Child abuse

Essay by dmarsicoCollege, UndergraduateB+, March 2004

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Child Abuse, 2

In our western society it is difficult to understand why some parents would willingly inflict suffering on their own children. It is automatically assumed that all parents would practise a natural behaviour to protect their children from any harm. As logical as this concept may seem, it is not the case in all family structures around the globe. There is no way to deny the fact that child abuse is present in our everyday world. The abuse of children is a very serious topic that has become an important issue in today's world, which needs to be addressed. At a young age children have little control over their lives, and as caregivers/guardians we need to protect them from any harm whenever possible. I chose to write my essay on this issue due to the fact that I have been exposed to the sufferings and struggles children are put through in these circumstances.

Abusive parent-child relationships have transformed into a widespread social concern, and I believe it is not a subject that should be ignored any longer. This paper looks at how a developmental psychologist would view child abuse compared to a cultural studies perspective. Throughout this paper I will outline the two perspectives and determine which view is a more reliable tool to use while studying child abuse.

First of all, a developmental psychologist would approach the issue of child abuse in a qualitative style. Formulating specific stages, theories and models would be a main concern for a developmental psychologist while researching. An important goal while using developmental psychology would be to ultimately discover universal truths about the topic being researched. While gathering my information I came across an article that focused the causes of child abuse on harsh, stressful social and economic conditions. The authors of...