This document discusses a campaign and presentation on altruism in society. It begins by introducing the topic of child abuse, its history, impacts, and intervention methods. It then provides details on the nature and history of child abuse, including statistics on reported cases in the US. The document discusses the impacts of child abuse on victims and society. It proposes elements of persuasion to include in an advocacy campaign, such as direct communication and increasing access to counseling services. The justification of these elements is that they demonstrate altruism by responding to the needs of victims. The implications of this strategy are that intervention and prevention efforts could help victims regain normalcy and deter future abuse.

1. ALTRUISM IN SOCIETY CAMPAIGN AND PRESENTATION
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ALTRUISM IN SOCIETY CAMPAIGN AND PRESENTATION
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Altruism in Society Campaign and Presentation
Running head: ALTRUISM IN SOCIETY CAMPAIGN AND
PRESENTATION 1
Altruism in Society Campaign and Presentation
Introduction
The aim of the paper will be to analyze child abuse. The history
of the social problem, impact, persuasion campaigns, altruistic
behavior and impact of the intervention methods will also be
provided. Child abuse has become a common social
phenomenon that is worth addressing. Unless the intervention
strategies and persuasive elements are utilized, minimizing the
incidences of child abuse will be a major challenge.
Nature and history of your issue
The society is grappling with the increased rates of child abuse.
The phenomenon has been attributed to a rise in poverty levels
and domestic violence. Child abuse takes different forms, which
include inflicting pain through beating, verbal abuse, sexual

2. abuse, neglect, and child labor. The history of child abuse can
be traced to the 18th century, especially during the industrial
revolution (Bragg, 2003). Children were perceived as the source
of cheap labor, therefore, were high demand in industries.
Today, through concerted efforts of various government and
human rights activists, the explicit forms of child abuse have
been on the decrease. However, issues of child neglect,
emotional abuse, and child labor remain a significant challenge.
According to the 2013 National Statistics on Child Abuse
(NSCA), it was estimated that about 1,520 children below the
age of 18 died of child abuse. The NSCA report indicated that
close to 3.1 million children in the country were victims of
maltreatment. As a result, the children received preventative
services from various Child agencies in the U.S. close to 80% of
the cases were related to child neglect. The report indicated that
2% of the children were victims of sexual abuse while 18%
suffered physical abuse. Additionally, the report noted that both
parents caused most of the violations.
In 2014, there was a rise in the number of children receiving
emotional support from the Child Protective Services compared
to the previous. Despite the child abuse campaigns, statistics
indicated that cases of child neglect were still on the rise. In
2014, the victims of sexual abuse were more compared to those
of physical abuse. It was reported that more than 205,438 were
victims of sexual abuse compared to 60,897, who were the
victims of physical abuse.
Contrary to the belief that strangers propagate ill-treatment of
children, specifically sexual assault, studies provide a different
perspective. It is reported that most of the abuses are committed
by people who are close to the children, including their parents
and close relatives (Sherman &.Holden, 2009) Demanding
careers and poverty are some of the major issue factors
contributing to child abuse. As mentioned before, neglect has
been on the rise. This could be attributed to the fact that parents
spend most of their time in their careers, such that they lack
time to spend with their children. Increased unemployment and

3. unequal distribution of resources have also led to a rise in child
abuse. Children drop out of school to assist parents in looking
for their daily needs. Domestic violence has also been a major
challenge in the war against child abuse. Malfunctioned
relationships in most marriages expose children to all forms of
violence.
Advocacy programs have been initiated in different countries
with an aim of addressing the challenge of child abuse. The
legal approach has been found to be less effective, because
despite being expensive for most victims, it does not reduce the
incidences. One of the most effective means has been to work
with various stakeholders, such as community organizations and
industries to sensitize the society. The goal has also been to
provide the self-help for abusive parents. Teaching parents
alternative methods of disciplining their children is perceived to
be important in assisting authoritarian parents. The prevention
of child abuse requires a holistic approach. All the factors that
lead to child abuse have to be addressed.
Impact of child abuses in society
Child abuse has adverse effects on children and the society.
Child abuse has been attributed to slow mental and social
development in children. Abused children have a problem in
decision making. They are shy and lack the assertive skills. As a
result, abused children could suffer a cycle of abuse. In class,
the performance of abused children is found to be lower,
compared to that of the rest. The concentration, abstract
reasoning, and analytical skills are lacking or not fully
developed.
Victims of child abuse suffer social development. The social
interaction is usually minimal. Children may take a longer time
before they can learn how to speak. The victims of abuse lack
effective communication skills that are vital in social
interactions. Children are likely to be lonely and pessimistic
about the world. Some are callous about what is happening
around them. As they become adults, victims of child abuse are
found to be aggressive.

4. Child abuse may predispose the victims to emotional
challenges. Children mistrust their parents/caregivers. The
distrust leads to weaker parental bonds, which has negative
implications for the relationships. Weaker healthy relationships
between parents and their children are attributed to neglect.
This is commonly caused by demanding careers, where parents
only spend very insignificant time with their children. Parents
play an imperative role in fostering emotional development in
children. For instance, parents can train their children to
become empathic through responding to their (children's)
emotional needs adequately. Children also learned to control
their negative behavior when they are brought up by parents
who spend quality time training and listening to their needs.
Forming healthy relationships in future is normally a significant
challenge to most of the children who have been victims of
abuse. Parental neglect has been the principal cause of tantrums
in most children and also the attention deficit hyperactive
disorder.
Current studies indicate that children who have been through
abusive relationships and neglect have low academic
performance. The IQ level of the children is likely to be
affected immensely. Upon reaching high school, students who
have been through any form of abuse continue to perform
poorly. Part of the reason is the lack of concentration and poor
communication skills.
Elements of persuasion in campaign
As mentioned before, child abuse campaigns have not been
effective as far as reduction of child abuse is concerned. One of
the main weaknesses could be the lack of funds to reach all the
target populations, especially in the villages and slums, where
child abuse is commonly reported. One of the elements of the
campaigns would be to use a channel of communication that is
more convenient. Direct communication with parents,
guardians, and other stakeholders will be the central element in
the campaign. The use of the traditional media, such the radio,
and TV has not been very effective. The campaign should use a

5. strategy that will allow for the interaction between the
advocates and the stakeholders. In this sense, the advocates will
target the religious institutions, home based care units, health
organization, and other social organizations. Secondly, the
advocacy campaign will also conduct visits to schools, with an
aim of teaching children about their fundamental rights,
especially regarding where they can find help.
One of the main advantages of the one in one campaign is to
ensure that citizens can ask questions concerning the problem in
hand. In most cases, abused children or witnesses of child abuse
do not report the incidences since they do not know where to
get this information. Additionally, the one on one
communication will assist the community and the relevant
agencies dealing with children rights to build trust. The ability
to establish healty relationships will allow the community to
take active steps that will see the report anyone who is found to
be abusing children. Empowering the community through
information dissemination will be imperative in enhancing the
war against child abuse.
The second element which will be considered in the campaign
will be increasing awareness especially on how to intervene
especially after abuse. The campaign will seek to propose
counseling and legal interventions as the primary avenues that
the victims and perpetrators of child abuse can use. The
counseling services will be aimed at helping the victims of
abuse heal mentally and emotionally. Counseling is important in
ensuring that victims can lead a normal life. For instance,
children can gain the social skills that are necessary for social
interactions. Also, teenagers can accept themselves and have a
positive perspective about life. However, one of the main
challenges is the fact that many victims of abuse are unable to
afford counseling services due to the high cost. With that in
mind, the goal will be to ensure that the campaign advocates for
increased resources towards assisting children who have been
abused. The government can provide free counseling services or
subsidize the cost to make sure that as many people can afford.

6. Working closely with the community organization such as
churches will also advocate for the help of the victims.
Counseling parents who abuse their children will also be part of
the process. Most of the parents who abuse their children use
wrong disciplinary style. Authoritarian parents, for instance, are
more likely to abuse their children physically. Counseling will
teach such individuals the effective ways of disciplining their
children without necessarily using excessive force. The legal
intervention will only be advocated in the situation of serious
matters such as sexual abuse. It will also be used to punish
parents who have the habit of physically abusing their children
even after being warned and taken through the counseling
process.
Justification of use of persuasion elements in connection with
altruistic behavior
Altruism refers to the ability to respond to the needs of other
people (Elstad, 2011). It also relates to the capacity to show
empathy, especially when others are going through distress
(Shtatfeld, 2009). The elements discussed above demonstrate
concern for the needs of the victims. Direct communication is
done to ensure that the processes become more efficient. It
gives the community an opportunity to participate in the process
and get any information. The counseling services respond to the
real issues affecting the victims of child abuse. The two
elements demonstrate the willingness of the human rights
groups in fighting the social injustices in the society. It shows
the sacrifice and wiliness to improve the welfare of children and
other victims of abuse. Seeing the emergency and taking
necessary measures is a demonstration that one is altruistic.
Discuss the implications of your strategy regarding intervention
and prevention.
The strategy discussed above has significant positive
implications as far as the alleviation of the problem is
concerned. As aforementioned, counseling will assist victims of
abuse in regaining their normalcy. After counseling, children
may be able to focus on their normal life, including pursuing

7. their interests and forming healthy relationships. A major
implication will be to assist parents in understanding the best
strategies in disciplining their children. Counseling is the most
efficient method of intervention because it is a holistic approach
to the problem. Counseling focuses on the cause of the problem.
The legal intervention will also be a deterrent to future
possibilities of abuse. For instance, stiff penalties and sentences
may help in minimizing incidences of child abuse.
In conclusion, child abuse has been on the rise despite the
efforts taken by human rights groups to curb the problem. One
of the main challenges has been the use of wrong approaches.
The communication channels and methods of interventions
utilized have been less productive. The strategy to minimize the
incidences of child abuse should include directly interacting
with the community and offering affordable counseling services.
The legal intervention is recommended only when all other
methods of intention have failed. In serious matters, such as
sexual abuse, legal interventions ought to be considered.
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