Why do parents abuse their children?

Question

It’s constantly on the news about parents hurting and even killing their own children. Even recently was a mother who had killed two of her children years apart and stuck their bodies in a freezer. She has no remorse! How can people do this to their own children? What makes a parent want to harm their own created flesh and blood? What is the point of having children if you don’t even want them?

Answer 1

From the theoretic perspectives, there are five main areas of reasons that cause parents to abuse their own children:

1. Parent’s upbringing: If a person is abused when they are a child, they are very likely to abuse their own children. Parents usually learn from their own parents on how to parent. If their parents used very strict and harmful discipline actions, they will most likely use the same discipline actions on their own children.
2. High expectations: Some parents, especially young parents are not ready for the needs of a child. They may not realize what costs (not only money) a child will incur. This is especially true if the child has handicaps which the parent has never dealt with. These parents usually become overwhelmed or resentful to the child and may abuse them as their own release of their own emotions.
3. No parenting support: When a parent feels stressed and overwhelmed, and has no outlet to share his or her feelings, they may become abusive towards the child that they feel is making them have these stressors.
4. Drugs and alcohol: A parent under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol may lose control and are very prone to either abusing or neglecting their children. Single-parent addicts are more likely to abuse their children because there is usually no one there to intervene.
5. Mental and emotional disabilities and disorders: Parents who have different mental or emotional issues have harder times dealing with the stressors of parenthood. Those with extreme cases of disorder may not be able to care for themselves properly, none-the-less, care for another very needful human being. Some disorders that should be treated to prevent the possibility of abuse are Anxiety, Depression, Bi-Polar Disorder, PTSD, and Post-Partum Depression.

If you need some help, visit the following link:

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/abuse/child-abuse-and-neglect.htm

Answer 2

Why do parents abuse their children? My story will answer you!

I was taken from my mother at the age of six because she would beat me, or just slap me around hard enough that I would end up hitting inanimate objects. I have seen the pictures in my file from when I was taken. I could never imagine hurting a child like that. According to my file, my biological father was murdered when he was found with a neighbor’s teenage daughter. My biological mother was left with mixed up emotions. She was lost and found her “savior” in alcohol and a slew of illegal drugs. After the state took me from my mother, she went to a hospital to detox. She had a chance of getting me back but after a month of detox, she was so depressed and angry at herself for hurting me that she hung herself. I think parents that abuse their children have seriously rooted mental issues. It may come from not knowing how to deal with stress or even being abused when they were children. No answer makes what they do right, by any means but maybe if a mental disease, or a lack of coping mechanisms is noticed before the abuse starts, more children would probably be safer and be able to stay with their own parents.

Answer 3

Why do parents abuse their children? When people hurt others, there are usually certain reasons why. However, sometimes, they have no answer as to why they commit this horrible crime – children abuse.

1. Mental disabilities and disorders have been shown to be the top reason in severe child abuse cases. They could be born with a disorder or be diagnosed much later in life. Sometimes having a child can trigger a disorder. Some mothers end up with serious and severe post-partum depression which can cause the mother to lash out at their child. Parents who have abused or even murdered their children are usually diagnosed with PTSD, depression, and Bi-Polar disorder. Not everyone who has these mental disabilities will harm their own children. These are just reasons and causes that are usually behind a parent abusing their children.
2. The old saying “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” is a good way of describing another reason for child abuse. Much of the time, adults who were abused as children follow the same suit towards their own children. Sometimes even those who never endured physical abuse but instead much mental and emotional abuse will physically lash out at their own children. Some parents know no other way to discipline their child, other than what they, themselves were disciplined.
3. Of course, when a parent is not in their logical mind because of the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, abuse could be likely. Most parents who abuse their kids while under the influence of a foreign substance would never do such heinous acts while sober. These parents usually live with constant guilt after they have sobered up.