Articles Dealing With Child Abuse

In the article “Reasonable Suspicion of Child Abuse”, Levi Benjamin and Sharon Portwood argued that child abuse continues to rise due to the lack of individuals reporting reasonable suspicion of child abuse. They claim that although all fifty states have laws that require individuals to report suspected child abuse, individuals tend to not report incidents if they do not have tangible proof. The authors develop this claim by exploring individual’s views and discussing a system that would provide equal protection to the children and the reporters, as well as justice to the abusers. They then go on to describe how this system would allow individuals to feel safer when reporting an incident that they had seen or heard about. Lastly, the authors discuss that until steps are taken to help the issue at hand it will continue to rise in numbers greatly. Levi and Sharon’s purpose in writing this article is to get individuals to understand that they should report any case of child abuse when they have reasonable suspicion in order to stop the repeating occurrences of child abuse. This work is significant because it allows people to see that they can help!

The credibility of this article in not very good. The authors of this article Levi Benjamin and Sharon Portwood,who are currently doctors in medicine,  did not try to hide their opinions on why child abuse continues to rise. They stated that, “child abuse continues to rise due to the lack of individuals reporting reasonable suspicion of child abuse.”  The feel that this statement is true because as doctors they work with children every day. Although, the two authors did give many facts that helped support this the opinions that they gave as a solution were very biased. They claimed that to solve the issue at hand we should develop a system. In order to have made this article less biased the authors should have shown background information on how this system could work. Therefore, due to this I feel that this article would not be a good source to use for following information. Overall, I feel that this article allows others of all ages to see that they can help and make a difference!

Levi, Benjamin H., and Sharon G. Portwood. "Reasonable Suspicion of Child Abuse: Finding a Common Language." Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 39.1 (2011): 62-69. Academic Search Premier. Web. 28 Mar. 2012.

In the article “Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect: Who is Responsible?” Rashida Brown provides details explaining how the U.S. needs people to report the neglect and child abuse that is going on in their community. She claims that individuals are constantly wondering who’s at fault, yet they do nothing to make sure the situation never happens again. Brown develops this claim by exploring the acts that are currently taking action. She describes the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, explaining how they asked all states to make new policies, procedures, and laws for child abuse and neglect. Lastly, the author gives statistics to show the severity of this issue across the United States. Rashida Brown’s purpose is to show citizens that instead of pointing fingers at whose fault this issue is, they should be out there trying to do something about it.

The author of this article, Rashida who is currently a reporter, made a very strong point regarding who is responsible for child abuse and neglect. The author explained that individuals need to do something about the situation instead of pointing fingers at who is responsible. I think she feels this way because of the fact that she gets different insights when interviewing individuals. For this reason, she is able to explore the different possibilities of who is responsible by looking at everyone’s side. She supports this by explaining acts that are currently out and showing how people feel about this issue. She then goes on to show the severity of this issue by explaining that what we are currently doing is not enough and that we need to more. I do not feel that this article is biased because the author gave numerous examples and statistics that helped prove her point.  I feel that this article allows everyone to see that they should be out there trying to do something. The author of this article did a great job of giving substantial information that can proved!

Brown, Rashida. "Reporting Child Abuse And Neglect: Who Is Responsible?" Policy & Practice (19426828) 70.1 (2012): 20.MasterFILE Premier. Web. 28 Mar. 2012.

In the article “Effect of Child Protective Services System Factors on Child Maltreatments Rereporting” Tammy White argues that the Child Protective Services (CPS) does not provide safety, permanence, or the well being for children.  She claims that CPS gets more than 60,000 referrals on child abuse each week and is not able to correctly give each child what they need. Therefore, there are always children lacking what they deserve to have. White develops this claim by providing data that shows children who survive abuse are more likely to have physical and mental problems. They also are more likely to be a delinquent, bully, or criminal as they get older. Lastly, the author explained that citizens are beginning to recognize the impact of child abuse that can be shown later in life. Tammy White’s purpose is to show that children who are in the CPS system are not able to reach their full potential. This work is significant because is allows others to see the impact of child abuse.

The author of this article, Tammy White, did a great job of arguing her point that Child Protective Services do not provide safety, permanence, or the wellbeing for children. She explained that research shows that with the amount of referrals CPS gets they are not able to care for each child like they need to be cared for. She then goes on to say that for this reason children are lacking what they deserve. She supports this by providing details showing how children are affected later in life from being in this system. Although, the author made a great argument concerning this topic I do feel that the article was biased due to the fact that she based a lot of her facts off of what she sees. In order to have made this article less biased I feel that the author should have gotten and interview with someone who worked at CPS to show their point of view on the situation. Overall, this article shows individuals of all ages that child abuse is significant and can impact lives severely.

Tammy White, et al. "Effect Of Child Protective Services System Factors on Child Maltreatment Rereporting." Child Welfare 89.3 (2010): 33-55. Academic Search Premier. Web. 28 Mar. 2012.

 The above articles answered several of my essential questions. These include:

1. Why is the government not doing more?

2. Should the laws for child abuse have harsher punishments?

3. Who should be responsible for the repeating occurrences of child abuse?

4. How does child abuse effect a child later in their life?