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Analysis Of A Child Called It By David Pelzer

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“A Child Called ‘It’” by Dave Pelzer, is a remarkable story of a young boy named David. In this sad and upsetting story, one is taken into specific details of one of the worst cases of child abuse and neglect ever recorded in the state of California. Personally, it is one of the most awful cases of abuse I have known. During my time reading, I found myself several times giving thanks for being raised in a loving and caring household. My home was not perfect, but compared to David’s, it was. Regrettably, I believe child abuse is a major issue that our country is afflicted with, yet we neglect to bring this to the forefront of discussion. According to the National Statistics on Child Abuse, an estimated 676,000 children a year are victims of …show more content…

Throughout the story, you realize how scary it must have been for this young boy. He had no one to help him, take care of him, or even love him. However, David’s story is also one of pure human survival. “Mother can beat me all she wants, but I haven’t let her take away my will to somehow survive.” That is a sentence from page 4 and it shows David’s situation on March 3, 1973, the moment he found freedom, and was taken from his abusive mother by authorities while he was at school. Thanks to his teacher Miss Moss. This encapsulates for me, the main theme of the book. It displays the will a young child needed to have to survive. In addition to reading and being thankful for how I was raised, I was also reminded of the importance of being a clinician who is vigilant for signs of abuse and neglect in …show more content…

During the time his mother was starving him, David found a way to locate food. As he mentioned at one point, “finding food was like finding treasure.” He would eat leftovers found in the garbage bag at home, steal food from other school children, grocery stores, or even gas stations. If his mother was suspicious about him finding ways to feed himself, she would stand him in front of the toilet bowl, stick her fingers in his mouth and force him to vomit. Later, she would bring a food bowl, and make him take the chunks he vomited out of the water and just stare at it. During this she would stand in front of him and call him a “bad boy” for stealing food. Other times she would make him eat

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The place David works at his mom’s house is in the shed out back. He calls it his laboratory. At his mom’s house is where David does most of his major experiments. The reason that is where he does most of his work is because they let him do it and his father and stepmother don’t like him doing his experiments. He

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2118 Words | 9 Pages

No research to date has indicated that applying harsher penalties or mandating national registries has reduced the recidivism rates among sex offenders, reduced sex trafficking against minors, nor child pornography. Despite the ongoing efforts of The Adam Walsh Act alongside other child safety acts as well, children in the United States are still perishing from sexual and physical abuse each day. According to data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), “49 States reported a total of 1,585 fatalities. Based on these data, a nationally estimated 1,670 children died from abuse or neglect in FFY 2015, which is 5.7 percent more than in 2011. This translates to a rate of 2.25 children per 100,000 children in the general population and an average of nearly five children dying every day from abuse or neglect”.(www.childwarefare.gov) Human Rights Watch shares that “the real risks that children face are quite different: government statistics indicate that most sexual abuse of children are committed by family members or trusted authority figures, and by someone who has not previously been convicted of a sex offense.

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758 Words | 4 Pages

The memoir, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, centers around her unorthodox childhood, with her parents avoiding parental responsibilities and acting in accordance to their non-conformist beliefs. During some events in the book, responsibility is seen as equal to self-sufficiency in this book, and Rex and Rose Mary encourages Jeannette and the other children to look out for themselves instead of depending on others. Even though Jeannette’s parents were irresponsible and reckless, they managed to instill responsible, independent, self-sufficient qualities within Jeannette, creating a well-adjusted child. Hardships as a child allow the opportunity to develop a thick skin and become resilient. From a young age, Jeannette Walls and her siblings learned how to be independent for their basic needs because of their father’s, Rex, alcoholism, and their mother, Rose Mary’s, carefree attitude and indulgence in the arts.

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Dylan Jones Classic Case Study: Dave Pelzer Child Psychology In the novels A Child Called It and The Lost Boy the author Dave Pelzer, describes in great and horrific detail the abuse, trials, and tribulations he faced while growing up and what he had to do to overcome it all. These novels show very well how the cognitive and physical development affects a child. It was from the ages of four to twelve Dave suffered extreme mental, physical, and verbal abuse from his alcoholic mother.

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826 Words | 4 Pages

At this time David’s father is dead by the hands of Steel Heart, he was not trying to shoot Steel Heart but the bullet grazed his cheek and it started bleeding. That made Steel Heart really mad and he killed his father and everyone in the bank that day. Expect David and he wants payback. He wants to see him bleed again, but not only that, but he wants him dead, just like how SteelHeart killed his father. “I’ve seen Steelheart bleed.

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456 Words | 2 Pages

David was a journalist and the people at the fair really didn’t treat David right. They treated him as if he wasn’t important. David’s reaction to this was to act rudely to others but David knew that it wasn’t intentional toward him and that he needed to realize that.

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It says he was absent at the time of murder but the time of murder was not stated in the information provided. This leaves a range from Sunday night to Tuesday night. During Monday, David was searching for Maggie with Albert. He could not have killed her then because of the company. During his interview, he was drunk, which would not have been wise of him because intoxication might allow for guilt to be slipped.

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This shows the change David has made with his views and choices. In the beginning of the book, David wished for extra arms as a harmless joke only to realize that making that joke costed him and got beat by his father. David then kept quiet as he didn’t want to express his own feelings due to trauma he has suffered. By the end of the book, David runs away with his friends in protest to his father’s rules and to express who he truly is. From the beginning of the book to the end, David has shown examples of him changing who he is as a person for the better.

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July was the last of David’s killings. David attacked a couple in a parked car. Just after the scene, a witness saw his car with a parking ticket on it. The day of the shooting, there was only a handful of parking tickets given out, it was narrowed down to David and he was captured. Upon David’s capture he reportedly said “well, you got me”.

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David always looked at life optimistically, trying to do what was best for the future. Uncle Axel always guide and supported the idea of acceptance. Joseph Strorm was evil and tried to relive the past. David represented hope for the future. Firstly David tried to protect and defend Sophie even when his father and the inspector had found out.

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1346 Words | 6 Pages

David spent most of his time taking photos, he saw it as his secret so much so that he wanted to have his own space for him and his photos: “David went to the mini refrigerator where he kept his chemicals and film. The envelope was tucked far in the back, behind several bottles. It was full of twenty dollar bills, new crisp and

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As a young man David had encountered his first romantic experience with a boy named Joey. Joey was David’s best friend up until the night that he and Joey slept together. Come the next morning he was so ashamed that it had happened he began to treat Joey in a mean manner. He had never told Hella, his girlfriend, of this and nor would he ever.

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Valeria Oceguera Violence in the family Professor Hoffman February 23,2017 A Child Called ‘It” A Child Called “It” by Dave Pelzer is a story about a child named David, who is a victim of abuse from his mother and tells his story of how he struggles to stay alive, search for food and the problems he has in school. David lives with his mother, father and brothers, but at the end of the book, he feels a strong hatred for his family and a strong hate for the people who knew about the abuse, David also regrets being born and questions if God exists. There are many health issues that happen when abuse happens to a child specifically and these include, “suicidal thoughts, eating disorder, PTSD can develop from a childhood of abuse.”

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2186 Words | 9 Pages

According to The Child Welfare Outcomes Reports made by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2011 there were approximately 742,000 cases of confirmed child maltreatment. The national child victim rate was 9.9 child victims per 1,000 children in the population. This rate decreased from 10.3 child victims per 1,000 children in the population in 2008 to the most resent 9.9 rate in 2011. The state rate varies ranging from 1.2 child victims per 1,000 children to 24.0 child victims per 1,000 children. Even though the rate has decreased some of these instances are not reported until something major occurs like in Brianna’s

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Some of these children may not be old enough to have a voice or they just are too shy. By having those in society aware of the signs and symptoms of child abuse we are hoping to break down the cycle. Some parents may not even believe that what they are doing to their child is a sign of child abuse but it could be something that has been passed down from their parents. What parents have to remember is that there are many ways of parenting around the world, this does not mean that anything goes, as long as it’s “cultural”, parents must adapt to what is acceptable in the dominant culture around them (Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance website, 2016, para.

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