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TOPIC: The Prevalence and causes of child abuse in

my community.

Name of Student: Sashaine Hall

School: Happy Grove High School

Name of Teacher: Miss Gould

Territory: West Indies

Country: Jamaica
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Pages

Acknowledgement…………………………………..…………………3

Introduction………………………………………..……………………..4

Statement of problem …………………………....………………..5

Method of investigation………….…………..……………………..6

Letter to respondents…………………..….…………….…………7

Questionnaire………………………………………………..…….…..8 &9

Procedures used to collect data…………………………..10

Graphs showing the results of questionnaire..………10-14

Interpretation of findings……………………………….………..18-19

Conclusion……………………………………………………….……………20

Recommendation…………………………………………………………21-22

Acknowledgement
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The successful completion of this study would be possible without the help of

God, who granted me His grace to withstand the challenges that came with

it. I would l also like to extend my gratitude to my teacher Miss Gould

who took time out of her busy schedule to explain all I needed to know in

order to complete my research. Special thanks go out to members of family

and my friends, who tolerated me when I needed help. I would to say a

heartfelt thanks to my cousin and friends who were always there to extend

their helpful hands so that this study could be successfully completed.

Introduction
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This School Base Assessment (SBA) is the requirement for the student’s

completion of the subject Social Studies. An interested reader will be able

find in this study an assessment on the prevalence and causes of child abuse

in my community. It is very informative and of such, it is hoped that readers

herein will be intrigued and enlightened as the researcher herself.

Statement of Problem
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The prevalence and causes of Child Abuse in my community.

Justification

The reason for choosing this topic is that I have chosen to enlighten all who

come in contact with this paper on the problem of child abuse in my

community, its prevalence and causes. This research will also explain how

the lives of these abused children were or are still being affected by this

problem.

Method of data collection

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In order to collect data for the completion of this research the researcher

has decided to use the questionnaire.

The questionnaire has a number of advantages; some which are;

 it provides confidentiality

 it requires little time to be completed.

Letter to respondents
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Dear respondents,

This questionnaire is essential for the successful completion of my School

Base Assessment (SBA) in the subject Social Studies. The purpose of the

questionnaire is to gather information on the topic, “The prevalence and

causes of child abuse in my community.” It is designed to find out the major

factors that are responsible for such abuse and how it affects the lives of the

victims.

You are required to answer all the following questions honestly and

truthfully. You don’t have to write your name thus ensuring that

confidentiality is maintained.

Most of the questions can be answered with a tick (√) in the brackets

provided at the end of each question.

Thanking you for co-operation.

Yours sincerely.

Sashaine Hall

Questionnaire #1
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1.Age: ____________________

2. Sex : Male ( ) Female ( )

3. Types of family?

Single Parent ( )

Extended family ( )

Nuclear family ( )

Older Sibling ( )

4. Have you ever been abused?

Yes ( )

No ( )

5. By whom?

Father ( ) Mother ( ) Sibblings ( ) Other Family members ( )

Educators ( ) Strangers ( )

6. What type of abuse?

Verbally ( )

Sexually ( )

Physically ( )

7. Why do you think you were abused?__________________________

8. What are the effects?

Teenage pregnancy ( )

It reflects on bad influence ( )

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School dropout ( )

Delinquency ( )

Drug Abusers ( )

9. Are you still being abused?

Yes ( )

No ( )

10. Did you tell anyone?

Yes ( )

No ( )

11. Why?__________________________________________

12. What should be done to abusers?

Life imprisonment ( )

Death penalty ( )

Community service ( )

13. Should the government have specific persons to inspect homes for any
sign of child abuse?

Yes ( )

No ( )

14. How do you view child abuse?

A crime ( )
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A violence ( )

A sinful act ( )

15. What can be done to reduce the number of child abuses?

Educating the public ( )

Government provides family counseling ( )

Punish child abusers ( )

Questionnaire #2
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1. Sex : Male ( ) Female ( )

2. What is your occupation? _____________________

3. To what ethnic group do you belong?

African descent ( )

Chinese descent ( )

Indian Descent ( )

Jamaica descent ( )

4. How long have you been residing in this community?

Over 10 years ( )

6-10 years ( )

1-5 years ( )

Under 1 year ( )

5. Do you have any child/children?

Yes ( )

No ( )

6. How many?____________________

7. Have you ever abused a child? __________

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8. What type of abuse?

Verbally ( )

Sexually ( )

Physically ( )

9. What was the reason for the abuse? ___________________________

10. How often do abuse a child?_______________________________

11. Do you still abuse your child/children?

Yes ( )

No ( )

12. Who is most likely to abuse a child?

Parents ( )

Step-Parents ( )

Strangers ( )

13. What do you think are the mainreasons for child abuse?

Poverty ( )

Stress ( )

Loneliness ( )

14. What should be done to child abusers?

Life Imprisonment ( )
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Community service ( )

Death Penalty ( )

15. What can be done to reduce child abuse?

Educating the public ( )

Government provides family counseling ( )

Punish child abusers ( )

Others ___________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Procedures used to collect data

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A total of fifteen (15) questionnaires containing fifteen (15) questions were

prepared by the researcher and distributed to children, males and females

in the age group 15-16 years, while fifteen (15) questionnaires containing

fifteen (15) questions were handed out to parents both males and females

for completion..

Presentation and explanation of data

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The thirty questionnaires handed out to respondents were received in the

specified time. It was then realized that the respondents were in the ratio

3:1, that is seventy-five percent (75%) females and twenty-five percent

(25%) males.

Pie charts showing results of questionnaire

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The pie chart above shows that fifty percent (50%) of the students who
completed the questionnaires follow the school rules, forty-five (45%) said
they don’t really follow the rules and five percent (5%) said they don’t follow
the rules.
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The diagram above shows that seventy percent (70%) of the respondents

knew the rules of the school, twenty-five (25%) said they did not really

know the rules while five percent (5%) said they did not know the rules.
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The pie chart above shows that ninety-nine percent (99%) respondents

think that the rules of school should be observed while one percent (1%)

had the opposite belief, that is the rules of school should not be observed.

Table showing how students view the school rules

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Table 1.

Responses Percentages

40%
An important part of this school

Just another policy to try to control students 50%

As an important part of training for the wider society 10%

The table above shows that forty percent of the students who responded

believed that the rules are important part of school, fifty percent believed

that this is just another policy to control students while ten percent believe

that school rules are important part of training for the wider society.

Table showing the reasons for the attitudes of grade 10 students towards

the school.
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Table 2.

Responses Percentages

My friends break the rules 57%

The penalties are too harsh 7%

Society does not require rules 5%

I just don’t care at all 6%

I don’t have to follow rules elsewhere 15%

The table above shows the results obtained in percentage as to various

responses from students as it relates to their attitudes towards the school
rules.
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The graph above shows the results of how students’ views are shared
percentage wise as to the negative impact of the rules on their lives. Here
seventy percent (70%) said it takes away their freedom, ten percent (10%)
said they were forced to break the rules while twenty percent (20%) said
they were looked upon as soft when they obeyed the rules.
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Interpretaion of findings

It was discovered that most students followed the rule s as the findings

showed that fifty percent (50%) obeyed them. Some students did not really

follow the rules as stipulated by the forty five percent (45%) result obtained

through the research while a small number of students chose to not follow

the rules for one reason or another as shown by the five percent (5%) result

obtained.

According to the results, one percent (1%) of the students think the rules

should not be observed while ninety-nine (99%) believe the rules should be

observed. Most of the respondents knew the school rules as seen in the

seventy percent (70%) result. Similarly majority of the students who

completed the questionnaires responded as students who believe the school

rules are important part of the training for the wider society, while a few

believe the rules are not important as society does not require rules.

The results also show that there will always be a minority of students who

breaks the rules, as they think that the rules put in place by schools is just

another policy put in place to control students. Some of the students who

break the rules as indicated by the results act under the influence of peer

pressure as they stated that they do it because their fiends do it.

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All of the results were no news to the researcher. However, what shocked

him was the result of those who said they did not have to follow the rules

elsewhere. This would prove that they are not familiar with some of the rules

that form the norms of our society.

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Conclusion

The findings of this investigation are:

1. Most students see the school rules as important parts of their training

for the wider society which was indicated by fifty-five percent (55%) of

the results. These students think that the rules laid down by the school

have helped to instill positive attitudes in them. For example,

punctuality and respect for authority figures.

2. Peer pressure can be singled out in some instances as one of the main

factors which contribute to students breaking the rules, as indicated by

fifty-seven percent (57%) of the results. Most of these students

indicated that their attitude toward the school rules is the result of

their friends’ behaviour.

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Recommendation

The importance of school and whether or not students obey them cannot be

over-estimated. In order maintain a friendly, peaceful and safe environment

at any school the students and teachers all have apart to play to ensure that

the school is being operated successfully.

In order to ensure that more students adhere to the rules, the researcher

suggests the following measures be put in place;

I. Prizes should be given to the most discipline students or students at

the end of each month. This could cause the other students to strive

to obtain the prizes thus enhancing the levels of discipline and

adherence.

II. The teacher can try to educate the students on the importance of

school rules.

III. Flyers should be handed out to students educating them about the

school rules.

IV. Students can be involved in the meetings held to make some of the

rules and the penalties that should go with them.

V. Outings could be made to places of authority in the such the police

stations, courts and house of parliament to enlighten students on

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some of the rules they will have to obey when they go out into the

wider society.

VI. Implement stricter penalties for those students who break the rules as

well as ensuring that the school ground has security guards at all

corners so as to have a violence free environment.