Tempest Brooks
November 6, 2014
Criminology –Midterm
Prof. McCullough
For many years children have been victims in the hands of adults. Often times the abuser is
a mother, father, and or a close relative. Abuse comes in many different forms, but two are
the most reported: sexual and physical abuses. They are used to control a victim’s
emotional being. Men as well as woman fall prey to being a victim and don’t realize it.
Offenses are committed by people who feel powerless. They have no power to make their
world happen for them. Their victims also feel powerless over what happened so repeat the
“seeking power” cycle.
Sexual abuse is any sort of non-consensual sexual contact. Sexual abuse can happen to
men or women of any age. Sexual abuse by a partner/intimate can include derogatory
name calling, refusal to use contraception, deliberately causing unwanted physical pain
during sex, deliberately passing on sexual diseases or infections and using objects, toys, or
other items (e.g. baby oil or lubricants) without consent and to cause pain or humiliation.
Physical abuse is the use of physical force that may result in bodily injury, physical pain,
or impairment. Physical abuse may include but is not limited to such acts of violence as
striking (with or without an object), hitting, beating, pushing, shoving, shaking, slapping,
kicking, pinching, and burning. The effects of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse are