UMGC Child Abuse Which Is a Very Serious Crime Pathology Explanation Discussion

I need to comment on both of the following discussion boards and provide references supporting my opinion.

Discussion 1:

I believe that three of the explanations best describe why child abuse occurs. The first two explanations solely involve the parent and child. The individual pathology explanation involves the parent. This explanation showcases that parents that suffer from mental instabilities such as anger management problems, depression, maybe even severe cases of bipolarism are at higher risk to be abusive. This explanation also includes alcohol or drug addiction. These instabilities or pathologies of the parent can greatly affect the child’s development and wellbeing. (Mustaine, 2009)

The next explanation is parent-child interaction. This is when you have an unskilled parent interacting with a difficult child. An unskilled parent can mean that the parent has a low frustration tolerance or is unable to meet the needs of the child. And when you mix that with a child who may have a physical or mental disability it could greatly increase the risk of abusive interactions. Or maybe it’s an infant and the baby simply cries more often. Infants are generally the most at risk for child abuse . In my opinion these first two explanations are the most important. Especially since approximately 80% of the adults who abuse a child were the actual parents of the child (Mustaine, 2009). For these two explanations, I believe by possibly having more intensive high risk parent programs, such as Triple P (Positive Parenting Program), might help parents raise their children confidently and avoid interactions that could lead to potential abuse (Nelson & Chaplan, 2014). These type of programs could help identify not only at risk children but also high risk parents.

The next explanation is cultural support. With this there could be a lack of support for helping struggling parents. Then there could be cultural support that encourages counterproductive parenting, such as physical corporal punishment (Mustaine, 2009) . I think the most important thing is having strong community programs that help high risk families. I believe by having programs like Triple P that enhances parenting skills, add a great foundation of support for struggling parents (Nelson & Chaplan, 2014).

References:

Mustaine, E. (2009). Child abuse. In J. M. Miller 21st Century criminology: A reference handbook (pp. 457-465). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781412971997.n53

Nelson G. Chaplan R. (2014). The Prevention of Child Physical Abuse and Neglect: An Update. From Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk. Vol. 5 (1), Article 3. Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1188853.pdf

Discussion 2:

The explanation that I think explains a lot why child abuse occurs is the the second explanation. The second explanation is one that centers around the interaction between the parent and the child with indications that their may be certain types of parents who are more likely to abuse (Mustaine). I think that in some situations people aren’t ready to have children and life throws them a curveball and suddenly they are thrust into having a child and they are not sure how to handle it. If it was an unwanted situation that can color their entire perspective on the child and can lead them to only focusing on negative things and nothing positive. Mustaine goes on to say in the chapter that having unskilled parents coupled with the potential to have a child who is difficult can increase the odds of child abuse occurring. Though in reading through all of the explanations all of them could be prevented if there were more options available to parents who felt like they were struggling. Changing the societal stigma around mental health issues or the idea of appearing weak could be helpful. It could allow parents who are struggling to balance normal day to day lives or mothers struggling with post-partum to seek the help they need without being scared of being seen as weak by family and friends. For parents in the explanation that I chose who seem unskilled, the CDC recommends a strategy of enhancing parenting skills to promote healthy child development, and that it can be accomplished through parenting skill and family relationship approaches (CDC, 2020). Something like that could happen if pre-childcare classes were more affordable, or volunteers ran one at a local community center that parents could attend. I think that a lot of child abuse could be prevented if more people reached out for help and if more people stepped up to offer help or report situations when they are discovered.

References:

Mustaine, E. E. (n.d.). Chapter 53: Child Abuse. Retrieved November 13, 2020, from http://sk.sagepub.com.ezproxy.umgc.edu/reference/criminology/n53.xml http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.umgc.edu/10.4135/9781412971997.n53

Prevention Strategies|Child Abuse and Neglect|Violence Prevention|Injury Center|CDC. (2020, March 05). Retrieved November 13, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/prevention.html