The issue of child abuse has been on the rise in recent past, and this is in spite of efforts on the part of the relevant authorities to curb it. Child abuse may occur in various ways, and these may range from neglect to sexual assault, or even might be in the form of beatings that may result in the death of the child. Cases of child abuse have been rampant in different parts of the world. The authorities have, however, been very tough on child oppressors but for them to act they need to gather evidence about the abuse meaning someone close to the child must take an initiative to report such cases ( Widom, 2001 ). It is in this regard that this paper will focus on the detection and management of child abuse cases in Singapore.
Detection and management of child abuse
A child may not be able to report cases of abuse because in the first place, he may not even know he is being abused. Again, the child may fear to report such cases especially when the abuse is implicated by the parent.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Some of the indicators of child abuse include, bruises on the face, ears, genitalia, buttocks and the inner posterior thighs. The bruises may take the shape of a certain object. For instance, they may take a triangular shape, the loop of a belt or impressions of a rod-shaped object. Other indicators may be multiple fractures in different parts of the body such as the scapula, sternum and the ribs (Nagler, 2002).
Child labor is also another way of detecting child abuse. This is a form of child abuse in which the perpetrators expose children to hard labor with meager wages. The children are then subjected to tasks that are way beyond their capability. This mostly occurs in cases where there are serious financial constraints that directly affect the children in question (Oates, 2013).
Economic problems may also be indicative of child abuse. The hard economic times have produced impoverished families who cannot afford even the basics of life. Failure on the part of parents to provide basic needs to their children is considered a form of child abuse even if this might not be intentional (Vieth, Bottoms & Perona, 2006). Most parents would not wish to see their children sleeping hungry or moving around in tattered clothes but the hard economic times may push them to this. In such cases, children may end up engaging in vices such as drug abuse or prostitution (Lutzker, 2013).
Evidence for existing measures
Financial support to families
Due to the hard economic times, some governments have come up with programs aimed at giving financial support to the affected families. Such efforts have empowered families, significantly reducing conflicts in the form of child abuse (National Research Council, 2014).
Change of social norms
Groups dealing with human rights have been very vocal in the fight against child abuse. They have called for the abolition of practices that lead to child abuse. Their efforts have had significant success even though it is hard to abolish cultures (Fontes, 2005).
Education
Education has empowered people, making them more civilized and thus, causing them to forsake some of their traditional beliefs that otherwise, would have promoted child abuse. Education has also been instrumental in showing individuals that child abuse is a problem in the society, allowing them to remain vigilant.
Evidence against existing measures
Promotion of negative cultures
Some cultures have remained a challenge with regards to the abolition of the vice of child abuse. Such cultures have derailed the process of fighting the vice. To make it worse, some communities still continue to promote such like cultures.
Lack of political goodwill
Governments have the greatest potential to fight the vice by passing legislations that will approach the problem from its roots. It is, however, unfortunate that the existing legislation lacks the much needed political goodwill to eliminate the problem (Fontes, 2005).
Improvements
Tougher legislation
Strict laws should be put in place to fight child abuse. Cultures that tend to promote child abuse should be abolished based on the legislation.
Strengthening family ties
When families are close-knit, there will be no cases of child abuse because such families will be full of love and unity. Churches should take the responsibility of imparting family values to enhance peaceful co-existence within the social body politic.
Conclusion
It is clear from the discussion that child abuse is one of the most serious issues that the modern society continues to grapple with. Governments have tried to curb it but still the problem remains rampant. Families have been seen to be the main cause of such abuses and if there can be unity among family members, the child will be safe from abuse. The government, however, has the role of punishing the perpetrators of the vice.
References
Fontes, L. A. (2005). Child abuse and culture: Working with diverse families. Guilford Press.
Lutzker, J. R. (Ed.). (2013). Handbook of child abuse research and treatment. Springer Science & Business Media.
Nagler, J. (2002). Child abuse and neglect. Current opinion in pediatrics, 14(2), 251-254.
National Research Council. (2014). New directions in child abuse and neglect research. National Academies Press.
Oates, R. K. (2013). The spectrum of child abuse: Assessment, treatment and prevention. Routledge
Vieth, V., Bottoms, B. L., & Perona, A. R. (Eds.). (2006). Ending child abuse: New efforts in prevention, investigation, and training (Vol. 12, No. 3-4). Psychology Press.
Widom, C. S. (2001). Child abuse and neglect. Handbook of youth and justice, 31-47.
