Anonymous asked this question on 5/3/2000:

what are the causes of child abuse?

jellygator gave this response on 5/4/2000:

I am not sure what you mean by "causes". There are a lot of dynamics that take part in any kind of abuse, and there can be literally thousands upon thousands of "triggers", but I believe that all abuse (child, adult-adult, sexual assaults & abuses, verbal abuses, emotional abuse) all occur when one person feels a need to control a given situation, and they resort to any method that will give them a feeling of having some control.

jellygator gave this follow-up answer on 5/4/2000:

If you are a kid and in an abusive situation, please understand that the one thing that does NOT cause child abuse is the kid.

Lots of times kids think they do, and the parent says something like "I wouldn't do this if you only such-and-such." This is faulty logic. Kids usually respond by trying to be just what the adult wants, and it never works.

The reason it doesn't work is because the parent is telling the kid "what you do controls how I act". The kid tries to "act right" but the abuse continues, because the truth is, EVERYONE controls his or her own actions.

For instance, I could tell you, "You cannot make me mad." You might think I'm crazy, and you set out to prove to me that you can make me mad. You might spray water on me, and discover that I think it's fun. You might slug me in the face and I might feel sad. But you can't make me mad UNLESS I CHOOSE TO BE MAD.

If you're in an abusive situation, please talk to a school counselor or another adult you can trust.

Anonymous asked this follow-up question on

5/4/2000: I am doing a research paper on only one aspect of child abuse which are the causes. Some causes that i found included parents having their own history of abuse in their childhood, alcholism or drug abuse, lack of parenting skills, and a lack of community/family ties. I am wondering if you have some more details backing up these statements or other causes. I need some more information on these or other causes.

Anonymous asked this follow-up question on

5/4/2000: I am doing a research paper on only one aspect of child abuse which are the causes. Some causes that i found included parents having their own history of abuse in their childhood, alcholism or drug abuse, lack of parenting skills, and a lack of community/family ties. I am wondering if you have some more details backing up these statements or other causes. I need some more information on these or other causes. thanx

jellygator gave this response on 5/5/2000:

Oh...I see. I would add personality/psychiatric disorders, and I don't think that lack of community is a cause so much as it is a symptom, but here are some resources I think you'll find helpful:

http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic368.htm (a doctor's guide to recognizing abuse-scroll down to causes for a complete listing)

http://radlinux1.usuf1.usuhs.mil/rad/home/peds/abuse.html (scroll down to parental behavior patterns)

http://www.nncc.org/Abuse/cc21_abuse1.html

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