Intra Family Crime Research Paper

Crime has always existed, even long ago during biblical times crimes was evident. Several factors made it more visual in our society. In the early 1900’s the Uniform Crime Report became the most common way of tracking crime. The media has also brought crime and its high rates to the forefront. There is never a news broadcast be it local or national news that does not report on at least one account of crime. The rates at which crime takes place has changed over the last 100 or so years, along with the changing rate is a change in type of crime and also the characteristics of the offender. The United States is not alone in its battle with high crime rates as most other nations fight with crime problems, but the United States unfortunately leads …show more content…
What are some costs of this kind of intra-family crime, and what steps can be taken to reduce its prevalence? Intrafamily violence or domestic violence is caused by one family member inflicted on another. The offender could be a parent, step parent, child, teen, spouse, elder, or other family member. Types of violence can include child abuse, spouse abuse, and elder abuse. This type of violence doesn’t always stop at affecting the victim but can affect the entire family as a whole. Child abuse is physical, sexual, emotional assault, and child neglect (The Issue of Child Abuse, n.d.). The current rates of child abuse in this country are horrendous. Currently over 700,000 children a year are found to have been victims of child abuse (The Issue of Child Abuse, n.d.). The scarier thought is that it’s possible that so many more children are being abused and nobody is reporting it. There are financial costs to child abuse including cost of investigations, medical care, foster care, and criminal prosecution. The emotional costs that accompany child abuse are far worse. Children who are abused often spend their lives being scared and unable to trust others. It causes them to have problems with friendships as well as romantic relationships. Child abuse victims often have problems in school. They are at risk for pregnancy, becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol, and fighting depression (The Issue of Child Abuse, n.d.). There are certain …show more content…
The offenders can be either the man or woman. Spousal abuse includes physical harm, sexual abuse, or causing fear (Warning Signs and Red Flags, n.d.). Spousal abuse is all too common in today’s society. In the United States almost 29% of women and 10% of men have been abused by their spouse (Get the Facts and FIgures, n.d.). There are financial costs to this type of abuse including medical care, therapy, and criminal prosecution. The victimized spouse often does suffer in future relationships often finding it hard to love and be loved. Many times they need the help of a therapist to learn to function again and not fear the offending sex. There is also a mental and emotional cost that doesn’t just fall on the adults in the family, if there are children in the home they may suffer as well. Seeing a parent physical abuse the other may cause the child to grow up fearful of marriage and even scared of the abusive gender. One of the things an adult can do to prevent themselves from becoming a victim of spousal abuse is if they feel they are at risk they need to have a safety plan in place that will offer a way out (Path to Safety, n.d.). An individual worried that their spouse may become abusive should let others like family and friends know of their concerns so that there is support there if and when