Читать книгу Criminology For Dummies - Steven Briggs - Страница 95

Child abuse is a great concern to policymakers and the public. Today the term child abuse means more than just physical violence against children; it also includes neglect and mistreatment.

Traditionally, courts have shown great deference to parents with regard to child-rearing strategies, but criminal child abuse or child neglect is generally far beyond anything that can be considered “parenting.” For example, in the homes of parents who are drug addicts, it’s common to find pet and human feces throughout the house, garbage piled up so that the floor isn’t even visible, and drug paraphernalia strewn about. Children may regularly watch their parents do drugs, and they may go without proper food or medical care for extended periods of time.

In addition to narcotics abuse, which is an issue in many child abuse cases, parents may also abuse children because they learned the behavior from their own parents. If parents were abused as children, they may not know other skills for dealing with children and may resort to violence when they’re angry or frustrated. Such violence can include physically beating a child, hitting a child with a belt or bat, burning a child’s skin with a cigarette, and shaking a baby. (Because an infant’s brain is so vulnerable, just one or two violent shakes can result in serious injury or even death — a situation called shaken baby syndrome.)

Like violent crime in general, incidents of child abuse have been dropping over the last 25 years. Still, an estimated 1,600 children died as a result of abuse or neglect in 2016. And over 74 percent of child abuse takes the form of neglect — failing to provide basic, essential services rather than physical or sexual violence.

Sentences for child abuse can range from probation to lengthy prison sentences. Judges prefer to keep families intact — if doing so won’t put the child in danger — so probationary sentences that require the defendant to undergo parenting education and drug or alcohol treatment are fairly common.

Forty-eight states now require certain professionals, such as teachers and health care providers to report to child welfare agencies if they see evidence of abuse. These are known as mandatory child abuse reporting laws, and are a significant tool in the fight against child abuse.