipline. In addition to evaluating ineffective parenting behaviors, the authors encourage careful assessment of the parent's perception and effective reaction to parent-child interactions in understanding abusive interactions. This perspective is so crucial because the society seems to be in full support of child being subjected to discipline as a way of correcting or molding them to be responsible adults in the near future however this has been misused by the parents mostly who are strict or who seem to show the trait of being so strict but they over discipline their children leading to them being abused. So many cases have been reported where parents desperately try to convince other people that they were trying just to discipline their children but resulted into ugly incidence. This view appears to be real although it is usually hard to differentiate the normal discipline procedure and physical child abuse or what criteria to use while trying to tell the difference between the two.

In relation to abuse, this model is concerned with identifying the various interactions among characteristics related to family functioning, such as children's coping efforts, parental care giving and discipline and other family characteristics. Development ecological model emphasizes the development i.e. child and parent-characteristics immediate interactional i.e. parenting, parent-child interactional processes and broader contextual i.e. community ,cultural and evolutionary characteristics with child maltreatment (Belksy,1993).Hencewithin this international domain, child physical abuse seems to represent the interplayamong child, parent and family factors and is some uniquelikely to be accounted for by some unique individual or family characteristics. The culture seems to take toll in some of the cases where it is normal as per the cultural values to discipline children by beating or subjecting to punishments .These believes are likely to shapethe characteristics of the parents as they stick to their believes and hence even if the discipline is overdone, there will be no eyebrows raised. In every society the culture is so diverse and is governed by some kind of rules and so is difficult and complex to conclude Culture has a central in pointing it shapes the characteristics of parents who in turn are associated to physical abuse of the children. The findings did reveal that the birth parental discipline triggered the relationship between mental stress and inadequate parental practices of disciplinary actions. Parental harsh behavior was not found to be major predicator, but indiscipline children led to parental discipline but never to physical abuse parenting practices. The connection between stress and improper parenting was completely taken over by parental discipline. In addition to evaluating ineffective parenting behaviors, the authors encourage careful assessment of the parent's perception and effective reaction to parent-child interactions in understanding abusive interactions. This perspective is so crucial because the society seems to be in full support of child being subjected to discipline as a way of correcting or molding them to be responsible adults in the near future however this has been misused by the parents mostly who are strict or who seem to show the trait of being so strict but they over discipline their children leading to them being abused. So many cases have been reported where parents desperately try to convince other people that they were trying just to discipline their children but resulted into ugly incidence. This view appears to be real although it is usually hard to differentiate the normal discipline procedure and physical child abuse or what criteria to use while trying to tell the difference between the two.

Application Previous Research in Current Proposal

The application of the mentioned previous research to the current proposal is so suitable because the previous research seems to have exhaustively covered their topics and there are so many relationships between them for example linking culture and the physical child abuse has been previously covered and hence we can relate the culture and the parental characteristics. Hence within this international domain, child physical abuse seems to represent the interplay among child, parent and family factors and is some uniquelikely to be accounted for by some unique individual or family characteristics. The culture seems to take toll in some of the cases where it is normal as per the cultural values to discipline children by beating or subjecting to punishments .These believes are likely to shapethe characteristics of the parents as they stick to their believes and hence even if the discipline is overdone, there will be no eyebrows raised. In every society the culture is so diverse and is governed by some kind of rules and so is difficult and complex to conclude that culture has a central in pointing it shapes the characteristics of parents who in turn are associated to physical abuse of the children. The association between stress and child abuse has been previously covered also and can be connected with the current research proposal where child characteristics are related to parental characteristics

Relationship between family squabbles and child abuse has been previously covered and this will be applied in this research proposal since Most of the recent research has focused mainly on child abuse in families undergoing divorce as compared to the population in general. In one of the studies of families preferredfor child counselingfor custody or evaluations, for example, therewere so manyallegations of childabuse leveledagainst one parent or caregiver in at least three quartersof the families, and out of this, almost halfof the allegations were mentionedirrespectiveof the social status orgender of the birthparent involved.

How Articles Were Found

The articles were found by extensively doing research in the library on the previous related topics while others were sourced from the internet.

Methods and Procedures

Research Design

Research design is a source of glue that brings the research project together. A design is basically used to propagate the research. To test the hypothesis, a data file will be created that combines cases from three different Surveys although the surveys may differ in a number of ways, all three willmake use of the Conflict Tactics measure in orderto get data on characteristicsparents have in relation to physical child abuse. All the three cases also will randomly choose caregiver or either the father or the mother for the purpose of the interview. Hence, in each survey case it is expected that almost half of the respondents would either be the father or the mother for whom the referred child belongs to.

Procedures

The Procedure of conducting the research will begin by selecting the target group of the and then the questions to be asked are also formulated followed by the interview being conducted through phonesandone on one so the details of the target group should be exhaustively done .The criteria to usedin populationto pick outthe children to be interviewed on the issue of the physical abuse whereby at least one of thechild under 18 who has beenliving at home for quite a while will be selected. All the three surveys will apply random method of selection this will be followed by analysis of the data and coming up with the results which are used to draw conclusions and hence put in writing.

Samples

Sampling is the act of choosing units example communities, nations or colleges from a population of interest so as to be fair in generalizing the results and this is done by studying the sample. The samples will be picked basing on ethnic composition, socioeconomic status, and age .This will make the analysis orderly and easier to conduct. The sample will consist of two parts which are: a composition of people who are of 18 years of age based on national probability sample and over who are legally married or cohabiting with male and female and over-samples of married or cohabiting African-American.

Instruments

The instruments that are going to be employed in this study would include the use of printers, computers and secondary data storage like flash discs. Other instruments would include the use of phones, calculators, calendars, watches, spot lights, Umbrellas, Vehicles and writing materials.

Ethical Considerations

Ethical issues must be considered while conducting this study whereby the kinds of questions to be asked should be carefully framed and language to be used should not be vulgar. The questions to be asked also should shun a way from being personal and the manner in which these questions are asked should be polite for the topic of this study is very sensitive and if words are not correctly chosen then the study might be hampered because the respondents will be suspicious and might withhold some vital information.

Internal Validity

It is always important to bear in mind that there are distinct respondents in each survey, for This cannot be like a panel study in whereby reinter viewing of the same respondents is done at three time points. This is what is referred to as a trend study. In this study, the target for which Dynamism is being looked into will not be sole respondents, but a targeted group such as a village, school like college, country or a region. Therefore, a valid trend study holds the fact that the sample at each given time point is inclusive of the social unit at that time, the best example is the three nationally inclusive samples used in this case for this study. If for instance, the ethnic composition of a given society undergoes metamorphosis over time, a panel study following up part 1 respondents would no longer be inclusive because part 2 measurements would never correctly reflect the ethnic composition. This is what is called internal validity i.e. for the study to be viewed as internally valid it must represent every composition of a targeted group so that the study will clearly steer away from being reduced to a panel study hence turning the study as not valid.

External Validity

External validity is almost the same as generalizing.Validity can be defined as the almost truth of inferences, propositions, or conclusions. So, external study is the degree with which the conclusion making is drawn upon in your study and would appeal for other persons in other places and at different times. There are two principles on how evidence for a generalization is provided. The first one is called sampling model. In this sampling model, one starts by identifying the population to be generalized. Then, a fair sample is drawn from that population and research is conducted with the sample. Finally, since the sample is representsthe population, generalization of results can be done automatically back to the population. There are myriad ofproblems associated with this approach one major one is that may be one does notwhom the generalization would be done to. So in this study external validity should draw general conclusion of whether there is relationship between the characteristics of the parents and physical child abuse.

References

Bee, H.L. The journey of adulthood. New York: Macmillan, 1992. Belksy, J. (1993).Etiology of child mistreatment. A development ecological analysis, Psychological bulletin, vol.114, pp.413-434. Black,D.A., Heyman,R.E. and Smith-Lap, A.M.(2001). Risk factors for child physical abuse. Aggression and violent behavior, vol. 6, no.2, pp.121-188. Gardner, R.A. Family evaluations in child custody litigation. Creative Therapeutics. 1982 Straus, M. A. 1979. "Measuring Interfamily Conflict and Violence: The Conflict Tactics (CT) Scales." Journal of Marriage and the Family 41:75-88 (revised version in Straus and Gelles, 1990). Wolfe, D. A. (1999). Child Abuse: Implications for Child Development and Psychopathology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.