Bad Parenting

"Bad parenting" is a term that can be utilized to encompass a number of activities that are detrimental to a child and his or her well being. Most often, bad parenting is a practice that results in the abuse of the child: either physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse or neglect. While it is true that many children that suffer abuse at the hands of bad parents do grow up to become well-adjusted adults, the reality is that many are at greater risk for developing behavioral and psychological problems than children who have not been exposed to this type of environment. By considering the myriad of situations in which bad parenting, and thus child abuse, can contribute to the psychological and behavioral problems of child, it is possible to understand how children can learn to cope and grow into well adjusted adults. Paper Masters can compose a custom written research paper on Bad parenting that follows your guidelines.

Main Types of Bad parenting

For the purpose of simplicity, this paper has been focused on the four main types of "bad parenting" or child abuse: physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect and sexual exploitation. By considering each of these types of behaviors, it is possible to see how bad parenting can affect, not only a child's physical well being, but also a child's psychological well-being. In general, it can be asserted that although the physical aspects of child abuse often do not last a lifetime, the psychological impact of bad parenting can have ramifications that last well into adulthood.

Children in America, and many other countries, have been the subjects of a wide range of physical and nonphysical abuse by parents and other caregivers, including teachers and child care personnel for centuries. Over the course of several hundred years, however, progress has been made in protecting children-in comparison with earlier periods when parents often wielded absolute power over their children and frequently abandoned them to die of exposure, legally bartered and sold them, mutilated them to enhance their appearance as beggars, or disciplined them with rods and cat-o'-nine-tails. Despite massive reforms to strengthen the social and legal rights of children, child abuse in America continues to be a serious problem.

Child Protective Services

Perhaps what is most startling is that child abuse in the United States, the most developed country in the world, is skyrocketing. In 1996, an estimated 3,126,000 children were reported to Child Protective Services (CPS) agencies as alleged victims of child maltreatment. This number represents an increase of approximately 45 percent since 1987. Although neglect represents a majority of the cases reported (62 percent), other forms of child abuse are prevalent: physical abuse (25 percent), sexual abuse (7 percent) and emotional maltreatment/other (7 percent) . You can check these statistics on the Child Protective Services web page.