Child Abuse

Physical Child Abuse

Physical abuse involves any behavior by a parent that causes physical injury to a child. Physical abuse may occur even though the parent may not have intended to hurt the child, such as in the case of harsh punishment. Physical abuse typically involves a hostile, controlling, and aggressive parenting style. This parenting approach is characterized by a wide range of hurtful actions such as hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning, scalding, drowning, suffocating, punching, and other examples of physical harm. Prenatal exposure to damaging levels of alcohol or drugs may also be included. Physical harm also may be caused when a parent deliberately causes ill health to a child, commonly called Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy.

The risk for physical abuse in childhood declines with the child's increasing age. Nearly half of all physical abuse victims are 7 years old or younger. Boys are generally at a slightly greater risk for physical abuse than girls. There is some evidence that vulnerable children may be at a greater risk for physical abuse, such as children born prematurely or children with physical or developmental disabilities. About half of all childhood deaths are a result of physical abuse. Most child deaths, whatever the age of the child, are the result of violence inflicted by males. Death may either be the result of one very violent act of aggression or the accumulation of chronic assaults. Head injuries are the main cause of death.

Younger parents are more likely than older parents to physically abuse their children. Physical abusers of very young children are more likely to be female, while abusers of older children are predominantly, though not exclusively, thought to be male. The histories of the majority of parents who physically abuse their children suggest that they have been physically abused themselves and have suffered maternal rejection and abandonment during their childhood. Typically, physically abusive parents have difficulty controlling their anger, demonstrate hostility and rigidity, have a lack of tolerance for frustration, exhibit low self-esteem, engage in substance abuse, and rarely show empathy. Compared with nonabusive parents, abusive parents have been found to have unrealistic expectations and negative perceptions of their children. They also view parenting as more stressful and dissatisfying and exhibit a number of deficits in child management skills.

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