Getting help for a child, child abuser is crucial

Have you ever seen an abused child? If you thought you did, did you see physical injuries, bruises or welts? Did you suspect sexual abuse? Psychological or emotional abuse? What then did you choose to do about it?

As victims are speaking out and even recalling long repressed incidents of abuse, society is increasingly aware of this aspect of violence if family life.

Statistics show that the number of child abuse cases is staggering. Pediatricians estimate that ten percent of children under the age of five years who appear for treatment in hospital emergency rooms were injured by either their parents or by their caretakers. That number is roughly estimated at 150 thousand cases, and of that number approximately 30,000 have permanent injuries. About 5,000 die.

These figures could be worse since not all cases are reported to social service agencies.

What factors do you look for to determine when a child's injuries are the result of abuse? Look for some of the following symptoms.

• Bruises, welts or burns on the skin
• Other injuries in various stages of healing
• Consistent unclean or unkempt appearance
• An infant with broken bones (infant bones are soft and rarely break except from excessive force)
• Clumps of missing hair on the head
• Cigarette burns
• Malnutrition
• A child with a vacant stare, one who is totally unresponsive to adult attention or who displays unusual fear

Who would abuse a child? As difficult as it may be to believe, family violence studies have shown that any human adult has the potential to be a child abuser given the right children and the right set of circumstances. Consider these characteristics of a "child abuser."

• Women are more frequent abusers that men because they typically spend more time with children.
• Any abuser is probably a victim of child abuse; they remember how they were treated and how they were disciplined.
• Abusers have a poor self-concept, feel unloved and often worthless.
• May be in a bad or unhappy marriage.
• May be single parents (including teenage parents) who need family support.
• Do not have sufficient coping skills to deal with crises and often resort to drugs.

Certainly there are laws against child abuse or neglect and there are laws to assist child-abusing parents. If you are fearful of interfering with family violence, in some states reporting cases of child abuse may be done anonymously. Getting help for the child and the child abuser is what is crucial. Remember that children generally do not want to be removed from their family; they just want the painful treatment to stop. Reporting the case of suspected abuse will provide intervention by trained professionals which will include accurate assessment of the situation and appropriate follow-up of each case.

You may report to law enforcement agencies, your local Children's Protective Services, or cal a family violence and abuse hotline. 1-800-252-5400.

Copyright c 1993 Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D.