People Who Abuse...
For the most part, most abusers are normal people who are trying to be good parents or caregivers, but who react inappropriately to problems or other stressful situations. Factors that may contribute to a parent physically abusing a child include:
- Immaturity - a parent who do not understand a child's behavior or needs and has unrealistic expectations for the child's behavior
- Lack of "parenting" knowledge or role models for healthy family relationships
- Physical or social isolation
- Frequent crisis situations within the family
- Drug, alcohol, or mental health problems
- Unmet emotional needs of the parent
- Parent was abused or mistreated as a child
- Parents are the most frequent child abusers. However, children may also be at risk from relatives, friends, and other caretakers.
Parents who neglect their children rarely intend to bring harm to them. However, neglect and its consequences can be devastating to children. Limited financial resources, poor housing, lack of family or community support, drug, or alcohol abuse, and limited parenting skills can leave parents and children trapped in a cycle of neglect.
People who sexually abuse children may be male or female, young or old, familiar or unfamiliar to the victim. Unlike parents who neglect or physically abuse their children, the sexual abuser is usually emotionally or psychologically impaired. The causes of child sexual abuse are complex and vary from person to person. Many abusers were victims of sexual abuse themselves as children.
Sexual abuse of children tends to be habitual. When the abuser is a stranger, he or she will probably abuse a child only once, but will continue to abuse other children. When the abuser is a familiar person, he or she may abuse a child over a long period of time.