EFFECTS OF CHILD ABUSE TO SOCIETY (Term Paper Sample)

EFFECTS OF CHILD ABUSE TO SOCIETY Student’s Name Name of Professor Course Name Date Child abuse has adverse effects to the victim both in the short run and the long run as well as to the entire society. Whereas some effects may be instant and straight forward like injuries and the cost of treatment, a number of effects may manifest at a much later stage during the child’s development (Kenny, Capri, Thakkar-Kolar, Ryan & Runyon, 2008). Children who have in the past been victims of abuse tend to show impaired mental, physical and emotional development as important parts of the brain fail to function well mainly as a result of a chronic abuse. Consequently, the child is likely to experience sleep imbalances, anxiety, attention disorder, ant-social behavior, memory problems as well as difficulty in learning at a later stage of development). This may negatively affect the child’s education and lower society’s literacy levels. Additionally the child’s ability to interact cordially with the rest of the society is affected. In the long-run, victims of child abuse show signs of depression and general stress, abnormal eating habits, anxiety and several attempts to suicide causing poor emotional and mental health. With increased vulnerability to post-traumatic stress disorder, the victim is likely to turn to drug and substance abuse. Research has shown that children who are abused are more likely to turn to alcohol or illicit drugs as well as cigarette smoking during their lifetime. This in turn increases levels of adult criminality, dependence and juvenile delinquency. Society incurs losses as a result of low productivity due to unemployment and underemployment. (Wechsler-Zimring & Kearney, 2015). Although child abuse mainly occurs at individual and family levels, its effects spread to the entire society both in terms of direct and indirect costs. A society with increasing cases of child abuse will have to invest heavily in a child welfare and protection mechanism to protect vulnerable children as well as inve...