May 26, 2017
Historical Analysis on Child Welfare
Getting abused at home, not getting the right care, irresponsible parents are the reason so many children have been taken from their homes. Although children have been exploited, beaten, neglected, and being physically hurt by parents and guardians, it was only since the mid–twentieth century that the government decided to do something about it. It is a lot for a kid to go through! Having all these problems, and not having a stable home. As well as all the child abuse that goes on inside the hidden walls of the child care system. And not just physical abuse, also emotional, and mental abuse. And also, neglect which plays a huge role in the lives of these children.
The child care system was started in 1894. Soon after followed by an act of parliament called the “Children’s Charter” allowing the government to prevent child cruelty. But wasn’t actually established until 1908, when actual foster parents were assigned and juvenile courts were established, because sexual abuse in homes within families was state jurisdiction. And eventually, all existing child protection laws were made into one single piece of legislation. But it didn’t stop what was going on in the homes, and what the kids were having to deal with.
The first documented case of child abuse was reported in 1874, reported to an animal welfare organization for lack of better resources. Meaning that animals had welfare rights in the U.S before children. And from there on, child abuse was known. The first report about a dead child in the system was in 2003, a girl named Victoria Climbie who died due to child abuse in the house she was living in. And not only did the police know this kid was being abused, but social services had 12 chances to try and save her life. They could of tried put Victoria in a better home, or even an orphanage if she knew that she wasn’t safe. During that time many orphanage asylums were starting to pop up all over the country. As well as refugee housing that took not only kids in the foster system but also delinquents and neglected children. That were maintained running by many SPCC (Society for the prevention of of Cruelty to Children) organizations and public funding.
There are many ways a kid can get abused or treated badly at home:
- Neglect: Failure of a parent or guardian to provide the proper care for the child, such as an education, food, health care, affection, clothes, attention, as well as abandoning the child.
- Sexual Abuse: To touch the the child,in any type of sexual way or sexual act, such as rape, exhibitionism, and child pornography.
- Emotional Abuse: To reject, and or isolate a child. Ignoring the child, verbally abusing, and or exposing child to domestic violence, and or withholding basic needs like food, shelter, or sleep.
- Physical Abuse: Any time of physical harm done to the child including death. In many cases, punching, hitting, kicking, slapping, burning. spanking has been considered a form of discipline unless the child is injured or bruised.
Many of these behaviors lead to depression within the kids. Cases of physical abuse and extreme neglect are always easier to identify than any other types, because they are the ones that children mostly feel. And are the ones that mostly appear in child welfare offices. And actual reports of iof sexual and emotional abuse are very under representative of the number of children dealing with these issues. And with statistics, more than 2.8 million reports are made for abuse and neglect are made annually.
In efforts to get an accurate number of abuse cases in the United States, they had plenty of surveys for people to take. The self-report surveys, which is for parents to take and survey themselves on how they feel they treat their children. As well as surveys from people outside the family who have observed a mistreatment and reported it.
Child abuse is threatening and dangerous to child development. Because the very person whom the child turns to for safety, food, and love can leave that child in so much pain, and that child learns to not trust people who show them love and safety. Children who are neglected and abused show many more different characteristics than other children,includes depression, anger, social withdrawal, anxiety,, a low self-esteem, etc. Borderline personality disorder is a disorder commonly found in children who have experienced neglect and or abuse. This disorder cases the child to have a limited range of emotions, and a lack of impulse control and not be able to form close and lasting relationships with people.
A child ripped away from its family to go to a home that is suppose to provide a better life for them. These kids from getting abused from home to another, Is it even worth it! Is it worth to have so many mentally ill children in this world? There needs to be a change in the system. Because it hurts kids instead of helping them!
Bibliography
Batty, David. “Timeline: A History of Child Protection.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 17 May 2005. Web. 23May 2017.
Patton, William W. “Child Protective Services — HISTORICAL OVERVIEW, CURRENT SYSTEM.” Children, Law, Court, and Act — StateUniversity.com. William Wesley Patton,n.d. Web. 23 May 2017.
ABRAMOWICZ, SARAH. 1999. “English Child Custody Law, 1660–1839: The Origins of Judicial Intervention in Paternal Custody.” Columbia Law Review 90:1344–1391.
Bureau, Children’s. “Concept and History of Permanency in U.S. Child Welfare.” Child WelfareInformation Gateway. Children’s Bureau, 12 Oct. 2013. Web. 24 May 2016.
