Abstract
Child abuse is a recurring decimal in most many developing countries of the world, it’s dimensions and occurrence varies among varies from individuals, ethnic groups, religious institution, professional bodies etc. This study seeks to dissect Child abuse in Nigeria, and its effect on the society, particularly in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State. Four research questions and research objectives were set to guide the research. The sample size was one hundred and twenty (120). Validated structured questionnaire was administered on the randomly selected respondents by simple random sampling technique. One hundred and fifteen validated questionnaires were returned. Frequencies and simple percentages were used in analyzing the data. The result revealed that environmental interaction influences a child’s behaviour and development. The findings also show that immaturity, unrealistic expectations and emotional problems of parents and caregivers are major causes of child abuse. In addition, it abused and neglected children face difficulties in psychological adjustment and in performance at school. It is recommended that parents should put the future of their children at heart and endeavour to create such relationship that will encourage their children to create academic opportunities and to give positive feedback about their behavior.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
A child in the context of the Nigerian society vary due to uniformity in the cultural system. In some ethnic groups, a boy remains a child until initiated into an age grade society or until he is old enough to contribute physically and financially to the community development while in some societies, childhood terminates at puberty.
Under the common law, the age of puberty in the case of a boy is fourteen (14) while that of a girl is twelve (12) years. However, it is not certain whether the common age for puberty apply in Nigeria. Under the customary law, there is no fixed minimum age for puberty. According to Sagay (1999), the age of puberty among the Yoruba is fourteen (14) for girls and seventeen (17) for boys. For the itsekiri, it is sixteen (16) for girls and twenty (20) for boys.
The concepts of child abuse are forms of maltreatment on the child that acts against child growth, child survival, development and participation.
A society devoid of child abuse can be achieved however, if their early child socialization is devoid of harmful cultural practices that crippled their chances of survival, development and participation. Ejikeme (1987) defines child abuse as a problem arising from the intention of an adult to carry out an act that is inimical or detrimental to the physical, intellectual, language, emotional, moral and social development of a child; while child neglect which involves some degree of deprivation refers to an intentional failure of an adult to perform physical, cognitive, moral and social development of a child. However, it is imperative to note in this premise that what constitute child maltreatment in one society may not be considered same in another society, this is because of cultural differences an belief, practices.
