This is paper you need Name, Semester, Date Social Problem/Policy area (example: child abuse & neglect/ child welfare)Policy focus (example: Child Abuse Prevention and Training Act of 1974)In this paper you will write a brief history of a social policy/social problem area (for example, child abuse, intimate partner violence, homelessness, mental health) that has been addressed by a federal policy. Your paper will include 2 parts. This only Part 1, for now you will present the social problem that the policy you have chosen seeks to address. For the example above, this would be child abuse and neglect. You will discuss how this social problem was recognized over time, how did it come to the attention of policy-makers?
You only write part 1 of the paper you already wrote a summary of what you was going to write i will upload the file so you can see what you wrote before and continued . Describe the history of this problem only force on the history. How did it come to be recognized? which population are impacted?
who has advocated for change? Write back the social policy stats. . Part 2 of the paper it will be later assign to you in a few weeks so you can put all the pages together and it will be 8 pages in total right now it only 2 to 3 pages for the part 1 the history of the paper . Please use Very simple words not extended vocabulary.
Child Abuse
When looking back at children’s status in the early 1800s, it would be hard to envisage that the government and other civil societies would intervene to protect their welfare one day. Montanari (2020) notes that child abuse was almost a norm under the English common law, and children were more or less considered their father’s property. This notion and principles that most families adhered to ironically placed more rights on pets than children. However, the case of Mary Ellen, a child that underwent torture under her foster mother’s care, brought the issue of child abuse to the attention of policymakers, and it led to the formation of public law acts and the establishment of civil societies to advocate, protect and treat victims of abuse.
Population Impacted by Child Abuse
Any population can suffer from abuse; however, as the name suggests, child abuse mainly impacts younger people between the infancy and puberty stage. Statistics reveal that approximately 7.8 million children are abused annually in the United States (“Child maltreatment statistics”, n.d.). Child abuse takes different forms, including physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. Over the years, the scope of child abuse has also been broadened to include unjustifiable verbal abuse against children. Regardless of the forms it may take, child abuse is a social concern as it adversely affects the physical, social, and psychological development of children, and its effects may, in some cases, prevail to adulthood.
The History of the Problem
Child abuse dates several decades ago, presumably since the beginning of time, when it was barely legally recognized by the government and civil societies. Although the issue was prevalent in American society, individuals often overlooked it, probably because many confused it with the Christian principle of instilling discipline among children. Arguably, the lack of public and government attention in the matter and the notion of children being their father’s property made child abuse a trivial matter, despite its detrimental effect.
However, in the late 1800s, this social concern caught the attention of policymakers and civil society after the emergence of Mary Ellen’s case. This orphan suffered abuse under her foster’s mother care. Studies show that Mary Ellen sustained all sorts of physical abuse, including being beaten constantly, burned, whipped, cut, locked in her closet for hours, forbidden from going outside during the day, and forced to do heavy labor (Montanari, 2020). On the one hand, there were legal options that would have protected Mary from the abuse she went through in her foster home. However, little was done by the local authorities to protect her against the horror, probably because laws governing child protection were inadequate.
Mary’s case was the first to lay the foundation for the establishment of child protection against all sorts of abuse. This change was mainly advocated by Etta and Mr.Bergh, who collaborated to bring change in children’s rights. Notably, following Mary’s case, Etta gathered written testimonies from witnesses of the act and presented them to Mr. Bergh, who, through his lawyers, petitioned for the removal of Mary from her foster parent’s apartment (Montanari, 2020). The duos’ effort was also reinforced by the public outrage, which eventually led to Mary’s placement in a shelter for adolescent children, after which she was placed under the care of her biological mother.
Since Mary’s case, several civil societies have been established to provide adequate protection and offer treatment to child abuse victims. Among the earliest civil societies, founded in 1874, is the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC), which offers therapeutic supervised visitation, school-based child sexual abuse prevention workshops, and advocacy for children, families, and communities (“Our work”, n.d.). While the civil society does not directly indulge in legal proceedings involving child abuse, it ensures that children at high risk of abuse are protected and that victims of the social problem are offered adequate treatment to prevent long-term effects such as trauma during adulthood.
Besides civil societies, Mary’s case also captured policy makers’ attention, leading to the establishment of Acts that govern child protection. One of the earliest policy is the Child Abuse Prevention and Training Act (CAPTA) of 1974, which was established a few years after Mary’s case. Notably, the establishment of the Act “provided a federal definition of child maltreatment, funds for states to implement prevention and treatment efforts and a mandate to carry out a national incidence study of child maltreatment” (“Child abuse prevention”, n.d.). Arguably, the CAPTA was purposed to bolster the American society’s efforts to combat child maltreatment by establishing state programs where victims of abuse could seek shelter and report incidences of abuse. The CAPTA also aimed at funding programs that would help health professionals develop treatment services for victims of child abuse.
As can be seen, child abuse has had a long history in the United States, but it caught the attention of policymakers and civil societies a few decades ago. Notably, the social concern came to be recognized after Mary Ellen’s case that triggered public outrage in the country. Since then, federal laws such as CAPTA and civil societies such as NYSPCC have been established to bolster the efforts to combat and offer help to victims of the social problem.
References
“Child abuse prevention and treatment Act of 1974” (n.d.). E-library. Retrieved from https://ebrary.net/32654/education/child_abuse_prevention_treatment_1974
“Child maltreatment statistics in the U.S.” (n.d.). American SPCC. Retrieved from https://americanspcc.org/child-abuse-statistics/
“Our work” (n.d.). The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Retrieved from https://nyspcc.org/our-work/
Montanari, G. (2020, August 12). Mary Ellen Wilson: When abused children had fewer rights than pets. Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/history-of-yesterday/mary-ellen-wilson-the-abused-child-rescued-by-animal-rights-activists-9dfb5b1f100a
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