Sociocultural Bases of Child Abuse
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the study
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain the influence of Customs of parents on child abuse
- To ascertain the influence of Religious Beliefs of parent on child abuse
- To ascertain the influence of level of education on parents on child abuse
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Concept of Child
A child can be seen as a person not more than 18 years of age. According to Ebigbo (1988) defined a child as a human, a person made up of mind, body and soul and should not be older than 16 years. However, the convention on the rights of the child (1999), maintained that a child is every human being below the age of 18 years. Oxford dictionary defined child as a young human being who is not yet an adult. As stated in Nigeria and the rights of child (1999) is any human being below the age of 18 years. The various children and young person’s enactments define “child” as a person who has not attained the age of fourteen years and young person as one who has attained the age of fourteen years but has not attained the age of seventeen years
Concept of Child Abuse and Neglect
There is no generally accepted definition of child abuse and neglect as a result of differences in the perception of what generally is acceptable as abuse and neglect or not. Agnew (1983) defined child abuse as the intentional, unintentional or well intentional acts which endanger the physical health, emotional, moral and educational welfare of children. Child abuse and neglect can be seen as any act of omission or commission, physical or psychological mistreatment of a child by its parents, guardians, caregiver or other adults that may endanger the child’s physical, psychological or emotional health and . 15 development. In this definition, wrongfully maltreating a child or selfishly making an unfair use of a child’s senses by adults responsible for the child constitutes child abuse. Thus the adult may not be directly related to the child but a person in whose care the child is left can be an abuser. This may include the educators, healthcare workers, day care workers or other responsible adults (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2008). According to the Department of Justice Canada, the term child abuse and neglect refer to the violence, mistreatment or neglect refer to the violence, mistreatment or neglect that a child or adolescent may experience while in the care of someone they either trust or depend on, such as a parent, sibling, other relatives, caregiver, and child abuse and neglect has devastating consequences for victims. Child abusers inflict physical, sexual and emotional trauma on defenseless children every day. The scars can be deep and long lasting. Okpala (2010) highlighted the forms of child abuse, psychological, emotional abuse, child neglect, child labour/exploitation, child trafficking, street children, child marriage and female genital mutilation.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we described the research procedure for this study. A research methodology is a research process adopted or employed to systematically and scientifically present the results of a study to the research audience viz. a vis, the study beneficiaries.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Research designs are perceived to be an overall strategy adopted by the researcher whereby different components of the study are integrated in a logical manner to effectively address a research problem. In this study, the researcher employed the survey research design. This is due to the nature of the study whereby the opinion and views of people are sampled. According to Singleton & Straits, (2009), Survey research can use quantitative research strategies (e.g., using questionnaires with numerically rated items), qualitative research strategies (e.g., using open-ended questions), or both strategies (i.e., mixed methods). As it is often used to describe and explore human behaviour, surveys are therefore frequently used in social and psychological research.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the analysis of data derived through the questionnaire and key informant interview administered on the respondents in the study area. The analysis and interpretation were derived from the findings of the study. The data analysis depicts the simple frequency and percentage of the respondents as well as interpretation of the information gathered. A total of eighty (80) questionnaires were administered to respondents of which only seventy-seven (77) were returned and validated. This was due to irregular, incomplete and inappropriate responses to some questionnaire. For this study a total of 77 was validated for the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain sociocultural bases of child abuse. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of sociocultural bases of child abuse
Summary
This study was on sociocultural bases of child abuse. Three objectives were raised which included; To ascertain the influence of Customs of parents on child abuse, to ascertain the influence of Religious Beliefs of parent on child abuse and to ascertain the influence of level of education on parents on child abuse. A total of 77 responses were received and validated from the enrolled participants where all respondents were drawn from Selected Residents of Katsina, Katsina state. Hypothesis was tested using Chi-Square statistical tool (SPSS).
Conclusion
Social workers are pioneers and advocate of child protection, social change and elimination of societal problems. With these attributes, child welfare and clinical social workers should tackle this societal problem and dehumanizing actions against children through awareness creation to sensitize the public on what really constitute child abuse. There is also need for collaboration among different stakeholders who are advocates for implementation of child protection acts in Nigeria. They should also partner with both governmental and non-governmental child protection agencies in protecting the rights of the child and make referral when the need arises. Although social work professionals have not been recognized in Nigeria by law, social workers should nevertheless, showcase their professional competence by rendering selfless service in guarding against any form of abuse meted out on children and work to remove various socio-cultural factors associated with child abuse which have numerous consequences on growth, development and well-being of children.
Recommendation
Parents without formal education as well as those with primary and secondary education should be given some form of orientation about what constitute child abuse and neglect. This may help them protect their children against any form of child abuse and neglect.
School councilors and teachers should identify pupils in the classroom whose parent is of low valued occupation and whose school fees and other needs may be afforded by their parents. Such categories of pupils should be provided with interventions that will assist them.
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