Child Abuse And Domestic Abuse

1636 Words7 Pages
Adolescence, the stage in life that while not yet adults they are not quite children either. A factor that creates violent and aggressive adolescents includes being exposed to child abuse and domestic abuse. Moylan, T. Herrenkohl, Sousa, Tajima, R. Herrenkohl, and Russo (2010) look at the relationship between those who were exposed to either child abuse, domestic abuse, or both and the outcome of aggressive adolescents. Families were first assessed when children were in preschool, eighteen months to six years old. The second data collection occurred when the children were eight to eleven years old. The final assessment occurred when the children were fourteen to twenty three years old. Assessments included searching official records of abuse cases, the mother’s statements as to the discipline used during the time of childhood, and how the adolescents look back and view the discipline their mother gave them. It was concluded that adolescents that were exposed to either child abuse, domestic abuse, or both had higher rates of behavioral problems such as internalizing or externalizing aggression. Rates were even higher when adolescents were exposed to a combination of abuse. This study provides evidence that even at an older age of adolescence exposure to domestic and child abuse can do everlasting harm, social service systems could use studies like this one to implement more coping groups for those children that came from environments of aggression as stated in the article.
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