Patricia Dean Final Paper

Child Psychology

Nelson Mandela once said, Safety and security don't just happen, they are the

result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most

vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear. Children are the ones

that will make history, and if people inspire to make a history worth repeating, their

children must be treated well. Children are special, human beings just like anyone else,

and therefore should be treated as such. In 2014, agencies found about 702,000 victims

of child mistreatment, according to childhelp.org. A report of child abuse is made every

10 seconds. Unfortunately, child abuse could be happening at any time, anywhere and

no one knows about it until it is too late. Through David Pelzers novels, hopefully one

can become more aware of its detrimental effects. Child abuse comes in many forms,

has many impacts on that childs life, and its effects must be made known to society so

that it can be stopped once and for all.

The story of a young boy named David Pelzer is about his rough childhood,

trying to fight for his life and then find love and acceptance. David went through years of

abuse before he met his saviors and freedom. A Child Called It: One Childs Courage

to Survive and its sequel, The Lost Boy: A Foster Childs Search for the Love of a

Family, are books written by David Pelzer himself, who was lucky enough to be alive

and well today after years of torture and mistreatment. His story is a tragic one that curls

your stomach and if nothing else, will make you squirm in your seat because you cant

stand another minute of just sitting in your chair while hundreds of kids are being treated

like this at that very moment. Not only is child abuse bad in and of itself, but it also has
long term effects. It has an effect on socioemotional development, physical, as well as

cognitive development and could be detrimental to society.

There are multiple forms of child abuse to be aware of: physical, emotional,

sexual, and neglect. Neglect, as the most popular form of abuse then breaks down into

two forms as well: physical and emotional. Physical neglect is when a parent does not

give children their basic needs: food, medicine, shelter, etc. Where as emotional neglect

is a cold shoulder approach, when the parent is not there for the childs emotional

needs; mainly support and love. Physical and sexual abuse are pretty self-explanatory.

Any odd appearance of bruising or unexplainable cuts could be a sign of one or both.

Emotional abuse is when adults verbally put the children down, in verbal harassment,

etc. This could also include social isolation where the child is locked away in a room,

denied the ability to make friends and other social connections.

In the novel A Child Called It, David Pelzer is a young boy who was like any

other kid. He had a loving, care-free family that loved each other very much. Suddenly

things turn around for no real reason and as the days went on, the abuse David

received from both his parents, especially his mother, rapidly increased. It started with

lengthy hours in the corner, to smashing his face in the mirror, forcing him to say Im a

bad boy!. From burns from the stove, to only eating his brothers leftover cereal and

scraps his mom occasionally gives him. What really disturbed me was the fact that

David had to steal food from the school in order to get enough to survive, and when he

did, his mother would force him to throw up the contents of his stomach. One time, she

even made him eat the result. She would poison him with ammonia and lock him in the

bathroom to clean, almost causing him to die right there. This book is full of back to
back examples of child abuse that goes way beyond ones imagination. His mother was

sick and twisted. It is surprising and relieving that he even survived some of her cruel

treatments. Davids dad was no better. Although he never physically abused him, he

was just as culpable as Daves mother. Most of the abuse happened when the father

was not home, but as the abuse got worse and when the mother became drunker and

sicker, it becomes obvious that David needed help. He couldn't eat dinner with the

family, he had to sleep down in the cold basement, and it was physically evident that he

wasn't part of the family anymore. At first, Davids father tried to sneak some scraps or

tell his mother that she should stop, but that didn't do anything. Every once in a while,

when David was alone with his father, his father would promise to get them both out of

there. This gave David a false hope. Davids father practiced abuse in the form of

physical and emotional neglect. He eventually moved out, leaving David alone with his

monster of a mother. Years later, his father told David it was his fault for their divorce

and begins to take his anger out on him. An action that was completely unfair and one-

sided. Luckily, David got the help he needed through concerned teachers, the right

social worker, and many other people willing to help save him (Pelzer, 1995).

Davids story isnt the only example of such cruel abuse. There are a few other

cases are worth mentioning among thousands of other scenarios. Three children in the

academic journal, Invisible Children, Dying to Save Others: A Discussion of Three Fatal

Child Abuse and the Prevention of Future Deaths are more examples of real-life cases,

that were well known to the community, child protection services and the police, but

were disregarded because of the testimony of the abusive parents. The children

include, Daniel Pelka, who died at 4, Peter Connolly was only 17 months old, and
Ebony was 7 years old and autistic. Daniel and Ebony were both considered invisible

as Ebony was locked away in rooms and Daniel was rarely present at school. When he

was seen, he was often not heard, and when various injuries raised the attention of

others, little to no action was taken. Both children were compared to Holocaust Victims

because of their malnutrition and bodily appearance. Baby Peter was still just a baby

when he died of physical assault. He was smeared with chocolate in order to cover up

his bruises just 4 days before his death. At the time of his death he had more than 50

injures (Becker-Weidman, 2009). The older children were considered invisible, but Peter

was not so. He was seen multiple times by professionals, and allowed to be returned to

his mothers care, as well as the other two family members in the same household.

What is interesting in all of these cases, the cooperation of the parents with

professionals. In many cases they even seemed concerned for their childs health. In

Ebonys case however, her father refused to let professionals get to her because he

said she was either sleeping, or being homeschooled. Another excuse was that she

simply had autism so it wouldn't be appropriate for her to be seeing strangers (Becker-

Weidman, 2009). Any safety concerns that professionals had were neglected by the

parents cooperation and concern. In these cases, the professionals should have seen

the parents story as a cover up. This is a common theme in child abuse reports. Often

they are reported by teachers, neighbors, etc. but once the parents give an excuse as to

why their child has injuries, such as clumsiness or in Peters case, prone to head

banging, social workers and police take their word and ignore the issue. In David

Pelzers case, he was a bad boy that deserved punishment (Pelzer, 1995). Most

punishments were too cruel and unknown to the public. Another example of child
abuse that is very personal to me is the story of Kenneth White. Kenneth was a little 5

year old boy in my school district (Berne) who was abused and murdered in December

of 2014. I remember when the amber alerts came on for his disappearance. After

research, it became evident that Kenneth was abused and had to endorse difficult living

conditions. He slept in a La-Z-Boy recliner while his siblings were scattered in the

house, some sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor. At this point, he was living with his

aunt, siblings, and cousin who had bipolar disorder. Child Protective Services even

came to the trailer three times and verified that it was a safe living environment.

Kenneths cousin, Tiffany VanAlstyne was only sporadically taking her medications and

was known for erupting in fits of rage. It is possible that she had beaten the children

when she got like this. In December, it was discovered that she hit and strangled

Kenneth and dumped his body over a guardrail in the snow down the road (Stanforth,

2015). Although not much detail is known about his abuse, it is clear that something

should have been done before it was too late. At my graduation, I had the honor of

receiving a scholarship in Kenneths name from the organization that wanted to raise

awareness for cases similar to his. This honor has contributed to my desire to help kids

in some way, because too many precious lives are taken too soon. His name will be

remembered in our community for many years and it is a reminder that abuse is very

real and can happen in your own neighborhood.

After years of child abuse, even when it stops, can have a huge impact on

childrens sense of development and how they interact with the real world. It can impact

them physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively. These children were locked away

in their own dark, little worlds for so long, that many of them dont know how to cope
with what goes on outside. In the article entitled Effects of early maltreatment on

development, it is stated that children with a history of maltreatment have delays of

over 5 years in adaptive behaviors in many cases (Becker-Weidman, 2009). In David

Pelzers scenario, he was very submissive towards his mother in order to avoid another

beating. She kept jamming it in his head that he deserved this beating because he was

a bad boy. In time, he began to believe it because he both loved and feared his mother.

Growing up he wished he could have been a better boy for her so he wouldn't

disappoint her and avoid punishment. This is the sad truth for many children. In many

cases, children that believe it was their fault for the beatings end up at a higher risk for

being abusive parents themselves. After getting out of his former home and entering

into a foster home, David begins to change his personality. He starts to become a

regular and playful boy. But he had developed a habit of stealing in order to get food.

Although he gets plenty to eat in his new foster homes, he still maintains the habit.

Socially, David and many other child abuse victims just want to be accepted because

they were rejected for so long. David found himself stealing for the attention of other

children and got joy from seeing the approval of their faces. This got him into lots of

trouble which gave people who didn't understand his background a reason to dislike

him. It is not surprising that one of the areas in which chronological age and

development rate differs the greatest, is socially. Children lack growing up in these

environments with positive reinforcement and communicating with other children their

age. What I found most interesting in Davids story was his fear of losing contact with

his mother and his willingness to deny everything to the court. He still loved his mother

after all of this and again he took part of the blame on himself. He didnt want to
disappoint his mother again by telling all of her dark secrets, resulting in separating

them. I was surprised because he wanted to escape so bad but once he got into a

situation where he could, he just wanted to be accepted. Both novels were all about

Davids search for love and acceptance, especially from his mother and biological

family. It wasnt until the end where he realized he had found that love and acceptance,

not with his biological family, but with his foster parents and other people who helped

him along the way. Social development is similar to emotional development, because

these kids are behind in that area as well. They may have the mind of a much younger

child because they werent emotionally cared for. They cannot express themselves, or

may find it difficult to express themselves because they never we're allowed to in the

past. Physically, David was very skinny and obviously malnourished, like many victims

of child abuse. Because David was saved, he got the opportunity to gain weight back

and quickly began to develop physically at a normal rate similar to other children his

age. Although he was small, it doesn't directly correlate to years of abuse. Many

children unfortunately do not get to catch up to other children their age because they do

not make it past childhood. The three children mentioned in the article Effects of early

maltreatment" are examples of that. Luckily deficiencies in a childs physical

development can be caught up in most cases. Cognitive development is much harder to

catch up, as years of imperative educational skills are lost. In Ebonys case, she was

already autistic, which requires extra attention in this area (as well as others) and the

fact that she was homeschooled raises questions of the quality of her education. It was

likely that she was just locked in her room all the time. Children after coming back from

years of abuse and neglect may not be up to par with kids their age. Not to mention, if
they are living in foster homes, and are switching schools frequently, they are more

likely to be falling more and more behind. This has a huge impact on their learning skills

and how they will adapt to their environment over all, as adults.

Although there are constant reports of child abuse and it may be impossible to

protect every child from ever experiencing abuse, there is a difference we as a society

can make. First of all, people need to be aware of the signs: lack of school attendance,

weird and frequent injures/bruises/cuts, lack of focus, looking malnourished, getting into

trouble (like stealing food) and the most obvious one: if a child straight out asks for help.

First, once signs are observed, adults should have a private conference with the child

and ensure them that whatever they say will be between you and the child until action

must take place. Many children will not go to anyone in fear that their parents will find

out and punish them more severely. If you sense the child is not being honest, keep

prying, for it is in their best interest. As stated above, many social workers, psychiatrists,

police officers and other adults easily dismiss signs of abuse at the word of the

caregiver. In many cases, the caregiver is most likely the one performing the abuse, and

will deny it at all costs, in an effort to save themselves. It is the job of the professionals,

to take their testimony and line it up against the facts. In the end it is more important to

save the child if they are in danger, than it is to avoid offending a parent. Children need

support that their parents failed to give them after years of neglect and abuse. Social

workers, therapists, and friends that influence positive growing, are invaluable. The

reason David became such a successful adult is through his supportive and loving

foster family and friends as well as the professionals: police, therapists, mentors, and

Ms. Gold his social worker. His multiple sets of foster parents showed him unconditional
love and proved that love was not blood based. Ms. Gold was very important in

providing him support from the beginning and helped him find the family he never

thought possible. Mentors such as Mr. Marsh, although had a tough love approach, still

encouraged David to not settle and aim high. He encouraged him to do his best and

was another source of love that David was in much need of (Pelzer, 1997).

Child abuse is not just a third world problem, it is everywhere. In fact, it could be

happening in your own neighborhood. It is so important to be on the look out and if

something seems suspicious to find the answer and don't give up until it is solved. Child

abuse is a terrible and a social evil, not only for the obvious reasons of pain and torture

inflicted on innocent children, but also for the development of these kids later on in life.

Reading David Pelzers books A Child Called It: One Childs Courage to Survive and

its sequel, The Lost Boy: A Foster Childs Search for the Love of a Family, moved me in

a way that begs to make a difference. He was treated in unspeakable ways, and not

even half of his punishments were mentioned. He deserved a good childhood, and

instead he was punished because of his sick mothers mind. It is still unclear what made

her change from a loving, fun mother to a monster, but either way, I wish he could have

gotten out sooner. This cruel treatment definitely had a negative effect on his

development. I am very grateful for the adults in his life that made such a difference and

had so much patience during his adjustment period. I was rooting for him the whole time

and I am relieved he found the love he desperately needed. If only every child abuse

story could end in the way his did. Social workers, foster parents and other professions

associated with saving children are so important and not appreciated enough. Davids
story moved me and inspired me to make a difference and I only hope many others will

strive to make a difference as well.

References

A simple informative essay on child abuse, (2016). http://studymoose.com/a-simple-informative-

essay-on-child-abuse-essay.

Becker-Weidman, A. (2009). Effects of early maltreatment on development: a descriptive study

using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-II. Child Welfare, 88(2), 137-161.

Child abuse statistics and facts. (2016). https://www.childhelp.org/child-abuse-statistics/

Famous Quotes about children, (2016). http://www.compassion.com/poverty/famous-quotes-

about-children.htm.

Pelzer, David. (1995). A Child called it: One childs courage to survive. Deerfield Beach, Fl:
Health Communications.

Pelzer, David. (1997). The Lost Boy: A foster childs search for the love of a family. Deerfield
Beach, FL: Health Communications.

Sim, J. (2015). Invisible Children, Dying to Save Others: A Discussion of Three Fatal Child
Abuse Cases and the Prevention of Future Deaths. Current Issues In Criminal
Justice, 27(1), 79-94.

Stanforth, Lauren. (2015). Caseworkers, family court follows families and deaths still occur.
timesunion, http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-local/article/Caseworkers-Family-
Court- follow-families-and-6093998.php.