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What is Abuse?
How far should abuse go before it becomes a
crime? Are children protected enough? Read about the different types of
abuse and the possible
penalties.
As a legal term, abuse applies
to the maltreatment of a
person as well as a thing or an idea. If the abusive action is
considered
harmful and/or unlawful it is generally regarded as a crime.
Abuse can be obvious or
concealed. It may apply to something
as basic as destroying equipment by incorrect use or as severe as
mistreating a
person.
In the US legal system, one
factor that indicates an abusive
act is the matter of power. How much power does the abuser have over
the
alleged victim/s? It must be determined if the alleged victim/s could
have
immediately defended themselves against threats and harm.
Abuse
- Recent
Incidents
The
Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that while the
number of adult substance abuse violators has increased in recent
years, that of
juvenile violators has stabilized.
In
general, although the percentage of reported crimes has
increased in the last decade, crimes of abuse have been on the decline
from
1995 to the present day.
Experts cite
inefficient investigative
practices by law enforcers
in the 80s and 90s that saw many cases of abuse — especially
child abuse —
being eventually overturned. These inefficient practices included
repeatedly
asking leading questions, which resulted in false disclosures.
Be that as it may,
there’s still the great danger that many
cases of abuse slip through the cracks due to plain neglect. This is
especially
true when the victim is helpless to report the incident as in the case
of
children and the elderly.
One recent case in Milwaukee
involved the death by
suffocation of a 19-month-old toddler, even as welfare workers were
already
repeatedly informed of prior abuse. The reason: The welfare workers
simply
didn’t talk to each other!
After the incident, the county
health chief ordered a speedy
review of all cases of multiple reports, especially for children age
six or
younger.
Abuse Types
& Penalties
There
are at least a dozen classifications of abuse in the
American criminal justice system.
- Spiritual
– Aberrational practices associated with cults or religious
groups
- Sexual
– Forced maltreatment of an individual for purposes of sex
- Physical
– Inflicting pain or physical violence
- Verbal
– Threats, profanity, and demeaning statements
- Emotional/Psychological
– Using emotional/psychological means to force, manipulate,
or inflict harm on a person
- Substance
– Typically relates to drug or alcohol addiction (Note: US
law enforcers often refer to ANY use of illegal drugs as abuse
— regardless of its actual harm to the user or another
person.)
- Child
– Emotional, physical, sexual abuse of a child
- Spousal
– Also called domestic violence, this refers to physical or
emotional/psychological abuse of a spouse
- Elder
– Threats, neglect, physical violence against an elderly
person
- Human Rights
– Any action that violates human rights
- Animal
– Cruelty or neglect of animals
- Legal
– Malicious litigation or using the US legal system for
coercion, revenge, or to harm an individual emotionally or financially
There is also abuse of
technology like the Internet, which
has its own set of laws. Online abuse can range from inappropriate
behavior to
intrusive hacking.
Although penalties vary, the US
justice system tends to mete
out harsher punishments (e.g., sentences are 25% longer) when the
victims of
abuse are children. Most crimes of abuse carry jail or prison time.
In cases involving some
monetary gain by the abuser, judges
normally order that monetary restitution be made to the victim.
However,
damages can also be awarded in other cases brought before the civil
courts.
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about the
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