Colling 11TH Commandment Video Analysis

“Abuse is still seriously under reported. I was told by leading British social worker that when they hold training courses for employees, they find that a third of the females and slightly less of the males come forward to talk about their childhood experiences of being abused. Over ninety percent of parents as some time hit their children – and some people hit them several times a week – so there is a great deal of emotional hurt, fear and physical pain in the world today” (Davis 251). For this reason alone it makes perfect sense why violent crime rates are so frighteningly high.

They do not deserve to have their lives threatened or to see their mother abused the way she was. However, there were people in my family who felt as though they didn’t need any help or that they were fine and it was all blown out of proportion. While this distortion is damaging to the children who were traumatized, it also shows how trauma affects the person holding the distortion. It shows that their perspective of trauma was handled in a different way than other people and it creates a challenge. It challenged me to understand how different people perceive the trauma of others and how it affects everyone’s lives

Violence affects a healthy family’s relationship, state of mind and well-being, in other words, it’s normal functions. Because of violence, children are forced to endure and cope with mental, physical and emotional trauma leading to a display of impacts on health, development, and wellbeing. The effects build up over time and can impact on every aspect of their life.  How many children and innocent lives must suffer from something unnecessary? Imagine walking into a home late at night to find a child hiding in a corner, with a bloody face and cuts all around their body saying they were self-inflicted or making up other silly excuses like falling down the stairs out of extreme fear. Up to 75% of all acts of domestic violence occurs between the ages 18-24. No child should ever see domestic violence as normal because the moment that happens a future perpetrator has been born. We need to take a stand and refuse to let domestic violence become something we ignore.

Groves, B.M. (1999). Mental Health Services for Children Who Witness Domestic Violence. The Future of Children, 9(3), 122-132.

The first five years of a children’s lives are when he or she are most vulnerable to negative developmental effects due to trauma. More than half of the school age children in domestic violence shelters show clinical levels of anxiety or post traumatic stress disorders. (Myers, 2002) “Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an emotional illness that usually develops as a result of a terribly frightening, life-threatening, or otherwise highly unsafe experience” (Edwards, 2009). Because children in these early ages have little understanding of the situation, children may interpret the acts of violence as a result of something they have done wrong. Small children will complain of stomachaches. Children may learn unhealthy was of dealing with anger, meaning they might have outburst of anger and rage or may just withdraw. Children may regress to an even younger age crying, whining or sucking their thumb. Children will learn that this violence is acceptable behavior. With out intervention and therapy, negative behaviors can be carried over to adolescence and adulthood (Moore, 2004).

Astounding statistics reported by the Children’s Defense Fund, “An estimated 3 to 4 million women in the United States are battered each year by their partners, In homes where domestic violence occurs, children are seriously abused or neglected at a rate 1500% higher than the national average in the general population, Between 2.3 and 10 million children are witnesses to family violence, Based on an estimate of 2 children per household, in 55% of violent homes, at least 3.3 million children in the U.S. are at risk of witnessing domestic violence each year,” (Retrieved, 10/12/2011, http://cdf.childrensdefense.org).

I need to start by admitting that this video was difficult to watch! Within a few seconds of watching the video I was reminded of the level of difficulty of the social work profession. As described in the video, Child Protection Services’ role is to protect children from neglect and abuse (Mierendorf, 2000). Similarly, social workers play several significant and complex roles within child advocacy. Social workers need to ensure the safety and well-being of children and be their voice when they are being silenced or maltreated. Social workers need to identify the abuse and address the situation accordingly. This could be particularly difficult when is in the best interest of children to be removed from their

As previously stated, children are greatly impacted by domestic violence. The article by Lewis et al. (2017) focuses on safeguarding children from domestic violence due to the negative impact that it has on their health. There is evidence of a correlation between domestic violence and a child being mistreated. The article discusses how health professionals feel they do not have enough training in domestic violence. They used a study called Researching Education to Strengthen Primary care on Domestic Violence and Safeguarding (RESPONDS) (Lewis et al., 2017). This study used a pre-test and a posttest to see if the participants gained knowledge from the training. The article explained that, “the training aimed to fill gaps in knowledge and practice

I hope to use my law degree to change the lives of mistreated children from all over the world. As a victim of child abuse, serving this community has become a part of my identity. My aspiration to represent mistreated children, albeit vitalized by personal turmoil, has been intensified through professional experience. Through my work with Child Protective Services (CPS), during an internship with a family law attorney, I developed my passion for advocating on behalf of children. While working on CPS cases, I have seen how the lives of children can improve through diligent efforts by authority figures. However, I have also witnessed the shortcoming of the system as well where there is room for improvement. These vulnerable children deserve

Violence in any form can have a lasting effect on a person. Children who witness violence are permanently scarred because of what they are seeing. Children who witness family or domestic violence are affected in ways similar to children who are physically abused. Children are often unable to establish nurturing bonds with either parent and are at a greater risk for abuse and neglect if he or she lives in a violent home. Statistics show that an estimated 3.3 million children are exposed to violence against their mothers or female caretakers by family members in their home each year (Ackerman & Pickering, 1989). When a spouse, woman or male is abused, and there are

After many studies researchers have confirmed that when children are exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) it significantly effects their social emotional development (Hughes & Chau, 2013; Herman-Smith, 2013). This raises a concern; if IPV was to be measured emotional abuse should children be removed from their families. If we consider that the majority of children that witness IPV are under six and would not be able to fully understand what is happening we can conclude that they would not be able to report their maltreatment (Hughes & Chau, 2013). If either partner also chooses not to report the abuse it may continue and it would impact the child; the child could experience mental and behavioral problems. Therefore programs should be

By 1986 mostly every state required other professions that work with families, such as nurses, teachers, and school staff, to be mandated to report child abuse (Hines et al., 2013, p. 51). Since the book took place in the 1970’s neither the teachers nor the staff reported to child protective services (CPS). Instead of reporting to CPS about the bruises or the reason as to why David was stealing food the teacher discussed her concerns to the principal and he called to discuss the matter with the David’s mother. Of course the mother sounded very convincing in explaining David wanted attention. Over the years there was been prevention programs with the goal of improving parenting skill and knowledge. There are primary prevention programs that target the general population through media campaigns. The secondary prevention programs focus on the populations that are high risk for abusing their children the goal is to provide them with skills and knowledge to prevent abuse. The tertiary prevention program provides the appropriate interventions to ensure that the families who already experiences abuse won’t happen again (Hines et al., 2013, p.

Everyday there are children being abused by someone who is supposed to protect them. An estimated 905,000 children were victims of child abuse or neglect in 2006(Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2008). In 1996, more than three million victims of suspected abuse were reported to child protective services agencies in the United States (Baker, 2002). The numbers have changed and still many cases of abuse go unreported. The number of incidences of child abuse rises when the family is under stress, such as being in our economy. The effects of physical abuse can last a lifetime and are measured by the physical, psychological, behavioral, or social outcomes. Normal physical abuse scenario involves a parent who loses control and lashes

The video that I watched was, “Just Melvin, Just Evil – Classic Documentary about abuse”. Just by watching the first twenty-three seconds of this film I felt scared for the children, and anger towards the family member that was going to hurt these innocent children. It frustrates me that some pure, dependent children will have to endure not just pain but to be betrayed by an individual who was suppose to protect them.

There is a lot of content-specific information that is relevant to the video that I selected. There was an article that stated “children who live with domestic violence face increased risks: the risk of exposure to traumatic events, the risk of