Why is it that we are more sensitive to cruelty to children than to any other human beings?"?

Question

I prefer answers from people that know something about psychology. But anyone is free to answer. I am writing a paper on something related to this.

Answer 1

Probably mostly because normal adults have a protective instinct when it comes to the most vulnerable, which tends to be children. Further, there is a huge difference between one man being cruel to another man and one man being cruel to an eight-year-old little child.

Aside from any natural maternal/paternal/protective instincts there is the cultural/psychological awareness "bless the beasts and the children; for in this world they have no voice, they have no choice". Even animals had been known to adopt baby animals who have no mother; so whether its cultural or biological, its pretty natural for people to find cruelty to children particularly appalling.

Not all societies are quite as protective of children as Western culture is. Over the last hundred years or so our society has become more aware of children's needs, rights, etc.; and as a result we are more enlightened when it comes to why harming children is worse than harming others. (We're pretty tuned in to the mistreatment of elderly people, though, too.)

Finally, once someone is a parent and has a child or children and knows what it feels like to value children beyond words; it is impossible to ever look at other people's children again without comparing their treatment with the way our own children are loved and treated. The degree of heartbreak at watching "another mother's child" mistreated when we know how much we protect our own children is hard to describe.

I've even found - now that I have sons in the age range close to the age of the young people in Iraq are - that I have trouble dealing with the loss of these young soldiers because now I see them as "some other mother's child" (while I once just saw them as "young people").

Answer 2

I have 2 ideas on this:

1) An instinctual drive to "protect our young" just as any other animal in the wild would do. Threaten a bear or lion cub, and see what happens. Mama bear/lion won't tolerate it. I think humans have some of the same basic coding somewhere to protect and defend.

2) This kind of follows with (1), but we view children as helpless and defenseless for good reason. They can't fight back. Grown - ups, *in theory*, can.

Can't point to any particular schools of thought in psych that may back that, but if I were to do some digging, maybe I could point you to specific theorists. Not sure about your own time crunch tho.

Answer 3

are we ? are we really more sensitive to cruelty to children? Why then does this society put drug dealers away in prison for years , when they sell their wares mostly to other adults; in contrast why then does our system allow child molesters to walk free among us and molest and sometimes go on to torture and murder more little children after the judicials have placed these animals on probation or to a few years instead of LIFE in prison ? the system can circumvent this cruelty to children yet leaves these pieces of human waste alive to go free again to cause more pain to children some molesters have raped children JUST MONTHS OLD. Are we more sensitive to cruelty to children? Hardly, why ? well perhaps its because children do NOT vote they are nobody's consituents, why don't you do a paper on that maybe YOU can make a difference for some child that may be some pervert.s future targeted victim

Answer 4

I think it has to do with the concept that children haven't harmed anyone and are not able to defend themselves against attacks. We assume that when adults are attacked, they at least have age, size, and some kind of mental capacity to defend themselves. Most children haven't been around long enough to know.

Answer 5

Children are young and innocent. Sweet beings, unexposed to the horrors of the world. It's mentally painful to see someone revel this to a child.

Answer 6

because children are helpless and need to be protected in order for them to develop a normal personality. If we allowed children to be abused they would most likely grow up to be criminals

Answer 7

Children are defenseless. It is adults' obligation to protect them.

Answer 8

Because they are basically helpless and innocent and can't defend themselves like adults.