Essay - Child Abuse Unit 7 Child and Elderly Abuse Everyday, Children...

Child Abuse Unit 7

CHILD AND ELDERLY ABUSE

Everyday, children and the elderly are victims of abuse ***** many forms. Acts of abuse encompasses any act that inflicts or causes physical or mental injury, harm or imminent danger to the physical ***** mental health or welf***** of a child (N*****tional Alliance for Model State Drug Laws, 2004). Child abuse has been rampant throughout history and is seen in many **********: physical, emotional, psychological, verbal abuse, and neglect. In 2005, ***** Child Welfare Information Gateway reported an estimated 3.3 million referrals made to the Child Protection Service (Child Welfare Information *****, 2007). Of these, 30% involves at least one child confirmed to be a victim of abuse or neglect. Children under the age of 3 years old are the most victimized; more than half of the victims were ***** 7 years old. More than half of the victims were girls, ***** 79% of the perpetrators ***** parents. Sixty percent ***** these children were victims of neglect; they were deprived ***** basic human needs such as food, clothing, education, health care, or emotional support. Death resulting from child abuse has not been uncommon. The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NC*****S) further estimates that approximately 1,500 ********** died in 2004 because of child abuse. Male *****fants had the highest fatalities at 17.***** deaths for every 100,000 boys, while 14.5 for every 100,000 infant girls died due to child abuse.

***** elderly have not been spared of any form of abuse or neglect by caregivers either. Elder abuse may present as physical *****, psychological abuse, financial exploitation, and neglect. It ***** been reported that in 1996, approximately 550,000 persons *****d 60 ***** or above have suffered from abuse or neglect, or both (Jogerst, Daly, Brinig, Dawson, Schmuch & Ingram, 2003). An investigation ***** 74 deaths from 1992 to 2001 showed ***** 52 of ***** resulted from homicide, while 22 deaths were suspected ***** result ***** ***** (Rodriguez, Wallace, Woolf & Mangione, 2006). Emergency department visits *****ing from ***** abuse ***** an elderly have been a common occurrence. Elder abuse may result with worsening physical ***** mental ***** problems, including physical injuries, depression, poor control of chronic diseases, and functional disability (Rodriguez et al., *****).

*****ren and the elderly are vulnerable members of the soci*****y. They are highly dependent on others whom ***** trust ***** their lives. Once these caregivers become perpetrators of abuse, ***** children and the ***** become helpless. ***** has been the responsibility ***** the ***** to ensure that victims are protected from further harm. There has been much emphasis on mandatory reporting of both child and elder abuse. All states advocate that cases ***** ***** abuse should be reported to higher authority to instigate query. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of ***** (CAPTA) provides a concrete definition of child *****buse. This federal law invokes all states ***** mandate professionals and institutions to report suspected child abuse, including health care providers, ***** health ***** providers, teachers and other