To view power point presentation: Altruism in Society
Altruism
in Society
{Collaborated by E. Noori, T. Norton, R. Rinaudo, C. Swarmer, and A. Thompson}
Child abuse is a prevalent issue
in the United States. In 2011, the number of child victims was 676,569 (U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Children under the age of one
totaled the largest percentage of this number. It is vital to provide new
mothers with information to aid in the prevention of child abuse. As a team, we
propose implementing a mandatory program for new mothers. This program would
educate women on child development, health, and parenting strategies. Altruism
is a behavior aimed at helping others without personal gain (Wood, Wood, &
Boyd, 2011). The mandatory education program is an example of an altruistic
behavior.
Child abuse constitutes the
physical, emotional, or sexual mistreatment or act of a child. “Child abuse and
neglect is a widespread problem in American society; child of any age, sex,
race, religion and socioeconomic background can fall victim to maltreatment”
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999, p. 1). Child abuse is
dated back to biblical and mythological times. “It would suffice to recall the
stories of Abraham and Isaac, Moses and Medea, and King Nimrod of Babylon who
began the “slaughter of the innocence” that killed 70,000 newborns (Solomon,
1973, p. 773). Killing defective children was a custom that was permitted
through a ceremony called Wasser Weihe and “infanticide has been reported as a
regular feature of numerous cultures including, Eskimo, Polynesian, Egyptian,
African, American Indian, and Australian” (Solomon, 1973, p. 773).
The phenomenon of child abuse began with
urbanization, industrialization, and technology. Children were suddenly considered
valuable and an asset to society. It was not until the nineteenth century that
the concern for child safety is established in the United States through the
first Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Children (SPCC). In 1974, The
Child Abuse and Prevention and Treatment Act are established (CAPTA). CAPTA was
amended to form the Emergency Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Services Program.
Grants were provided to fund programs including “comprehensive emergency
services, public information and education, improvement of services to
substance abuse-affected families, and multi-disciplinary/interdisciplinary
training” (Department of Health and Human
Services, 1999, p. 1).
In 1983, the month of April became the first National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The 20th
anniversary of child abuse prevention month occurred in 2003. The
Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act define child abuse and neglect
as any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretakers who
result in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or
exploitation. Parents do not have the right to abuse children. Parents should
give of themselves unconditionally for their children and will never
intentionally make their lives difficult. There are many cases in which after a
divorce parents vent their anger out on their children. This is unreasonable
and irrational. Abuse is to treat a person cruelly or violently. There are many
types of abuse such as physical, mental, emotional and neglect. Child abuse
takes place in socioeconomic ranks, across every racial and cultural region, in
every religion, and all rank of education. Child abuse leaves painful and
permanent emotional or physical scars. In 2010 a predictable 905,000 children
were sufferers of mistreatment within the United States. This means that 12
children per 1000 are victimized. 13,950 children in the United States died
from abuse or neglect between 2001 and 2009. An estimated 2000 children will
die from abuse or neglect this year 2013. Children who have experience with
child abuse are 60% likely to be arrested as juveniles, 30% likely to be
arrested as an adult, and 30% more likely to commit aggressive misdemeanor.
Pimps take advantage of runaways. They control 50% of the children used for
prostitution in the United States. Minors are subjugated for financial gain and
the sexual satisfaction of the exploiters and of their clients. An abused child
of today can be the criminal of tomorrow.
Persuasion is the “process by which a
message induces change in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors” (Myers, 2010, p. 230).
The purpose of the mandatory parent education classes is to persuade new
mothers to take a different action than abuse a child. The elements of
persuasion are each important in campaigns. One element used in the parenting
education classes campaign is the message. The message is the information
shared. The message can come in different forms. For example, a message can
focus on reasoning or emotion. Examples would be statistics (reasoning) and
stories (emotion). The message depends on the type of person it is meant for.
Well - educated or analytical people respond best to rational appeals (Myers,
2010). Thoughtful and involved audiences respond to reasoned arguments whereas
uninterested audiences respond best based on his or her liking of the
communicator. Emotions are important in relation to a message of persuasion. A
message associated with positive emotions enhances positive thinking and
messages associated with negative emotions usually entice fear. These fear –
framed messages work best when used to prevent a bad outcome rather than
promote a good outcome.
Playing in an individual’s fear is not
always the best method. The primacy effect and recency effect are found in the
element of message. Primacy effect states that information presented first
usually has more influence (Myers, 2010). This is true when two views are
presented within a reasonable amount of time from each other. Recency effect
states that information presented last usually has more influence (Myers,
2010). This is true when there is a period between the two presentations. These
two effects are important when presenting a message. The message used in the
child abuse prevention campaign is the consequences of abuse and methods of
preventing abuse. This message is best given as statistics and stories, thus
stimulating the audience’s reasoning and emotions.
A second element of persuasion is the
method of the message. This explains how the message is delivered to the
audience. There are different channels that a message may be delivered. These
include face – to - face, signs, documents, and the media. The media is not the
major influence on an individual; contact with others is. However, spoken
appeals are not necessarily the most persuasive method either (Myers, 2010).
There are several channels in which to deliver the child abuse prevention message.
Because the primary focus of the campaign is education classes, the best method
of delivery is face to face. This would include classroom lectures on topics of
interest such as statistics, stories, and general information. Printed
documents may supplement the lectures; giving the audience visual information
as well. Using a combination of both methods ensures the audience is given
different stimulation to receive the message.
The third element used in this
campaign is the audience. This element explains who is receiving the message.
The self esteem of the audience plays an important role in the receipt of the
message. Individuals with low self esteem are hard to persuade. This is because
these individuals are slower to comprehend messages. Individuals with high self
esteem comprehend messages. However, these individuals usually remain confident
of his or her opinions. Individuals with moderate self esteem are the easiest
audience to persuade. Attitudes are easily changeable during certain years of
development. These years are the teens and early twenties. Attitudes formed
during this period continue through middle adulthood. This does not mean that
older generations cannot be persuaded. However, it is harder to persuade these
generations. It is important to understand the audience targeted. Most new
mothers are teens and young adults. Although these mothers may be easy to
persuade with the campaign, methods to target older women need to be considered
as well.
The use of bringing awareness to mothers by providing
education is highly justified with the use of altruistic behavior. Altruistic
behavior is to have complete selflessness about one another and as a mother
feels that her child is abused she also wants to help others mothers she may
never meet have the education she overlooked (Myers, 2010). When one mother
shares her story of child abuse, she tends to share with others with the use of
social exchange theory. Social exchange theory helps to motivate one to share
with another with the use of separating cost with reward (Myers, 2010). Because
the cost a child suffers from child abuse is so huge, one mother does what she
needs to do to spread the message. According to the social exchange theory the
cost of not spreading the message leads to punishment and in this case the
punishment involves a child getting abused. One mother does not want another to
feel the pain of witnessing abuse on her own child, but with the use of empathy
one mother has the opportunity to reap the rewards of helping other mothers and
children from experiencing the same pain. Another motivation for altruistic
behavior is to feels socially accepted by others. When a person feels socially
accepted for courageous acts of awareness, he or she feels that he or she has
achieved what others expect from him or her. Not always do people feel that
they are doing the right thing by discussing or bringing awareness to others,
and this could be that the cost overrides the benefits. If a person does not
feel that he or she could feel rewarded internally or externally from speaking
up against child abuse the odds of him or her helping in spreading awareness
comes to a halt. Social exchange and altruistic behavior go together and the motives
for the education need to have greater rewards rather than consequences. Therefore,
providing the correct information could increase the chances of minimizing
child abuse.
Intervention of child abuse is the primary
prevention method of stopping abuse before it can occur (Bethea, 1999). There
are many aspects of intervention that can be implemented on many levels
beginning with increasing the worth of the child. Other aspects include increasing economic
assistance, discouraging corporal punishment, access to affordable health care, proper
coordination of social services, accurate psychological care, alcohol and drug
treatment, childcare cost within means, and avoidance of unwanted children
(Bethea, 1999).
A child’s worth is vital in the avoidance of child
abuse. Programs are available to guide a family toward a positive and
fulfilling parent and child relationship (DePanfilis, 2006). If parents can
learn strategies while their children are young they can understand behavioral
norms, concerns, and how to deal with them instead of acting out in an abusive
manner.
Increasing economic self-sufficiency
produces a comfortable family life, and the eases ability to use resources that
are available for support will create an environment for a sense of worth for a
family. Encouragement to avoid corporal punishment may produce the desire to
seek social services and counseling to find effective parenting ideas.
Affordable health care can assist in the ability to have accurate psychological
diagnosis, along with the treatment of alcohol and drug treatment, and ability
to obtain birth control to avoid unwanted pregnancies. These intervention
methods are only a portion of the recommendations to intervene before child
abuse occurs.
Child abuse is a prevalent issue in the United
States. It is vital to work to prevent child abuse to protect the children.
Child abuse can be damaging to the child by lowering his or her self esteem and
leading him or her to behaviors such as fighting, consuming drugs or alcohol,
prostitution, or suicide. Therefore, child abuse should be prevented before it
has a chance to occur. Implementing mandatory parenting education classes for
new mothers is a good start. Careful planning should be taken when implementing
these programs. One must consider the message, method, and audience. These
elements are vital concerning the success of the campaign.
Bethea, L. (1999). Primary prevention of child abuse. American Family Physician, 59(6),
1577-1585. Retrieved from http://www.aafp.org/afp/1999/0315/p1577.html
DePanfilis, D. (2006). Child Neglect: A Guide for Prevention,
Assessment, and Intervention. Retrieved from
https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanuals/neglect/neglect.pdf
Myers, D. (2010). Social
psychology (10th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw - Hill.
Solomon, T. (1973). History and Demography of Child Abuse. Pediatrics, 51(4), 773-776.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1999).
Blending Perspectives and Building Common Ground: A Report to Congress on
Substance Abuse and Child Protection. Retrieved from
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/subabuse99/subabuse.htm
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2012).
National and State Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics. Retrieved from
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/cm11.pdf
Wood, S. E., Wood, E. G., & Boyd, D. (2011). The world of psychology (7th ed.).
Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
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