What does it mean to be a victim? Is there a certain type of victim or is being a victim universal? When I think of a victim, I think of family abuse, rape, incest, attempted murder victims, and so on. There are many types of casualties because a casualty is when one person is hurt by another in a harmful way. The victims do not all belong to a certain race; it can affect anyone regardless of race, religion or social class. When a person is victimized, he really thinks in his mind. What are the consequences of the mind and body after such an attack, whether physical, emotional or verbal? Every child involved in family abuse has a different thought process than the child across the street enduring the same abuse. What drives a child not to ask for help when he has to constantly and daily endure such mistreatment? What goes through their minds? A child may not report family abuse because he or she is afraid that his or her parents will end up in prison (Stark, 1989). In their minds they believe that if their mother or father leaves, they will never be loved again. Some might think that the child would be better able to identify what parental love truly is, but in their minds, their parents are the only ones in the world who can love and nurture them. Children who are victims of family abuse also believe they are the only ones moving forward. due to the abuse they therefore feel alone and no one can understand what they are experiencing. Children may not even tell an adult about abuse in their homes because they are embarrassed to admit that there is a problem (Stark, 1989). They are ashamed because they think they are the only ones experiencing all this or they may believe this is the case. it is normal for a parent to hurt them because a parent knows better (Stark, 1989). The child may think he deserves the abuse because he probably did something bad. Why should children believe they deserve such abuse? It is commonly known in our society that parents do what is in the best interest of the child. And so a child believes it's okay because a parent knows better. “Emotional abuse can ruin a child's self-esteem because he or she may come to believe that parents' insults are true (Stark .