Why child abuse happens.....

Why does child abuse happen? To start off, child abuse can be defined as mistreatment of a child by a parent or guardian, including neglect, beating, and sexual molestation. There are many different opinions on why people abuse children. In this article by Kelli Deister, http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art52929.asp, she explains that some people speculate child abuse happens because the abuser has mental issues. Also their religious backgrounds might be a contributing factor to child abuse. In her article she goes more into detail on how people's religion may affect how they treat their child.
Child abuse doesn't happen in a certain type of household. Living in a poor neighborhood or low income apartments doesn't automatically make a family bad or child abusers. Child abuse happens everywhere, for reasons only the family knows. A significant amount of research was done to prove that there is many factors involved with child abuse, and not just where they live. Some factors include immaturity and unrealistic needs, stress of child care, lack of parenting knowledge, depression, and drug or alcohol abuse from the parents.