Abuse

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Abuse

Abuse refers to the use or treatment of something (a person, item, substance, concept, or vocabulary) that is harmful. It can be classed by the target of abuse or the type of abuse.

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Abuse refers to the use or treatment of something (a person, item, substance, concept, or vocabulary) that is harmful. It can be classed by the target of abuse or the type of abuse.

Classes of abuse

Classed by targets of abuse include:

Animal abuse: Abuse or cruelty directed at animals.
Child abuse
Child abuse

Child abuse is the physical abuse, psychological abuse or child sexual abuse maltreatment of children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines child maltreatment as any act or series of acts or commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child....
: Abuse, usually physical, emotional or sexual, directed at a child.
Elder abuse
Elder abuse

Elder abuse is a general term used to describe certain types of harm to older adults. Other terms commonly used include : "senior abuse", "abuse in later life", "abuse of older adults", "abuse of older women" and "abuse of older men."...
: Abuse, most often physical or in the form of psychological threats, directed at the elderly, especially in nursing home
Nursing home

A nursing home, skilled nursing facility , or skilled nursing unit , also known as a rest home, is a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living....
s and similar institutions.
Spousal abuse (or domestic violence
Domestic violence

Domestic violence occurs when a family member, partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate another. Domestic violence often refers to violence between spouses, or spousal abuse but can also include cohabitants and non-married intimate partners....
): Abuse, usually physical, or psychological abuse, directed at one's domestic partner.
Some grammar
Grammar

Grammar is the field of linguistics that covers the conventions governing the use of any given natural language. It includes morphology and syntax, often complemented by phonetics, phonology, semantics, and pragmatics....
ians use the word "abuse" or "abusive" to refer to wrong use of a word or grammatical form.

Classed by type of abuse include;

psychological abuse
Psychological abuse

Psychological abuse, also referred to as emotional abuse is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another to behaviour that is psychologically harmful....
: coercion
Coercion

Coercion is the practice of compelling a person or manipulating them to behave in an involuntary way by use of threats, intimidation, trickery, or some other form of pressure or force....
, humiliation
Humiliation

Humiliation is the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being Humility or reduced to lowliness or submission....
, intimidation
Intimidation

Intimidation is intentional behavior "which would cause a person of ordinary sensibilities" fear of injury or harm. It's not necessary to prove that the behavior was so violent as to cause terror or that the victim was actually frightened....
, relational aggression
Relational aggression

Relational aggression, also known as covert bullying is a type of psychological abuse in which harm is caused through or to relationships....
, parental alienation
Parental alienation

Parental alienation is any behavior by a parent, a child's mother or father, whether conscious or unconscious, that could create social alienation in the relationship between a child and the other parent....
or covert incest
Incest

Incest refers to any sexual activity between closely related persons that is illegal or socially taboo. The type of sexual activity and the nature of the relationship between persons that constitutes a breach of law or social taboo vary with culture and jurisdiction....
: Where one person uses emotion
Emotion

An emotion is a mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings, thoughts, and behavior.Emotions are subjective experiences, or experienced from an individual point of view....
al or psychological
Psychology

Psychology is an academic and applied science discipline involving the science study of human mental functions and behavior. Occasionally it also relies on symbolic hermeneutics and critical theory, although these traditions are less pronounced than in other social sciences such as sociology....
coercion to compel another to do something they do not want, or is not in their best interests; or when one person manipulates another's emotional or psychological state for their own ends (see battered person syndrome
Battered person syndrome

Battered person syndrome is a physical and psychology that is classified as ICD code "Battered person syndrome" NEC. The condition is the basis for the battered woman defence that has been used in cases of physical abuse and psychological abuse women who have killed their abusers....
), or commits psychological aggression using ostensibly non-violent methods to inflict mental or emotional violence or pain on another.
Physical abuse
Physical abuse

Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, pain, injury, or other physical suffering or harm.Basic forms include:...
: Where one person inflicts physical violence or pain on another.
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse

Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual acts by one person upon another. The offender is referred to as a molester/molestor/ abuser/sexual abuser....
: The improper use of another person for sexual purposes, generally without their consent or under physical or psychological pressure (also, child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse

Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which a child is abused for the sexual gratification of an adult or older adolescent. In addition to direct sexual activity, child sexual abuse also occurs when an adult Indecent exposure to a child, asks or pressures a child to engage in sexual activities, displays pornography to a child, or us...
, whether abused by parents, those in loco parentis
In loco parentis

The term in loco parentis, Latin for "in the place of a parent" or "instead of a parent," refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the functions and responsibilities of a parent....
or strangers).

Sometimes colloquially "abuser" is used to mean "self-abuser", i.e. "someone who masturbates".

Spiritual abuse
Spiritual abuse

The term Spiritual abuse was coined in the late twentieth century to refer to alleged misuse of authority by church leaders....
: abusive or aberrational practices identified in the behavior and teachings of some churches, spiritual and religious organizations and groups. These type of groups or organizations could be more accurately defined as a cult.
Verbal abuse
Verbal Abuse

Verbal Abuse is the second release from the Lodi punk rock The Undead. Recorded in February 1983, in guitarist/vocalist Bobby Steele bed room, 2000 copies were released on Post Mortem Records, and five test pressings were made to Bobby....
: When a person uses profanity
Profanity

The original meaning of the adjective profane referred to items not belonging to the church, e.g. "The fort is the oldest profane building in the town, but the local monastery is older, and is the oldest sacred building," or "besides designing churches, he also designed many profane buildings"....
, demeaning talk, or threatening statements.

Abusing abstract concepts such as:

Human rights abuse: Violation of human rights
Human rights

Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedom to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of speech, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, i...
.
Legal abuse to retaliate, coerce, or emotionally/financially harm a person.

Vexatious litigation
Vexatious litigation

Vexatious litigation is legal action which is brought, regardless of its merits, solely to harass or subdue an adversary. It may take the form of a primary frivolous lawsuit or may be the repetitive, burdensome, and unwarranted filing of meritless motions in a matter which is otherwise a meritorious cause of action....
malicious prosecution
Malicious prosecution

Malicious prosecution is a common law intentional tort, while like the tort of abuse of process, its elements include intentionally instituting and pursuing a legal action that is brought without probable cause and dismissed in favor of the victim of the malicious prosecution....

Distinguish from

Abuse (computer game)
Abuse (computer game)

Abuse is a Shoot 'em up#Run and gun computer game developed by Crack dot Com, and published by Origin Systems/Electronic Arts. It was 1996 in video gaming, and runs on DOS and GNU/Linux operating systems....
, a computer game
Abus
Abus

Abus may refer to:* Abus, a village in Romania* Abus , a German maker of lock s and padlocks* Abus , an old name for the Humber estuary in England...
, various meanings including a make of padlock

Abuse

Classes of abuse

Classed by targets of abuse include:

Classed by type of abuse include;

Abusing abstract concepts such as:

Other topics related to abuse include

Distinguish from

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