shouldn't in a perfect world. However, that is not where we

live. Child Abuse is defined as a deliberate attempt to

inflict harm to a child for which there is no "reasonable"

explanation. There are essentially three types of abuse:

physical, emotional, and sexual. The most prevalent being

physical abuse. The United States reports over 3 million

cases of physical child abuse every year1. The first cases

being those that were labeled "battered-child syndrome2."

These cases are, however, only the reported cases. To

understand physical child abuse, we must ask ourselves:

"Where does abuse come from and what are the effects"? This

paper will hopefully shed light on the subject.

During the very ancient cultures, children have rarely

been looked upon as important members of the given society.

Infanticide, or the killing of babies, used to be a common

practice among foreign countries3. The United States has

traditionally not been a country to agree with killing its

children but abuse has never been a stranger. "Spare the

rod and spoil the child." This is a strong quote dating

back to when Puritans first settled the eastern United

law stated that any child seen as rude, lazy, or

very worth while thing. When we all do our part to prevent

Preventing child abuse is a sensitive subject. An

She goes on to state, in the entire book, that abuse knows

The abuser is usually someone the young person knows

The effects of child abuse are those that are still

5) Somers, Suzanne, Wednesdays Children: Adult Survivors of Abuse Speak Out. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1992.

Americans as well as among the poor. In a book written my

Some common words found in the essay are:
Child Abuse, Child Act4, Ms Somers, Rachel Kranz, child abuse, Wednesdays Children, York File, AMS Press, Putnam's Sons, Aladdin Books, Rosen Publishing, abuse york, child abuse york, physical child abuse, wednesdays children, straight talk, inflict harm, abused children, direct cause, physical child, talk child abuse, straight talk child, violence york, talk child,
Approximate Word count = 1107
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)