A Child Called It

Child abuse is a sociological problem that never seems to make any headway in curbing its presence in society. A child Called "It" by David Pelzer is an important work still today on the phenomena of child abuse in America today. Have Paper Masters custom write a research project on the book, the topic of child abuse or any aspect of Pelzer's work for you today.

A Child Called "It" research paper may present a two-pronged analysis of the ever-increasing problem of child abuse. Although it is believed that there is now a greater degree of discussion of this social problem within the public discourse, a diminishment of the taboos surrounding its mention has not helped to depreciably diminish the rate at which child abuse is thought to occur within the United States.

Facts To Include in a Research Paper on A Child Called "It"

• The primary text used as the basis for this discussion is David Pelzer's A Child Called "It"
• It graphically recalls an eight-year period of extreme emotional and physical abuse which he withstood from his profoundly unbalanced mother.
• The timeframe is during the late 1960's and early 1970s.
• The lack of institutional vigilance against child abuse during this period of the twentieth century is part of the discussion of this text, as well as the lasting effect of Pelzer's ordeal.
• An overarching, research-based discussion of the impact of child abuse upon the victim and the larger community is presented in conclusion.

Examining Child Abuse in Pelzer's book A Child Called "It"

According to Pelzer's own statement in the "Author's notes" section of A Child Called "It", the book was deliberately written in a simple style that accurately "depicts language that was developed from a child's viewpoint. The tone and vocabulary reflect the age and wisdom of the child at that particular time." Indeed, to this reader's mind, this was the most bold and effective aspect of A Child Called "It" - the complete lack of a clear and lucid explanation for Catherine Pelzer's behavior is an accurate reflection of most real-world cases of serious and sustained child abuse and neglect.

The effects of child maltreatment are long term and deleterious to the child. Many of the cases also leave lasting scars on the social workers, teachers and health care providers who reach out to the children. The stories of the children who have been abused and neglected are nothing short of brutal, as evidenced in the book A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer. In the book, the author describes how, as a child, he "came to believe that for me, there was no God." (p. 131)

Defining child abuse and neglect have not been easy for social workers. Many parents still consider physical punishment an appropriate means to discipline a child. Therefore, there has been a challenge in reaching a consensus on the actual definition of child abuse and neglect. However, this definition is likely to encounter difficulties in a legal scenario, in which the words substantial, unjustified and allowable normally arise. From the legal aspect, neglect often is only considered in the most severe cases.

Dubowitz et al recommend that child neglect should be defined from the perspective of the child. Child neglect has traditionally been considered to occur when a need of the child is not met; therefore "a child-focused definition is logical if our primary purpose is to protect children." The authors also point out that comparison views of neglect among various ethnic and cultural groups have been remarkably in agreement.

Child abuse has not been as easy to classify. The definition of abuse is often based upon the conceptualizations and values of the researcher or adult. However, for most adults in our society, according to Chalk, these values have been so broadly accepted that we do not understand their inherent limitations as we try to consider the definition of abuse. For adults who were victims of abuse themselves as children, the value system is not the same as the non-abusing members of society. Obviously, a significant public discussion on the nature of abuse is necessary.