A Historical and Modern Look at Child Abuse in the United States and Nineteenth-Century France.

Introduction
“In its mildest form, young children are left unattended at home all day; in its most severe forms- beatings, mutilation, starvation, incest, and abandonment on public property- children are actively, horridly maltreated”, (Fuchs). This paper will explore the different effects of child abuse. Child abuse is a long standing practice throughout human history. This paper will look back at previous reports of child abuse and the ways the government has taken action against the issue. It will focus on the United States, both past and present and the emergence of awareness of child abuse in nineteenth and twentieth-century France.
Early American Views of Child Abuse
Child abuse is an age old phenomenon. It began with the ancient Greeks and Romans leaving deformed and female babies on the roadsides to die and has wound its way through history all over the globe. (Jenks) However, tracing the roots of child abuse in the United States is short work because the country itself is so young. The English Common law gave parents and guardians all rights over their children, who had no legal right to protection on their own. This led to the care givers rights to impose any sort of punishment they considered necessary. (Pfohl) Severe punishments were considered essential to the up-bringing of children in the seventeenth century because of dominant religious values and institutions. As the country moved into the eighteenth century and values began to shift as the domi...

A Historical and Modern Look at Child Abuse in the United States and Nineteenth-Century France.

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