The major cause of physical abuse is corporal punishment. This form of punishment is legal in all fifty states of the U.S. Clinical work with abusive parents has shown that many cases of physical abuse start with an attempt to correct and control through corporal punishment. Escalation from punishment to physical abuse occurs in a specific sequence; a parent spanks a child, the child rebels rather than complies, and the now even angrier parent attacks the child, causing physical abuse. This in turn can lead to an increase in the severity of the physical attack, and therefore cause the parent to react against the child with a weapon. In most cases this type of punishment creates a social climate that approves of violence to correct wrongdoing. Emotional abuse is a more subtle and insidious form of child abuse. The most common type of emotional abuse is verbal. There are many different forms of verbal abuse including teasing, sarcasm, insulting nicknames, subtle put-downs, harangues, denunciations, and derogatory names, which are caused by numerous dysfunctions of the abuser. Some abusers will attack directly, openly, and viciously in order to degrade the child. Others will dish out their abuse under the guise of guidance. These reasons for abuse are caused because the abuser needs to make someone feel inadequate in order to feel adequate one self or they feel their child needs to be perfect. In any case, if the child complains, the abuser invariably accuses them of lacking a sense of humor. The signs of abuse can be found in different characteristics expressed by the child. These characteristics include: depression, stress disorders, absences from school, delinquent behavior, isolation, loneliness or fear, poor impulse control, poor definition of self, poor social skills, feelings of powerlessness, confusion and insecurity, lying, cheating, stealing, poor definition of personal boundaries or of others" personal boundaries, assumption that violence is the norm, self-blame, battering siblings, and heightened suicide risks and attempts including increased thoughts of suicide.
