Child Abuse: A life sentence
The nation’s tough on crime policies from the 1990s have increased the prison population to over two and a half million individuals. These people are disproportionately uneducated and poor. Approximately two-thirds of whom suffer from some form of psychological disorder. Childhood abuse or neglect is the cause of much the mental illness of individuals incarcerated within the United States. Abuse or neglect harms children in many ways. Especially at risk are young children. Physically and mentally they may not grow properly. A significant portion develops some difficulties with learning. They may develop trust issues, feel depressed and become antisocial. Some are scared or angry most of the time. Sexually abused …show more content…
By being forced to watch my mom do drugs and have sex with various men, most often at the same time. For weeks I was forced to watch. I would usually hide in my closet during those times. Summer of 2005 I was sexually assaulted at home by my mother’s live-in boyfriend. After the attack, he told me, he was teaching me to be a woman. I went crying to my mom and told her what had happened. To my amazement, she tried to convince me that he was only playing and teasing. It was rape, and I was only eleven! That day my life was transformed into fear, and I started down the dark road into agoraphobia. The trust I had in the world came to an end. The next day I called my father from school, he was at work. I told what had happened to me and my mother’s actions. He started to cry and tell me how he was sorry. I said to go back to the school. Find a teacher and tell them about the abuse. He did this knowing that the school must call the police. Father got there two hours later; he works out of town and flies. Child protective services turned me over to my dad. A few days later he took me to see a child psychologist. I later went to a psychiatrist who diagnosed me has to have a minor case of agoraphobia and given mood altering drugs. They put me in a catatonic state. To finish school, I stopped the drugs and started long-term drugless psychotherapy. I was astonished, but things got worse for
The nation’s tough on crime policies from the 1990s have increased the prison population to over two and a half million individuals. These people are disproportionately uneducated and poor. Approximately two-thirds of whom suffer from some form of psychological disorder. Childhood abuse or neglect is the cause of much the mental illness of individuals incarcerated within the United States. Abuse or neglect harms children in many ways. Especially at risk are young children. Physically and mentally they may not grow properly. A significant portion develops some difficulties with learning. They may develop trust issues, feel depressed and become antisocial. Some are scared or angry most of the time. Sexually abused …show more content…
By being forced to watch my mom do drugs and have sex with various men, most often at the same time. For weeks I was forced to watch. I would usually hide in my closet during those times. Summer of 2005 I was sexually assaulted at home by my mother’s live-in boyfriend. After the attack, he told me, he was teaching me to be a woman. I went crying to my mom and told her what had happened. To my amazement, she tried to convince me that he was only playing and teasing. It was rape, and I was only eleven! That day my life was transformed into fear, and I started down the dark road into agoraphobia. The trust I had in the world came to an end. The next day I called my father from school, he was at work. I told what had happened to me and my mother’s actions. He started to cry and tell me how he was sorry. I said to go back to the school. Find a teacher and tell them about the abuse. He did this knowing that the school must call the police. Father got there two hours later; he works out of town and flies. Child protective services turned me over to my dad. A few days later he took me to see a child psychologist. I later went to a psychiatrist who diagnosed me has to have a minor case of agoraphobia and given mood altering drugs. They put me in a catatonic state. To finish school, I stopped the drugs and started long-term drugless psychotherapy. I was astonished, but things got worse for