In my research, I came across this definition by author Jean Renvoize, who attempts to take all three points of view into consideration. Her definition is as follows: Child sexual abuse is any type of sexual exploitation of a child or adolescent by any older person or adult for the stimulation and/or gratification of that person, which is not necessarily confined to physical contact and which may range from exhibitionism or involvement with pornography to full intercourse or child prostitution; where the developmentally immature victim lacks the authority or power to prevent her/himself being coerced into activities to which she/he is unable to give informed consent, which she/he does not properly comprehend but which - either at the time or later - the victim considers sexually abusive.

One can sit and wonder why these hideous acts take place. The most important factor to remember about abuse is that child abuse is never the child's fault. There are both internal and external causes of child abuse. One possible internal cause is psychological and emotional problems. Adults who are unable to solve their emotional problems might transfer their anger and frustrations on a child by abusing the child physically, sexually, or emotionally. Some abusers might crave power, and need to feel like they control and dominate someone. If this is impossible to achieve in any other fashion, they might turn to children, who unfortunately are very easy to dominate due to their trust in adults. For example, a mother who is suffering from severe emotional problems hit her child as she tries to solve her own personal problems.

One wonders "who would do such a thing to a child?" It would be so simple if there was an "abuser profile" so we would know who might abuse our loved ones. Unfortunately, there is no such profile. The truth of the matter is, there is no real pattern among child abusers, aside from the fact that they choose children as their victims. The majority of abusers are people that are acquaintances, friends, or relatives of the children. More often than not, parents who have poor parenting skills and who are ignorant of normal children development are likely to abuse their children. Parents who have physical disability or health problems that impair their ability to raise children are also candidates for being an abuser. Also prone to being abusers are adults who suffer from emotional problems, and adults who were victims (as the children are).

Mental abuse of a child can involve several different activities. Such forms of mental abuse include yelling, neglect, constant insults, and mental torture. Neglect is the most prevalent form of mental abuse. Neglect is the unlawful withholding of child's basic needs. Food, water, shelter, and clothing; these are all things that a child needs to live an effective life in today's society. To deny a child these things is to leave him lower on the ladder of needs than he or she would conceivably be otherwise.

Another effect of abuse on children is their fear of failure. Abused children are particularly fearful of failure. It may be due to the children perceiving abuse as a deserved retribution for their failure. Abuse children also often demonstrate difficulty attending to instructions, a behavior that carries over into school and is a common frustration to both teacher and pupil.

Physical abuse is abuse to a person's body, and has many forms. It may involve hitting or kicking of a child with the fists or the feet, or with another object; such as belts, bats, ropes, leather straps, broom handles, etc. Other forms of abuse include the pouring of scalding water or coffee on a child's body, holding a child's head under the water of a toilet bowl/bathtub, throwing a child against a wall, shaking a child with an extreme force, or placing parts of a child's anatomy on hot or burning surfaces to cause pain. Some experts say that for every reported case o

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