Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 27 views

    Social Problem - Updated

    Uploaded by

    Tia
    Child abuse and neglect is a widespread social problem in the United States. Each year, over 3.6 million cases of child abuse are reported, though the actual number is likely higher since many cases go unreported. Neglect is the most common form of abuse, accounting for over 59% of cases. While parents and caregivers have a duty to protect children, society and the justice system must also support families to prevent abuse. However, a lack of community resources makes addressing this issue difficult. Analyzing child abuse through a functionalist perspective, society fails children by trusting their guardians without also supporting families. While organizations aimed at preventing abuse are important, a fully functionalist view is that child abuse, like other social issues

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Social Problem - Updated

    Uploaded by

    Tia
    27 views3 pages
    Child abuse and neglect is a widespread social problem in the United States. Each year, over 3.6 million cases of child abuse are reported, though the actual number is likely higher since many cases go unreported. Neglect is the most common form of abuse, accounting for over 59% of cases. While parents and caregivers have a duty to protect children, society and the justice system must also support families to prevent abuse. However, a lack of community resources makes addressing this issue difficult. Analyzing child abuse through a functionalist perspective, society fails children by trusting their guardians without also supporting families. While organizations aimed at preventing abuse are important, a fully functionalist view is that child abuse, like other social issues

    Original Title

    Social Problem -Updated (1)

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Child abuse and neglect is a widespread social problem in the United States. Each year, over 3.6 million cases of child abuse are reported, though the actual number is likely higher since many cases go unreported. Neglect is the most common form of abuse, accounting for over 59% of cases. While parents and caregivers have a duty to protect children, society and the justice system must also support families to prevent abuse. However, a lack of community resources makes addressing this issue difficult. Analyzing child abuse through a functionalist perspective, society fails children by trusting their guardians without also supporting families. While organizations aimed at preventing abuse are important, a fully functionalist view is that child abuse, like other social issues

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    27 views3 pages

    Social Problem - Updated

    Uploaded by

    Tia
    Child abuse and neglect is a widespread social problem in the United States. Each year, over 3.6 million cases of child abuse are reported, though the actual number is likely higher since many cases go unreported. Neglect is the most common form of abuse, accounting for over 59% of cases. While parents and caregivers have a duty to protect children, society and the justice system must also support families to prevent abuse. However, a lack of community resources makes addressing this issue difficult. Analyzing child abuse through a functionalist perspective, society fails children by trusting their guardians without also supporting families. While organizations aimed at preventing abuse are important, a fully functionalist view is that child abuse, like other social issues

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    Aatia Wills-Lee

    SOCY 100
    January 24, 2023
    Social Problem Assignment

    There are many social problems we face as Americans. The most horrendous problem of

    all would have to be Child Abuse and Neglect. This social problem is a broad topic that has been

    a plague on society for many decades due to the lack of resources and counseling for families.

    There is not enough media coverage and awareness as well as child/youth advocates, especially

    in low-income communities. According to the Child Project, 3.6 million cases of child abuse are

    reported every year in the U.S., and unfortunately for every incident of child abuse or neglect

    that's reported, an estimated two incidents go unreported. Child abuse occurs across all

    socioeconomic levels, ethnic and cultural lines, and religions and education levels. Neglect is the

    most widespread form of child abuse and makes up more than 59% of abuse cases.

    Logically, it may seem as if the duty solely falls on parents and caregivers to protect the

    innocence of children and to ensure their well-being. But in reality, the social and justice system

    also plays a huge role and partnering with families to keep children safe. There are many

    services and resources created to do just that but the lack of community outreach and

    advertisement for those services such as mental health support, family therapy, food benefits, and

    affordable childcare makes it almost impossible to end this systematic issue. Analyzing this

    issue through the sociological aspect of structural functionalism a.k.a.functionalist perspective,

    child abuse can be broken up into two sections: the perspective of business and the economy, and

    the perspective of families as a smaller unit in society. Although both are different subject areas,

    the functionalist lens analyzes them in a similar way.

    The functionalist perspective assumes that all members of society do their share to keep

    balance within society. Families are smaller units of society but still have an important and
    impactful role, businesses and corporations may play a higher role in some societies than small

    groups like family units do. However, for functionalists, the family provides a number of

    functions such as reproduction, protection, and support, but the family also creates and forms the

    members of society. Society may not put as much effort into smaller units such as families

    because they have larger parts to focus on and small obstacles like family matters may

    negatively affect society which is the result of many abuse and neglect victims falling through

    the cracks. With cases of child abuse or neglect, society failed the child by placing all of its trust

    in the guardian of the child.

    While the economic view of child abuse and neglect may cause frustration to some,

    functionalists would agree that there is a give-and-take aspect of it as well; the more cases of

    child abuse and neglect there are, the more job opportunities there will be in society. Similarly, if

    there was no crime there would be no need for police enforcement. There are many organizations

    and businesses built to help prevent child abuse, educate on the topic of child abuse, and help

    victims of child abuse to cope and recover. Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) is one of

    the largest businesses in this field that help children and victims who may be at risk with their

    given guardian or living circumstance. While these businesses push for child abuse to end, and

    do not promote child abuse, unemployment rates would increase if these companies all shut

    down and this would negatively affect the economy. In no way does a functionalist believe that

    child abuse is a positive part of society, but the issue of child abuse, along with other issues with

    the family, serves a function in creating society.

    Although there is no end-all resolution to this issue, all parts of society work cohesively

    so that children have a chance to become healthy adults with a healthy mentality, which could
    result in a less damaging society. They are the future of this society, and they deserve to be led

    by those who show care for them and do not misuse or abuse their innocence.

    You might also like