Child Maltreatment

What are some of the consequences of child maltreatment?  Other than being illegal and against social mores, what impact does it have on society?  Is that impact greater than the act committed?

      A child that has been maltreated, and survives, is looking at a life long attempt to recover from this abuse. The long term effects of the initial action reek havoc in their lives and the lives of the ones close to the abused. Imagine a rock thrown into still water, The initial rock hitting the waters is comparative to the incidents of maltreatment; the ripples from the action are the life long effects of the incidents. The waves are strongest around the point of impact and equals the time into the teen life of the child. The strong waves are compared to the overwhelming disruptive emotional response from the initial abuse and can cause actions that are anti-social, lead to the use of drugs (an attempt to self-medicate) and even mental disorders such as PTSD - that is usually associated with war related disorders. The effects on a child can be as traumatic or even more traumatic than war is on a soldier. The ripples over time become less acute as the mind adjusts and tries to cope with the trauma and over time the mental trauma waves become less intense and more of a chronic mental issue. In time (reaching adulthood) the trauma waves from abuse slow and allow for recovery. Well, This is a hope for an outcome, Although many times maltreatment of a child can “break” the child’s mind :

The "typical" profile of a serial killer is a Caucasian male between the ages of 18 and 32. There will be evidence of child abuse in his background. In his background, he will show signs of the MacDonald triad which are bed-wetting beyond the age of ten, abuse to animals, and a history of arson. The serial killer will operate by himself. This set profile does not encompass every serial killer. There have been many serial killers that do not fit this profile. For this reason alone, the standard or set profile of a serial killer is used to aid in an investigation, not run it.

http://www.crimeusa.com/killer_profile.html

The maltreatment of a child even has the possibility to create serial killers, this obliviously impacts society in a very negative manner. Therefore , I think the impact on society compared to the act committed against the child are equal based on Newton's third law of action - To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction. The child pays for it first, then society pays for it second. Abuse of a child should be prevented at all cost. If a child has been abused an aggressive effort needs to be made to facilitate help for and prevent mental disorders in an effort to restrain the social impact that(without intervention) is sure to follow.