PARENT AWARENESS OF THE HEALTH IMPLICATION OF CHILD ABUSE

1.1 Introduction

Child abuse is called cruelty to children; the willful infliction of pain and suffering on children through physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment. Prior to the term, child abuse normally referred to only physical mistreatment but since then, its application has expanded to include, in addition to inordinate physical violence, unjustifiable verbal abuse, the failure to furnish proper shelter, nourishment, medical treatment or emotional support. Child abuse can also be seen as the crime of harming a child in a physical, sexual or emotional way. Child abuse is also any illness, impairment or abnormal condition that affects primarily infants and children e.g. those in the age span that begins with the fetus and extends through adolescence.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitation of the study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

For centuries, the Nigerian child has been seen as an instrument or property with no absolute privilege of its own. In the traditional African society the belief was that children should merely be seen and not heard. Children were not allowed to listen to adults’ discussions/conversation let alone make contributions. This situation was prevalent not only in the society but found its way into the educational system. Consequently, teachers only allowed children to make contributions when they deemed necessary. Child abuse and neglect is a social and public health problem in Nigeria, as well as a children’s rights issue. Abuse and neglect can lead to a wide range of adverse consequences for children and young people (Aber and Cicchetti, 2014).

Child abuse can also be seen as the crime of harming a child in a physical, sexual or emotional way. Child abuse is also any illness, impairment or abnormal condition that affects primarily infants and children e.g. those in the age span that begins with the fetus and extends through adolescence. The childhood events that they studied included psychological abuse, physical abuse, contact sexual abuse, exposure to substance abuse, parental mental illness, exposure to violent treatment of the mother or stepmother, and exposure to criminal behavior.

Over the past decade, researchers have documented the higher frequency of these health problems among adult survivors. The next step for researchers is to understand why this happens. In this study, a model with four possible pathways by which victimization might influence health is described.

Recently, there has been serious concern about the child with the realization that children play important part in the family and the society. It is generally agreed that children are the future generation, the leaders of tomorrow and the potential flag bearers of any nation. To carry out these duties, the child therefore has certain rights that must be protected and not be trampled upon or denied. recognition of the socio-cultural and educational dimension of the child, the United Nations, European Union, African Union, UNICEF and ANPPCAN have all joined efforts in advocating for protection of the right and well-being of children.

Many developing nations place a high premium on the education of their citizen because education is viewed as an instrument for cultural, social, political, economic and technological development and emancipation In Nigeria, for instance, education is viewed as a means of building a free democratic, just and equalitarian society; a united strong and self-reliant nation; a land of bright and full opportunities for all citizens (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004).

During the past 30 years, the focus on the extent and nature of child abuse and neglect has been coupled with an increasing interest in the impact on children’s development, health and mental wellbeing. Child maltreatment is both a human rights violation and a complex public health issue, likely caused by a myriad of factors that involve the individual, the family, and the community. Child abuse includes any type of maltreatment or harm inflicted upon children and young people in interactions between adults (or older adolescents). Such maltreatment is likely to cause enduring harm to the child. The different forms of abuse and neglect often occur together in one family and can affect one or more children. These include, in deceasing level of frequency: neglect; physical abuse and non-accidental injury; emotional abuse; and sexual abuse (Cawson et al, 2000; 2002). Recently, bullying and domestic violence have been included as forms of abuse of children.

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Parent Awareness of the Health Implication of Child Abuse.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that the issue of child abuse has been recognized as a major global social problem prevalent within and outside the homes and among all socio-economic groups of both the developed and the developing nations of whole world. Parents now push over the responsibility of caring for their children to the school. Many young children who would have been at home at about two years have been pushed over to the school.

The tasks thus become enormous for the teachers and the school management to carry leading to many children being neglected, despised and abused on a daily basis. This clearly undermines the provision for the right of the child on ‘protection against indecent and inhuman treatment like abuse and neglect’ earlier stated. It is on this premise that the researcher intend to investigate parent awareness of the health implication of child abuse.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to investigate the Parent Awareness of the Health Implication of Child Abuse. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To investigate the relationship between parent awareness of child abuse and the health implication of child abuse;
2. To ascertain the effect of child abuse on the academic performance of the child;
3. To examine the role of parent in curbing abuse by teachers and caregivers;
4. To examine the health implication of child abuse; and
5. To make appropriate recommendations to the government regarding the health implication of child abuse.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Is there health implication of child abuse among children in the area under review?
• What is the effect of child abuse on the academic performance of the child?
• What is the role of parent in curbing abuse by teachers and caregivers?
• What is the relationship between parent awareness of child abuse and the health implication of child abuse?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: Child abuse has no significant effect on the academic performance of the child
• H1: Child abuse has a significant effect on the academic performance of the child

Hypothesis Two

• H0: Child abuse has no health implication on the child in the area under review
• H1: Child abuse has a health implication on the child in the area under review

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1.7 Significance of Study

The study will be of importance to the management of primary schools in the education zone as the study seeks to examine the effect of neglect and abuse on the pupil academic performance.

The findings will also be of great importance to the parent of these children as the study seeks to explore the disadvantages of child abuse.

The study will also be of great importance to researcher, academia, students and the general public as the study will add to the pool of existing literature, the study will also be of importance to researchers who intends to embark on study on a similar topic on the subject matter.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of this research is focused on the Parent Awareness of the Health Implication of Child Abuse using Esan South-East Local Government in Edo State as a case study.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Operational Definition of Terms

Child Abuse

Child abuse or child maltreatment is physical, sexual, or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or other caregiver

Health

Health is the ability of a biological system to acquire, convert, allocate, distribute, and utilize the energy with maximum efficiency

Parent Awareness

Parent Awareness is a family-focused program that provides support and education to parents and children to encourage the healthy, positive development of youth and families.