As horrifying as it is, after parental neglect, child abuse is the highest cause of infant and child deaths in the United States. Candidly, there is no excuse for child abuse, as it is the most horrific form of violence on our most vulnerable Americans. This is not newsworthy, but what is new is the government's willingness to publicize the results of this study originally reported by HealthDay News.
Hospital records were compared from 2004 through 2009 with the recession period identified as from December 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009. The hospitals studied were located in Seattle, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, and only those head injuries classified as "unequivocal" were included in the study results. Other injuries that are not as serious or in doubt were omitted from the study to ensure the results were conclusive. Here is a quote from the HealthDay News article:
"Throughout the study period, Dr. Berger (one of the researchers) and her team recorded 511 cases of trauma. The average age of these cases was a little over 9 months, although patients ranged from as young as 9 days old to 6.5 years old. Nearly six in 10 patients were male, and about the same proportion were white. Overall, 16 percent of the children died from their injuries.
The authors found that the changing economic situation did indeed appear to be associated with a shifting rate of abusive head trauma. While the average number of such cases per month had been just shy of five, that figure rose to more than nine cases per month once the downturn got underway.
The researchers further noted that as the economy tanked, the trend towards an increase in cases was most strongly evidenced in Seattle and Pittsburgh. Berger and her colleagues were not able, however, to draw a specific link between certain aspects of the economy and the apparent abuse case spike."Jay G. Silverman, an associate professor of society and human development and health at the Harvard University School of Public Health in Boston, also serves as director of Harvard's Violence Against Women Prevention Research. He was asked to comment on the results of the study and observed that a significant rise in rates of abusive head trauma indicates an increase in other forms of abuse.
"Abusive head trauma is one of the most observable indicators of child abuse, because they result from the most extreme domestic violence that requires hospitalization," he noted. "But there are many, many, many more child abuse cases that we wouldn't expect to show up as traumatic brain injuries in the ER. So an increase seen in head trauma is probably indicative of an even larger problem. And that means that this finding should really be a major public concern."Sadly, breaking this cycle takes an almost superhuman effort on a generational basis and the services people need to overcome these horrendous experiences? Both perpetrators and victims need resources to change behaviors. Unfortunately, as this study shows, not everybody is lucky enough to survive. If you suspect child abuse - whether you are a legally required reporter like a teacher, policeman or social worker - please get the family help. Do not ignore it, my friends, as this is not a 'family' matter. Children depend on all of us to do the right thing.
Even if you are unable to stop the abuse immediately, when a child knows you cared enough to try, that may be enough to help them survive until help finally comes. And if you want to help these struggling families - from all income brackets as child abuse is only partially a socio-eonomic problem - see if there is any way you can help relieve the parents' or other caretakers' stress. It takes a family to make a child, but a community to keep that child safe.
I will add my own conclusions here which are based on my childhood experience. When there is any kind of child abuse, the home is simply a violent home. Perhaps not all parties participate, but there is a tolerance for the abuse that boggles the mind of any rational person. These people really need help, as they are part perpetrator/part victim as well. In addition to children, the elderly, women and men (yes, men get abused) may also be suffering abuse. Many people who have not experienced child abuse themselves have no concept of the potential for physical and psychological damage. However, this study points out that the number of children experiencing terror at home has almost doubled in two years. This is horrifying and frightening for the children of the present and the effect on their future.
This is not neglect (a different but serious, serious form of abuse) or minor spanking, pinching, shoving or slapping. Although these behaviors are abhorrent, one of the major causes of brain damage and death in children is shaking. Little necks and spinal cords cannot tolerate the violent movement. The brain bangs against the skull and the children can end up blind, deaf, mentally disabled and worse. Many young and/or immature people - and those with poor impulse control - need this information and to be taught how to ask for help and provided structure, supervision and strategies for effective parenting. Some may be unable to overcome reactive behavior and then their children are simply better off with other caretakers. There is no easy solution, and no painless remedy, but these children deserve the right to grow up unharmed.
No nurse, doctor or relative ever gave me advice on the subject of child abuse, even when I had infants. I'm sure I don't 'look' like a child abuser, and I am not, but, sadly, we must assume everyone has the potential. The statistics are just too prevalent to assume anything else. Have your parents, teachers, friends or relatives ever talked to you about child abuse? Have you ever talked to a new parent or even a stressed out one? Make your experience useful. Help someone learn how to cope with parenting and save a child from this horror.
Child abuse breaks my heart. Here's the link to the full article.
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