"Nearly five children die every day in America from abuse and neglect," according to Every Child Matters Education Fund (as cited by The National Children's Alliance, 2009). This goes to show that child abuse is a major issue in today’s modern society. In fact, statistics show that there are over 3 million reports of child abuse each year in the United States alone (“National Child Abuse Statistics,” n.d.). While the definition of child abuse and neglect changes from state to state, it is defined by The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) as, at minimum:
Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or an
First of all, a person’s physical and mental health could be negatively affected. For instance, adults who have been physically abused or neglected are more likely to be suffering from asthma, arthritis, high blood pressure, bronchitis, and many more. Some mental effects of abuse could be a mental disorder, depression, isolation, fear, an inability to trust, anxiety, and so on. Additionally, people who have been abused in the past have much higher chances of committing violent crimes and becoming juvenile offenders ("Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect", n.d.). According to English, Widom, & Brandford (2004), “a National Institute of Justice study showed that abused and neglected children were 11 times more likely to be arrested for criminal behavior as a juvenile, 2.7 times more likely to be arrested for violent and criminal behavior as an adult, and 3.1 times more likely to be arrested for one of many forms of violent crime (juvenile or adult),” (as cited in "Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect", n.d.). Additionally, adults who were abused by their parents when they were kids are very likely to abuse their own kids. A lot of people who faced abuse are also very likely to have problems with drug abuse in their future ("Long-Term Consequences of Child