Persuasive essay on controversial social problem

Name Course number Instructor’s name Date Persuasive Essay It is reported that 27 children who are below fifteen years in America die every week from child abuse and neglect (Radford n.p.). Further statistics by UNICEF indicate a 2.4 death rate per year for every 100000 children contrasted with 1.4 in France, 1 Japan and 0.9 in the UK (Radford n.p.). Additionally, UNICEF reports that 20000 children have died in America over the past ten years from murder by their own families (Radford n.p.). Maltreatment of children occurs in physical, emotional, psychological and sexual forms including neglect. The problem of child abuse or maltreatment is perverse because it is widely acknowledged that when children are abused, they are more likely to also become abusers (Brazelton and Greenspan 50). This vicious cycle must be avoided through the most effective means which is primary prevention through home visitation. Home visits is the most effective way to prevent child abuse because it allows for social workers to reach the families that are isolated from community action and gain their support for anti-child abuse action, allow them to assist the children in need before they are harmed and it also allows for a more cost effective and easier developmental interventions and therapeutic processes. Home visits allow social workers to attend to go the families instead of waiting for the families and other concerned parties to seek assistance. They attend to the child protection issues in the home setting where the parents and all care givers are able to see for themselves the issues play out. The parents and primary caregivers are able to learn about how to control or curb child abuse under their own terms in their homes giving them a sense of control. It also allows them to take better ownership of the intervention programs because they are aware that the social workers are able to observe the needs and conditions in their homes. This is an effective way because both parties are able to face actual facts as they are without any alterations and hence reach the most suitable intervention (Donnelly n.p.). Once the families benefit from the visitation they become more proactive in detecting and responding appropriately to abuse in their families as well as in others because of the knowledge gained that deters them from tolerating abuse in their homes and communities. Early detection also applies in the part of the social workers. The social workers are able detect signs of potential abuse and keep children safe before they get harmed. Early detection is important in preventing the occurrence of other problems that result from abuse such as problems in bonding with others and forming healthy interpersonal relationships, depression, juvenile delinquency, violent behavior, development delays, adult criminality, teen pregnancy and post-traumatic stress disorder. Research has strongly indicated that abuse has long term effects on the child and hence prevention helps to prevent their occurrence. While compared to responding to situations where prevention has already occurred, prevention has better longer term benefits as indicated by research (National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information n.p.). They make observations of the ne...