Analysis Of The Self-Esteem Of Battered Women

According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The National Institute of Justice, one in four women in the United States has experienced domestic violence during her lifetime (Battered Woman Syndrome, 2012). This type of abuse can be fatal and detrimental to one’s personal growth. When woman are repeatedly abused, they show different signs, symptoms and general characteristics. These characteristics are defined as Battered Woman Syndrome.

Domestic violence is a serious matter that needs to be dealt with immediately and if not, it can lead to much harm to the opposing partner and or their family’s life. This problem is affecting the lives of people in many ways because of this. When a person is abused, they lose their self-ego and dignity. It puts that person in fear of

Throughout the world, we hear many stories about individuals being victimized, and individuals who have are the perpetrators. Also, many of these news segments are based off of headed situations between intimate relationships. Many relationships become this way because of stress about work, paying bills, past circumstances, and much more. There are many micro and macro level risk factors that pertain to victims (prior history of intimate partner violence, female sex, and youth), and perpetration (anger issues, low self-esteem, low income, and depression). “These factors are some of the very important factors that shape victimization and perpetration in intimate partner violence” (Seccombe, 2015, p.318).

“Domestic Violence Has Been a Problem Throughout U.S History” and “Prevalence of Domestic Violence in the United States” discusses what contributes to domestic violence. The authors of “Prevalence of Domestic Violence in the United States” provide an informative article about the seriousness of domestic violence. The authors point out that frequent alcohol use contributes to an increase in violence. The have been several studies that indicate a relationship between domestic abuse and the use of alcohol. The author states, “The research indicates that a high percentage of those who engage in marital violence are alcoholics or at least very

Researchers Smith, Homish, Leonard, and Cornelius admit that it is well known that a risk factor for intimate partner violence is substance use. (2012) However, we have a very limited understanding of the association between specific substance use and intimate partner violence. These researchers set out to bring about a deeper understanding of this. For the purpose of this study, researchers examined intimate partner violence in the presence of alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, and opioid use, as well as poly-substance use of alcohol and cocaine and alcohol and marijuana. (Smith, et al., 2012) Further, this study looked at substance use and intimate partner violence and differentiated between perpetration and victimization. Alcohol and cocaine use disorders were highly associated with intimate partner perpetration whereas cannabis and opioid use disorders were more highly associated with intimate partner victimization. (Smith, et al., 2012) Individuals diagnosed with both an alcohol use disorder and a cannabis use disorder were reported to have a lower likelihood of intimate partner perpetration compared to having the diagnosis of any one substance use disorder. Having a poly-substance use disorder with the combination of alcohol and cocaine increased the likelihood of an individual to perpetrate intimate partner violence. However, if you remove the diagnosis of alcohol use disorder and only have a cocaine use disorder, the

Breiding, Matthew J., Sharon G. Smith, Kathleen C. Basile, Mikel L. Walters, Jieru Chen, and

Women and men with low-self-esteem tend to be afraid to start over or walk away from the things they have built with their abusive partner, so they attend to except a lot therefore they become victims of explosive conflict. Most women and men hold on to their partner in hopes that they will change therefore they have to walk around as they are walking on hot coals, in hopes that they won’t set the bad temper individual off. In this case a lot of physical and mental abuse takes place.

The prevalence of domestic violence in the United States is that it is occurring far more often than many individuals would choose to admit. This form of violence is by no means new and culturally the problem itself does not discriminate, there is no specific criteria that completely omits one from becoming a victim of domestic violence. The dynamics of domestic violence consist of the aggressor utilizing violence to maintain dominance and control over the victim. The victimization that is consistent with domestic violence can come in various forms including, physical, sexual, psychological, mental/emotional, and financial. Domestic violence victimization is a cycle that usually is difficult to terminate by many victims as well as aggressors. Individuals involved in abusive relationships continue to remain in them for various reasons such as, maintaining financial stability, desire or hope that things will change overtime, fear that their abuser, will further harm them for leaving the relationship, embarrassment of their situation, or there may be children involved and the victims wants to avoid some of the harsh realities associated with a broken home. Oftentimes domestic violence victims blame themselves for the violence encountered by their abusers, figuring that if they do things differently the next time, maybe they won’t be victimized again by their partner. Conversely, violence committed by abusers is often self-driven and hinges on very minor actions executed by the

1)F.Scott Christopher and Tiffani S. Kisler(2012)surveyed mental health issues faced by women who experienced intimate partner violence.339 college women were surveyed and analysis showed that verbal aggression and minor and major physical violence overlapped.Experiences of sexual assault and minor physical violence also co-occurred.Women who experienced verbal and physical abuse but not sexual violence showed symptoms of hostility,anxiety,and depression and those who experienced sexual abuse displayed signs of depression.

The abuse is usually frequent enough that the victim internalizes it. This leaves the victim feeling fearful, insignificant, untrusting, emotionally needy, and unlovable. Survivors of this form of abuse have a hard time understanding why they feel so bad (Munro, K. 2001.).

The IDD measured the duration, severity and the presence of symptoms using a 22-item self-report. The IDD in this study was not used to diagnose a major depression just to measure the severity of the symptoms (Pineles, et al, 2014). This results from the high level of stress and constant fear experienced in abusive relationships (Pineles, et al, 2014). Furthermore, most cases show that victims experience a combination of abuses such as financial and physical, psychological and financial and verbal emotional and sexual (Pineles, et al, 2014). Therefore, victims often dwell on the demeaning factors of their abusive relationships which negatively affects their self-esteem and self-worth (Pineles, et al, 2014). Victims tend to blame themselves

Domestic violence is a very important social problem that we must educate ourselves on because it has such a profound and negative effect on the individual(s) being abused. They are affected mentally, emotionally, physically, and I know from experience that the scars can run very deep. Being in an abusive relationship for three years was devastating to my self-image as a teenager, and because of these feelings of inadequacy, my decreasing esteem allowed me to stay in such a dangerous scenario. Healing from the negative effects of that relationship has been a difficult journey for me, and I can only imagine how much more difficult it must be for women abused for years on end. To this day, I struggle greatly with the ability to let go of my own "control"

Women who have experienced abusive violence are in a long process of healing both physically and mentally, due to multiple traumas affecting the mind and body. It is usual for this to happen but is crucial and important to take action and began to process and heal. If it is not brought to attention it could worsen throughout time. “According to a study done by the Centers for Disease Control, nearly three in every 10 women-about 32 million-in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner reported at least one measured impact or effect related to forms of violent behavior in that relationship” Affects of Domestic Violence. Obviously every victim suffers a variety of traumas. Factors that could influence the outcome of the trauma is age, frequency, degree, and over all impact. It's is important to learn about the effects of violence. Recovering is possible but will take time and painful memories. But entitles to discovering your inner

The Battered Women Syndrome is a series of characteristics in women who are physically and psychologically abused by an important dominant male in their lives. These women learn helplessness and dependency; sometimes these characteristics originate from childhood. According to Dr. Lenore E. Walker, a woman must experience two cycles, before she can be labeled a “battered woman”. The two cycles are called the “cycle of violence”. This cycle leads to the feeling that the abuse will never stop. It almost becomes natural. Sometimes the relationships will be calm, and the abuser will apologize for what happened. This part is called the “honeymoon cycle”, but at other points in the cycle the tension and

Another article connects domestic violence with personal control. Research showed that woman victims of domestic violence may have some undermine feelings of low personal control. The consequence of domestic violence are substantial in terms of physical injuries, psychological and emotional distress, and substance abuse among victims. The loss of personal control has been associated with depression, substance abuse, suicide, and a loss of self esteem among female victims. This article concludes that there is a strong link between the loss of personal control and domestic violence (Johnson 2005).