MANUSCRIPT PUBLICATION Child Abuse In Dave Pelzer’s Trilogy A Child Called It (1993), The Lost Boy (1995), And A Man Named Dave (1999).

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MANUSCRIPT PUBLICATION

CHILD ABUSE IN DAVE PELZER’S TRILOGY

A CHILD CALLED IT (1993), THE LOST BOY (1995), AND A M AN NAM ED DAVE (1999)

FAJRIA NURUL HIDAYATI S 200080030

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF LANGUAGE STUDIES

M UHAM M ADIYAH UNIVERSITY OF SURAKARTA

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CHILD ABUSE IN DAVE PELZER’S TRILOGY A CHILD CALLED IT (1993), THE LOST BOY (1995), AND

A M AN NAM ED DAVE (1999) by

Fajria Nurul Hidayati

M uhammadiyah University of Surakarta [email protected]

ABSTRACT

This research paper analyzes child abuse t hat is reflect ed in Dave Pelzer’ s t rilogy A Child Called it , The Lost Boy, and A M an Named Dave. The object ives of t he research are t o ident ify t he cont ext of t he production of t he t rilogy, t o analyze t he influence of environment on t he personalit y development of t he aut hor, and t o review the reflection and crit icism of t he aut hor t ow ards child abuse. The research paper belongs t o qualitat ive research. The sources of dat a come from bot h primary dat a source and secondary dat a sources. The met hod t o analyze t he dat a is descript ive analysis. The researcher finds t he main finding in which there is relat ionship bet w een t he t rilogy and the American societ y at t he end of t he t w ent iet h cent ury. Specificly, the st udy comes t o t he following conclusion: first , t here is a close relat ionship bet w een t he productions of t rilogy and t he American societ y at t he end of t w ent iet h cent ury ;and second, t hrough t he t rilogy, the aut hor conveys his crit ique t o parent s, societ y and t he victims.

Key w ords: child abuse, a child called it, t he lost boy, a man named dave. A. Introduction

Pelzer’ s t rilogy A Child Called it, The Lost Boy, and A M an Named Dave are

good books. It can be seen from t w o object ives of t he st ory t hat Pelzer st at ed in t he book. Pelzer (1993: 96) said that the first object ive of t he st ory is “ t o inform t he reader how a loving, caring parent can change t o a cold, abusive monst er vent ing frust rat ions on a helpless child” . The second object ive is “ t he event ual survival and t riumph of the hum an spirit over seem ingly insurmount able odds” (Pelzer, 1993: 96-97).

From the first object ive, Pelzer t ries t o t ell the reader t hat child abuse vict ims who hide t heir past deep inside som eday w ill apply the abuse t o spouse and children. They w ill behave as t hey were t aught as children. The cycle of

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abuse t hen runs. By t he t rilogy, he t ells that t he cycle of abuse can be broken and he has proved it . As what Pelzer said (1993: 97) “ I broke t he cycle and became a fat her w hose only guilt is t hat of spoiling his son w it h love and encouragem ent ” . How ever, t he books cont ain more t han a st ory of survival but a st ory of victory and celebrat ion. Pelzer proves t hat he will not be like m ot her w ho is abusive. The w ay t o be like t hat is by forgiving mother and becom ing a good father for his son.

In addition, Pelzer brings a m essage t o abused children and those w ho w ork w it h them. He encourages t he vict im s t o survive. Pelzer also gives seminars and w orkshops t o others in need, helping t he abused children t o break t hei r chains. Pelzer hopes t hey can overcom e t he dark side and press on t o a bright er w orld (Pelzer, 1993: 97). He also encourages people around the abused child to be aw are of abuse.

The issue appeared in the books is child abuse in California, San Francisco, Unit ed St at es. Van der Kolk et all (2001) said t hat childhood abuse and neglect is a serious problem in t he Unit ed St at es; each year, over t hree million children are report ed abused or neglect ed. M yers report ed that by 1974, som e 60,000 cases w ere report ed. In 1980, the number exceeded one million. By 1990, report s t opped t wo million, and in 2000, report s w ere around three m illion. In t he early – t w ent iet h first century, report s declined but rem ained high.

When a parent or caret aker act s, or fails t o act in a w ay t hat present s im minent risk of serious harm to a child, it is considered abuse (Harris, 2010). Barker (in Huraerah, 2007: 47) defines abuse as “ im proper behavior int ended to cause physical, psychological, or financial harm t o an individual or group.” Furt hermore Richard (in Huraerah, 2007: 47) says t hat child abuse is “ intentional act s t hat result in physical or emot ional harm to children.”

Harris (2010) says t hat there are four t ypes of abuse such as: physical abuse, emot ional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect . There are some st udies about t hose four kinds of abuse. The first st udy is from Irish journal of applied social

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journal is authored by Nat ional Indian Welfare Association (NICWA) nam ely Terr y

L. Cross and David Sim mons. The second st udy com es from art icle ent it led Child

Abuse in Am erica: Slaught er of t he Innocent s (1977) w rit t en by James W. Prescot t . The t hird is about sexual abuse in Ireland. It is from Irish journal of

applied and social st udies ent itled Child Sexual Abuse in Ireland: an Hist orical and

Ant hropological Not e (1998). The w rit er is Kevin Lalor. The fourt h comes from

journal of em ot ional abuse. The t it le is Effect s of Emot ional Abuse in Family and

Work Environment s (2005). It is w rit t en by Rachel E. Goldsm it h and Jennifer J. Freyd.

How ever, Kolk et all (2001) shows in t heir journal t hat neglect is the most and follow ed by physical abuse t hen sexual abuse and t he least is emot ional abuse. Neglect is t he failure t o provide for t he child’s basic needs. Physical abuse is physical aggression direct ed by an adult . It can involve punching, st riking, kicking, shoving, slapping, burning, pulling ears or hair, st abbing, choking or shaking a child. Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in w hich an adult or older adolescent abuses a child for sexual st imulat ion. Emot ional abuse is defined as t he production of psychological and social deficit s in the grow t h of a child as a result of behavior such as loud yelling, coarse and rude at t itude, inat t ent ion, harsh crit icism , and denigrat ion of the child’s personalit y.

To analyze t he t rilogy w it h child abuse as t he topic, the w rit er is using Sociology of Lit erat ure t heory. Sociology of lit erat ure com es from t he w ords sociology and lit erat ure. Sociology is a science t hat studies w hole net w ork of

relat ionships bet w een people in societ y.The lit erat ure is a collect ion of tools for

t eaching. The m eaning of lit erat ure t o be more sp ecific wit h the word ‘lit erat ure’ means t he collect ion of good works (Ratna, 2003:1).

Sociology and lit erat ure have a close relat ionship. Sociology st udies t he real life, w hereas lit erat ure is creat ed based on t he social phenom ena. Lit erat ure is a w ork of art which expresses of hum an life and the conflict s on

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societ y, especially concern w it h law , religion and norms, economic and politic. Bot h sciences have t he same object that is hum an in societ y (Rat na, 2003: 2).

The object of sociology and lit erat ure is hum an being in societ y (Rat na, 2003: 3). Ratna (2003: 4) says t hat the nat ure of sociology is object ivit y whereas t he nature of lit erary w orks is the subject ivit y and creat ivit y. She (2003: 10) adds t hat fundament al problems of sociology of lit erat ure is lit erat ure it self. How ever, t he goal of lit erary sociology is t o increase t he underst anding of t he lit erat ure in relat ion to societ y (Rat na, 2003, 11). Rat na (2003,11) also declares t hat llit erat ure is not m erely an individual phenom enon but also social phenom ena.

How ever, sociology and lit erat ure is influencing and com plem ent ing each other. They are inst rument s t o underst and the social condit ions of a societ y in a cert ain period of t im e. According t o Swingew ood and Laurenson (1972:13), it w ould seem t hat lit erat ure and sociology are not w holly dist inct discipline but, on the cont rary com plement each ot her in our underst anding of societ y, historically t hey have t ende t o remain apart . In addition, a lit erary w ork is not only influenced by societ y but also can influence a societ y. Therefore, lit erat ure can be st udied and analyzed by using the sociological perspect ive because it is t he part of societ y. Because of that reason, t he w rit er w ill observe how t he phenomena of child abuse at the t ime of the production of t he t rilogy by using sociological t heory.

B. Research M ethod

This st udy belongs t o qualit at ive st udy. The subject of the st udy is t rilogy

books w rit ten by Dave Pelzer ent it led A Child Called It: One Child’s Courage t o

Survive (1993), The Lost Boy: A Fost er Child’s Search for t he Love of a Family

(1995), and A M an Named Dave: A St ory of Triumph and Forgiveness (1999)

published by Healt h Com munications, Inc. The sources of t he dat a com e from bot h prim ary dat a source, t hat is Dave Pelzer’s t rilogy and secondary dat a sources are from w ebsit es about author’ s biography, t he t rilogy, child abuse and

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t he social background of Am erican societ y at t he end of the t went iet h century, and som e books about Child Abuse t heory and Sociological theory. The m et hod t o analyze t he dat a is descript ive analysis.

C. M ain Finding

In t his st udy, the researcher analyzes t he t rilogy using Sociological approach. Sociological approach analyzes hum an in societ y by w hich the process comes from a societ y t o an individual. The w rit er analyzes t he t rilogy t hrough t he Sociological approach because she finds t hat the st ory in t he books has a correlat ion t o t he theory of sociology and t he social background of Am erican societ y in t he lat e t w ent iet h cent ury. The analysis is brokendown into som e aspect s namely social, econom y, polit ic, religion, culture, and science and t echnology.

1. Social Aspect

Dave Pelzer’s t rilogy A Child Called It , The Lost Boy and A M an

Named Dave reflect t he social aspect s of Am eri can societ y in the lat e t w ent iet h century. The aspect s contain t he social st ruct ure, the social st at us and the social relat ionship.

The social st ructure of Am erican societ y consist s of three nam ely higher class, m iddle class, and low er class. How ever, t he author doesn’t m ent ion the higher, m iddle, or low er class in the t rilogy. There is only one st at em ent t hat David’ s family is whit e. The family is reflect ed as Brady Bunch of the 1960 whet her Brady Bunch is w hit e. The Am erican people judge t hat w hit e people are higher than t he black and the other.

In t he years before I w as abused, my fam ily w as the “ Brady Bunch” of the 1960s (ACCI: 15).

In addit ion, the societ y differenciat es fost er children from com mon children. Fost er children are lower t han common children.

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They are being hum iliat ed because t hey are being t hrown aw ay by their own family. The Am erican societ y underest imat ed on fost er care.

David, I don’t know why it is, but for som e reason a great deal of individuals look down on fost er care (TLB: 124).

The social st atus of societ y is divided int o three: rich, m iddle and poor. In t he side of social st at us, most of t he social st at us of the charact ers are m iddle. It can be seen from t he job of t he charact ers, such as secret ary, school nurse, t he principal M r Hansen, t he t eacher M iss Woods, M r Ziegler and M rs. W oodw orth, police officer Sm it h, firem an St ephen Joseph, et c.

M y fat her, St ephen Joseph, support ed his fam ily as a firem an, working in the heart of San Francisco (ACCI: 15).

In the side of social relat ionship, the charact ers have a family relat ionship because it is mentioned in the novels about father, m other, brother, grandm other, aunt and uncle. They live as nuclear family t hat consist s of a m arried couple w ith a number of children. They don’t st ay w ith ext ended family like grandmother, uncle and aunt.

The relat ionship am ong family m embers w as go od before. They lived happily. Then, t he at titut e of David’s mother changed as she frequently consum ed alcohol. The w orst t hing was t hat David had no longer becom e a part of the fam ily. He w as not allow ed to have eat en t oget her w it h fam ily, to have sleep in a nice bed, t o have a rest in

bathroom , or to have fun in picnic. He w as nobody, he w as called it.

You are a nobody! An It ! You are nonexist ent ! You are a bast ard child! I hat e you and I wish you w ere dead! Dead! ” (ACCI: 82)

In addition, t he relat ionship bet ween David’s fam ily and neighbor w as not good. M other seldom visit ed neighbor. She and her children spent almost t heir t ime at home. M oreover, t he people w ere individual w ho only minded their ow n home.

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M other rarely spent much t im e with neighbors (ACCI: 72)

David also didn’t have friends at school. No one want ed t o play w ith him because he w as smell and never changed cloth. He also had ever caught in the act as a t hief. He w as out cast .

At school I w as a t ot al out cast . No other kid w ould have anyt hing t o do with m e (ACCI: 36).

2. Economic Aspect

The decade of t he 1920s that was as t he Golden Tw ent ies w as charact erized by w idespread prosperit y. During t he prosperit y of t he Golden tw ent ies, m any Americans made spent money w it h ease. Aft er enjoying the Golden Tw enties, Am erican had a terrible sit uat ion that ’ s called the Great Depression. The Great Depression w as a sever e w orldwide economic depression in t he decade preceding World War II and it w as st art ed in about 1939 and ended 1945.

The book A M an Named Dave st at es about t he great depression.

David’s grandm ot her rose her children in t he great depression without a husband. Her husband passed aw ay. She felt difficult to raise t w o children. Therefore, t he mother w as grown by t ight w ay.

Okay, I t hought , m aybe Grandmother w as overbearing. When her husband passed away, leaving her t o raise t w o children in the middle of a depression, Grandm ot her had to be st ern. ( AM ND: 196-197)

In A M an Named Dave, it is also st at ed t hat America faced a

st at ew ide recession in 1978. It w as difficult to find a job.

Jobs right now are scarce w it h t he recession and all, (AM ND: 228)

3. Political Aspect

The Unit ed St at es is a federal const itutional republic in w hich t he President , Congress, and judiciary share pow ers reserved t o the national governm ent , and the federal governm ent shares sovereignt y

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w ith the st at e government s.Politic is divided int o t w o nam ely dom est ic policy and foreign policy. Domest ically, Am erican policy is broken down int o three: legislat ive, execut ive, and judiciary. Foreignly, U.S. ‘ s ideology is capit alism and m et hod of the dist ribut ion is imperialism.

However, American foreign policy is illust rated in t he book A M an

Named Dave. A Child Called it and The Lost Boy do not m ention political aspect . The political aspect ment ioned is only foreign policy not domest ic policy. It is st at ed about Saddam Husein’s invasion to Kuw ait in which Am erica involved in this war. Am erica supposed t o help t he w orld t o solve t he cont rovercial.

In August 1990, Saddam Hussein’ s invasion of Kuwait shift ed m y priorit ies. (AM ND: 216)

4. Religious Aspect

The charact ers in the t rilogy are m ost ly Cat holics. Cat holics believe t hat there is only one God and argue t hat he has revealed him self as t he t rinit y. They hold the Old Test am ent as t heir scripture w hile Prot est ant m ade som e changes from t he Old Test ament to the New Test ament . Som e Christ ians believe in the original scripture, t he Old Test am ent . Therefore, the charact ers in t his t rilogy believe in Cat holic.

Four days lat er, on a foggy M onday m orning, I parked M r Turnbough’s car in front of t he sam e Cat holic church Ron, St an, and I had briefly at t ended w it h our aunt years ago as preschoolers. (AM ND: 97)

Besides, David w as religious for having a bible. The bible is

m ent ioned as the place to keep his brother’s let t er.

For now all I could do w as replace m y brot her’s let t er in m y Bible, and pray for t he best . (AM ND: 121)

M oreover, David’s family celebrat ed Christ m as since the Holy days of Christ ians are Christ mas, East er, New Year, Pent ecost , Saint s’

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Feast Days. It is the day when Christ ians believe of Jesus w as born. it is celebrat ed generally on December 25.

As Christ mas Day cam e nearer, my brot hers and I becam e m ore and more excit ed. (ACCI: 18)

5. Cultural Aspect

The cult ural aspect is broken down into t hree: m ent al fact s, social fact s, and physical fact s. M ent al fact s consist of norms, w ay of life, and value-syst em . Social fact s include cust om and t radit ion. Physical fact s such as fashion, art hefact , and lit erat ure.

View ed from ment al fact s, t he w rit er breaks it into three. First , t he societ y believed t hat people had t o mind t heir own bussiness. They t ook care of t heir own house and other people had not a right t o int erfere. At t hat t im e, what in the house should be closed. The m em bers of t he family w ould not t ell what happened in the house or w hat problem they had faced.

“ I have no idea w hat happened back then. That ’ s not m y affair. What happens in someone’s house stays in t heir house. It’ s no one else’s business. I see no need t o open up Pandora’s box.” (AM ND: 129)

The second, it is st at ed t hat harshness in children at that tim e w as not cat egorized as an abuse but it w as an act t o discipline t hem . Everyone might see t he harshness but they could not do anyt hing. It w as because t here w eren’t a great Penal Codes t o prot ect kids.

“ Anyw ay, anybody could see what she w as doing. Back t hen t here w as not hing w e could have done, or w er e allowed to do. Back then it w as considered discipline, parent al right s, but w e had t o do som et hing. Any one of us could see w hat w as going on. It ’s som et hing you don’t forget . Ever.” (AM ND: 233)

The t hird, the societ y had also seen Fost er Child blindly. They looked down to fost er children for not having parent s.

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Ot her t im es I’d happily st at e, “ I’m a fost er child!” I w as proud to be a m em ber of my new family. I began t o repeat t his saying unt il one day one of t he older foster children pulled m e aside at school, w arning m e not t o tell anyone “ w hat ” I w as because “ a lot of folks don’t like our kind.” (TLB: 50)

In social fact s, American used t o drink alcohol. People used to keep t heir problems wit hout sharing and solving them. They alw ays ran away from t heir problem s by drinking alcohol and they didn’ t t ry t o solve t he problem s. Therefore, drinking alcohol is a cust om and becom es t he habit of American societ y.

Am erican t radition to celebrat e Holy Days is also reflect ed in t he

nbook A Child Called it. David’s fam ily used t o celebrat e Thanksgiving,

Christ m as, and Hallow een.

That year Thanksgiving dinner w as a flop. In som e kind of gest ure of good faith, M ot her allow ed me t o eat at t he t able w ith t he family (ACCI: 87-88).

Physical fact appears in t he novel t hat is lit erat ure. David m ent ions

in the t hird book A M an Named Dave t hat he w rot e A Child Called it and

The Lost Boy.

In the fall of 1992, while doing a series of fact checks for A Child Called “ It ” , (AM ND: 229-230)

6. Science and Technology Aspect

Twent iet h cent ury was a t im e t hat st art ed w ith horses, simple autom obiles, and freight er but ended with luxury sedans, cruise ships, airlines and space shut tle. In addition, mass m edia, t elecom unicat ions and information t echnology m ade t he w orld’ s know ledge m ore widely available t o people. It is shown in Pelzer’s t rilogy from what t he

charact ers had and did in the st ory of A Child Called It, The Lost Boy and

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For com munication, David’s family had t elephone. For inform at ion, David’s family also had t elevision. Besides, David’s fam ily also had radio for m edia of informat ion. There is also st ereo in David’s house. The st ereo w as played at Christ mas. The st ereo w as also used t o play romance song to dance David’s fat her and mother.

The policem an asks for my address and t elephone num ber (ACCI: 12).

In t ransport ation, David’ s mother had her own car. She used it to drive and pick children up to and from school. The st at ion w agon w as also used t o have fam ily picnic. Furt hermore, David had a bicycle. David also had minibike and car. There w ere also planes. David flied planes aft er joining U.S. airforce. It m eans t hat the t ransport ation had developed well.

M y body slid from my seat , and I t hought for sure I’d fall out of t he plane as t he Boeing 727 m ade a sudden sharp roll to the right (AM ND: 31).

D. Discussion and Conclusion

The social aspect refl ect ed in A Child Called it, The Lost Boy, and A M an

Named Dave can be seen from t he social st at us of t he charact ers who w ork as t eachers, headm ast er, nurse, police, and firem an. These professions belong t o middle class. The t rilogy also t ells that they live adequacy and do not look rich. The social class is show n only about whit e fam ily w ithout comparing w it h blacks or t he other class. The only difference t hat st ands out is t he fost er children look inferior t o the comm on children. Beside from t he charact ers, t he social class can be seen from t he charact erizat ion. The m ot her has a bad charact er like m ad and lazy, scream ing, drinking alcohol, and cussing. The person who has that charact er is uneducat ed. In addit ion, it can be seen from t he ungram mat ical st ructure used by m other in speaking such as 'em '. Since educat ed person will speak t he

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st andard language, it m eans that the m other is uneducat ed because she uses slang.

The problem reflect ed in this book is bad social relat ion among family members and t heir relat ionship w ith the neighbors. The fat her spends his days for w orking and rarely being at home, w hile the m other and children most ly st ay at home and not mingle w ith neighbors. The disappearance of fat her in the middle of fam ily m akes t he m ot her feels heavy in parenting. The m ot her is so irrit able w hen she sees her children doing a sm all m ist ake. Even m ot her w ill give punishm ent both physical and psychological punishm ent t o the children. This condit ion causes child abuse. M oreover, t he Am erican societ y have individual charact erist ic. They m ind their own home w ithout interfering others. In this case, t he neighbors see t he abuse in David’ s hom e but they do nothing. Because of t his, the issue of child abuse rem inds high from year t o year.

In economic aspect , the set t ing of time in the t rilogy is American societ y faced recession. In recession, it was difficult to find job and the people lived in povert y. The difficult y in economic aspect can cause child abuse. Parent s can ignore children’s needs such as food, clot h, m edicine or educat ion because t hey don’t have m oney. The t rilogy t ell about fat her’s job as a firem an w ho spends almost his tim e for working; w hile m ot her is a housew ife w ho alm ost st ays at hom e w it hout earning money. In this case, mot her forget s David’s needs on food and cloth. She also ignore about David’s heat h. Beside t hat , the depression of t he lack of money can encourage t he parent s’ em ot ional and they w ill be easy t o get angry and hit the children. Similarly, m other almost hit s David because of t he depression.

The politic applied by goverment also cont ribut es t o child abuse. The goverm ent decides t o creat e w ar w hich causes t he recession and great depression so the societ y get s difficult y in econom ic and increases st ress and em ot ionally hit children to pour out anger. Fro m t he set t ing of t im e, it w as

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invasion t o Kuw ait in August 1990. Am erican governm ent forced t he people to get involved in t he w ar to help Kuw ait .

How ever, religion prevent s abuse. It can be seen from t he set t ing of place t hat is church. When David’s family routinely went t o church, the family lived happily. By going t o church, people w ill get religious knowledge and w arning t o avoid bad att it ude. On t he cont rary, w hen David’s fam ily rarely w ent t o church, t he family becam e t enuous. There no int im acy occurs. The husband rarely st ayed hom e while the w ife oft en spent tim e by drinking and w at ching TV. M oreover t he mother even t ort ure children because she forgot the religion knowledge.

The cultural aspect of Am erican societ y at t hat time cont ribut es t o child abuse t oo. American perspect ive t hat considers violence as a way t o discipline children makes child abuse as a comm on. In addition, Am erican societ y have individualist ic personalit y t hat m akes child abuse case increasing from year t o year. The child abuse dow n from generat ion to generat ion and w ill cont inue because t he habit of American societ y t hat harbored problem s and runs on alcohol. From t he plot , it can be seen t hat David’s m ot her w as abusive because she w as abused by her m ot her. She ran t o drink and applied her burden to David by abusing him.

The cont ribution of science and t echnology t o child abuse can be seen

from w hat t he charact ers had and did in t he st ory of Dave Pelzer’ s t rilogy A Child

Called It, The Lost Boy and A M an Named Dave. Am erican t echnology at t he end of t w ent iet h century w as developed in some asp ect s. Because of t he appearing of t v, m ot her oft en spend her t im e t o w at ch tv. Therefore, she forgot even ignored the children’s needs. The w orst thing is that t he mother w as inspired by an art icle t elling a mot her w ho abused her child. She im it at ed the w ay t o abuse t he child.

The above descript ion show s t hat the t rilogy reflect s t he social realit y t hat surrounds t he aut hor at t he t im e t he aut hor w rot e his w orks t hat is at t he end of t w ent ieth cent ury. In addition, through the t rilogy, t he aut hor conveys his

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crit ique t o parent s for t eaching children w ith violence and abusing them . He encourages people t o bring up their children w ith love so t hat they could develop their personalit y in a posit ive m anner and actualize their pot ency. The author also criticizes societ y for bearing t he child abuse. He encourages societ y t o be aw are on child abuse and help t he abused child. M oreover, t he aut hor encourages t he vict im s of abuse t o survive.

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Sw ingew ood, A. & Laurenson, D. 1972. The Sociology of Lit erat ure. London:

Paladin.

Van der Kolk, Bessel A., Jam es Hopper, and Joseph Crozier. 2001. “ Child Abuse in

Am erica: Prevalence and Consequences” . Journal of Aggression,

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Am erican t radition to celebrat e Holy Days is also reflect ed in t he nbook A Child Called it. David’s fam ily used t o celebrat e Thanksgiving, Christ m as, and Hallow een.

That year Thanksgiving dinner w as a flop. In som e kind of gest ure of good faith, M ot her allow ed me t o eat at t he t able w ith t he family (ACCI: 87-88).

Physical fact appears in t he novel t hat is lit erat ure. David m ent ions in the t hird book A M an Named Dave t hat he w rot e A Child Called it and The Lost Boy.

In the fall of 1992, while doing a series of fact checks for A Child Called “ It ” , (AM ND: 229-230)

6. Science and Technology Aspect

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The policem an asks for my address and t elephone num ber (ACCI: 12).

M y body slid from my seat , and I t hought for sure I’d fall out of t he plane as t he Boeing 727 m ade a sudden sharp roll to the right (AM ND: 31).

D.Discussion and Conclusion

The social aspect refl ect ed in A Child Called it, The Lost Boy, and A M an Named Dave can be seen from t he social st at us of t he charact ers who w ork as t eachers, headm ast er, nurse, police, and firem an. These professions belong t o middle class. The t rilogy also t ells that they live adequacy and do not look rich. The social class is show n only about whit e fam ily w ithout comparing w it h blacks or t he other class. The only difference t hat st ands out is t he fost er children look inferior t o the comm on children. Beside from t he charact ers, t he social class can be seen from t he charact erizat ion. The m ot her has a bad charact er like m ad and lazy, scream ing, drinking alcohol, and cussing. The person who has that charact er is uneducat ed. In addit ion, it can be seen from t he ungram mat ical st ructure used by m other in speaking such as 'em '. Since educat ed person will speak t he

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st andard language, it m eans that the m other is uneducat ed because she uses slang.

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invasion t o Kuw ait in August 1990. Am erican governm ent forced t he people to get involved in t he w ar to help Kuw ait .

The cont ribution of science and t echnology t o child abuse can be seen from w hat t he charact ers had and did in t he st ory of Dave Pelzer’ s t rilogy A Child Called It, The Lost Boy and A M an Named Dave. Am erican t echnology at t he end of t w ent iet h century w as developed in some asp ect s. Because of t he appearing of t v, m ot her oft en spend her t im e t o w at ch tv. Therefore, she forgot even ignored the children’s needs. The w orst thing is that t he mother w as inspired by an art icle t elling a mot her w ho abused her child. She im it at ed the w ay t o abuse t he child.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cross, Terry L and David Simmons. 2008. Child Abuse and Neglect and Am erican Indian. National Indian W elfare Associat ion.

Goldsmit h, Rachel E and Jennifer J. Freyd. 2005. ‘Effect s of Em ot ional Abuse in Fam ily and Work Environm ent s’. The Haw orth Press, Inc. Journal of Emotional Abuse vol. 5 (1)

Harris, Juanit a. 2010. Child Abuse. Elliot Essm an. ht t p:/ / w w w .lifeintheusa.com / comm unit y/ childabuse.ht m accessed on 27/ 04/ 2011, 6.11

Huraerah, Abu. 2007. Child Abuse. Bandung: Nuansa.

Lalor, Kevin. 1998. ‘Child Sexual Abuse in Ireland: an Hist orical and Ant hropological Not e’. Ireland: Social Care Ireland. Irish Journal of Applied Social St udies volum e 1 issue 1.

Pelzer, Dave. 1993. A Child Called It: One Child’s Courage to Survive. Unit ed St at es: Healt h Com munications, Inc.

Pelzer, Dave. 1995. The Lost Boy: A Fost er Child’s Search for t he Love of a Family. Unit ed St at es: Healt h Com munications, Inc.

Pelzer, Dave. 1999. A M an Named Dave: A St ory of Triumph and Forgiveness. Unit ed St at es: Healt h Com munications, Inc.

Prescot t , Jam es W . 1977. “ Child Abuse in America: Slaught er of t he Innocent s” . Hust ler.

Ratna, Nyoman Kut ha. 2003. Paradigma Sosiologi Sast ra. Yogyakart a: Pust aka Pelajar.

Sw ingew ood, A. & Laurenson, D. 1972. The Sociology of Lit erat ure. London: Paladin.

Van der Kolk, Bessel A., Jam es Hopper, and Joseph Crozier. 2001. “ Child Abuse in Am erica: Prevalence and Consequences” . Journal of Aggression,

MANUSCRIPT PUBLICATION Child Abuse In Dave Pelzer’s Trilogy A Child Called It (1993), The Lost Boy (1995), And A Man Named Dave (1999).