Child Abuse In The Glass Castle By Jeanette Walls

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Emotional Bruises

In today’s society, we fail to address the countless amount of issues needed to be solved. Unfortunately, child abuse is one of them, being a global problem having millions of children each year suffering some form of abuse. Child abuse is often overlooked because of the different views on what exactly defines it. Yet more tragically, there are people who hesitate to report suspected cases of abuse. In Jeanette Walls’s remarkable memoir, The Glass Castle, the most common form of abuse is Neglect, which is the failure of distinction to guardians providing the necessary care, assistance, guidance and attention which may cause the person physical, mental and emotional harm; along with substantial damage or loss to assets. The memoir exemplifies the struggles Wall and her siblings faced while growing up in the presence of a psychologically unstable mother and an alcoholic father who both who didn’t want the responsibility of raising a family.
Jeanette Walls’ …show more content…
Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Although while physical abuse is shocking due to the wounds it leaves, child abuse is more than broken bones and bruises. Neglect itself can be just as destructive, leading to serious emotional harm, psychological problems, along with a higher risk of deviant behaviors and becoming victimizers later in life. Although the effects of neglect alter each child differently, they can be severe and long-lasting. Still children who have been exposed to neglect can weed out the despairing roots, and go on to have healthy, productive lives. “Mom always said people worried too much about their children. Suffering when you're young is good for you, she said. It immunized your body and your soul, and that was why she ignored us kids when we cried. Fussing over children who cry only encouraged them, she told us. That's positive reinforcement for negative behavior.” (Walls
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