As you are sitting in the living room watching television, you hear that familiar sound. You hear the yelling, the crashing, and the crying. In the background of all the sound, you faintly hear a childs voice pleading for their life. 1. Unfortunately, this scenario is not that uncommon. Child maltreatment still occurs at alarming rates. In 1998, 135,573 child maltreatment investigations were conducted in Canada by Child Welfare agencies (Stats Canada, 2001). Child neglect accounted for 40% of the cases, physical abuse accounted for 31%, emotional maltreatment accounted for 19%, and sexual abuse accounted for 10%. Family members or other persons related to the child victim constituted the vast majority of the alleged perpetrators (93%). Of the substantiated cases of child maltreatment, 43% continued for more than six months. When looking at violence against children and youth reported to police in 1999, children and youth under the age of 18 years made up 23 % of the Canadian population and were the victims in 24% of assaults reported to a sample of police departments. They represented 60% of all sexual assault victims and 20% of physical assault victims. These children had their innocence torn away.Does anyone sit back and really think about what we are doing to these children? Too many people assume that these children grow up and just "get over" the abuse. If only it were that simple. Research has shown us that child maltreatment can be very psychologically damaging. Many children end up suffering life long problems.In a number of studies, it has been shown that physical abuse has a damaging effect on children (Augoustinos, 1987; Briere & Runtz, 1988, 1990; Claussen & Crittenden, 1991; Kaplan, Pelcovitz & Labruna, 1999). A common problem found in children who have been physically abused is disruptive disorders. It has been shown that at least 30% of people who have been physically abused have lifetime disruptive disorder diagnosis, ...
