Critical Analysis on Child Abuse and Poverty in Canadian Society

Children mainly fall victim to crisis; child poverty and child abuse are two major areas of crisis today (Conway, 2003). Child poverty is extremely unsettling and unfortunate and happens a lot more than we know, “poverty is always ugly, repellent and terrible either to see or to experience; but when it assails the cradle, it assumes its most hideous form” (Conway, 2003). The Industrial Revolution was a huge step up for society, it brought change, and ushered the modern Industrial Nuclear Family” (Conway. 2003). With the industrial family, “good, normal men and women raised obedient, respectful children who would themselves leave the home of their family of birth and find fulfillment by establishing their own homes and families” (Conway, 2003). With such pressures and expectations can really drive a person to insanity, especially when they feel as if they aren’t reaching the standards set for them by society. The rise in single parent families also plays a significant historical role in child poverty and child abuse, “over 2 million of Canada’s children live in single parent families, and it is estimated that over one in two Canadian children will live part of their lives in a single parent family” (Conway, 2003). Single parent families are already at risk for lower incomes, stress and self-esteem issues, it is also said that single parent families affect the children in the long run because children imitate their parents as they grow older (Conway, 2003). The single female family also has historically been seen as a factor in child poverty and abuse, single female families usually were a result from separation or divorce, the mothers usually receive custody of the children and don’t have the funds or the means to support them (Conway, 2003). Child poverty starts from a child not having what is necessary to get ahead in life, and with the poverty, most times comes the abuse (Conway, 2003). Child abuse and poverty are two crises that Conway refers to in “The Canadian Family in crisis”, and these two crises are historically rooted in; the industrial nuclear family, the single parent family and the single female families.

It is important to remember that “children are not seen as the authors of their own misfortune” (Conway, 2003). Child poverty brings deprivation, and that closes a lifetime of opportunities (Conway, 2003). Unfortunately, a large part of poor people in Canada, were children, in 1971, 1.7 million children were living in poverty, this meaning that 39 per cent of Canadian children were poor (Conway, 2003). Statistics Canada and Health and Welfare Canada revealed that low-income families were mainly uneducated, unhappy, have poorer health, and shorter lives than more well-off p Canadians (Conway, 2003). Not only does having more money seem to equate to more happiness, it also equals to lower rates of mental disorders, including lower rates of anxiety and depression, and as much as poverty affects mental health, it affects physical health as well (Conway, 2003). “Statistics Canada National Health Survey study shows that low-income Canadian’s were twice as likely to rate their health as poor in comparison to high-income Canadians” (Conway, 2003). This goes to show that people who are poorer have a relatively harder life, this challenges the thought of money not being a factor in happiness and health.

The results of poverty often lead to child abuse, when talking about abuse, “we are talking about physical, sexual, emotional, or abuse resulting from deliberate neglect and deprivation” (Conway, 2003). Child abuse has many contributing factors, poverty, unemployment and economic stress are factors that are associated with child abuse, this shows how child poverty and child abuse often go hand in hand (Conway, 2003). Marital conflict is also a big contributing factor to child abuse, families of young parents, and families with single mothers seem to face conflict more than others in their daily lives (Conway, 2003). When it comes to child abuse, the abuser usually suffered from abuse themselves, they experienced “emotional deprivation, physical abuse, parental rejection, and family conflict (Conway, 2003). More often than not, child abusers tend to be younger and unprepared for parenthood, usually they believe that children should act a certain way, and with this, they carry unrealistic expectations about children (Conway, 2003). The typical results of child abuse tend to include females having exaggerated dependency needs (mainly craving male attention), and males possessing sociopathic and/or psychopathic personality characteristics that turn more often than not, into criminal backgrounds (Conway, 2003).

Child abuse and child poverty have historical roots. The Industrial nuclear family by the mid-nineteenth century had become the norm for basically all Canadians, regardless of their class (Conway, 2003). The Industrial Nuclear family consisted of men becoming husbands and fathers; devoting their lives to their wives and children, women becoming wives and mothers; devoting their lives to the home and their husbands and children (Conway, 2003). With the Industrial Nuclear family, parents were said to be “good, normal men and women, who raised obedient, respectful children, who would themselves leave the home and establish their own homes and families” (Conway, 2003). Many families felt that there was no room for mistakes, if their children were not to follow through, shame and embarrassed were felt. The Industrial family carried fathers that were very much patriarchal, their first instinct when someone threated their authority, was to use force; this resulted in physical and emotional abuse, equating to child abuse (Conway, 2003). Another historical root is the single female families, life for women has obviously been hard, single female-parent families are said to be: “in the most difficulty economically (Conway, 2003). Female jobs consist of low-income, the lack of affordable daycare, and the absence of a spouse makes it harder financially; as a result, single-parent families (female) fall into poverty (Conway, 2003).

The cycle continues, those who were abused tend to abuse, and children that come from impoverished families find it rather difficult to break the cycle because they weren’t given the right opportunities and tools to help better themselves so they could defeat poverty. Child abuse is a crisis, not only does it affect the child while they are children, but this abuse almost always follows the abused into their adulthood (Conway, 2003). Child poverty affects a large number of Canadian children, this deprivation that they are exposed to “closes a lifetime of opportunity” (Conway, 2003). Child poverty starts from a child not having what is necessary to get ahead in life, and with the poverty, most times comes the abuse (Conway, 2003). Child abuse and poverty are two crises that Conway refers to in “The Canadian Family in crisis”, and these two crises are historically rooted in; the Industrial Nuclear Family, The Single Parent Family and the Single Female Families.

Reference:

1. Conway, J. F. (2003). The Canadian Family in Crisis (Fifth edition ed., pp. 13-95). Toronto, Canada : James Lorimer & Company Ltd.