Shaken Baby Syndrome is a form of child abuse. Child abuse can be defined in many different ways. The best way to define it is life threatening physical violence, severe beatings, burns, and strangulation. Many incidents of child abuse occur all the time. However, not all cases are reported. "The national center for child abuse and neglect estimates that nearly one million children in the United States suffer non accidental life-threatening experience every year." Today, parents use physical punishment as a way to change their child's behavior. However, the parents don't realize how easily a child could get hurt. .
Stress is another cause for child abuse. Parents that are under great stress or unemployed are more likely to abuse their children then those parents who do not have such great problems. Children who are born premature and children with disabilities create more stress for parents. Therefore, these children are more likely to be abused then other children. There are parent support groups, like parents anonymous, and other services that can help relieve stress that can lead to abuse. In any serious cases a .
child under the age of 18 may be placed in a foster home.
"Shaken Baby Syndrome is caused by vigorous shaking of an infant or .
damage, Forceful shaking can cause bleeding to the mental, retardation, speech .
and learning disability, paralysis, seizures, hearing loss, and even death." It .
is very hard for doctors to diagnose Shaken Baby Syndrome. One way of telling .
if a baby has been violently shaken, they will seem less alert. Shaken babies .
also may vomit or have seizures. Eye examinations may also show blood in the .
retinas. Computed tomography and magnetic response imaging will be able to .
reveal any bleeding occurring in the brain.
Babies who have been severely shaken could also have bumps, bruises, .
or other visible signs of trauma such as damage to the neck or spinal cord, .
