Domestic Violence Allegations

In the most recent data available from 2015, it was disclosed that nearly 92,000 Canadians had report to the police an incident related to domestic violence; of this number, 80% of them were women (Burczycka, 2017). It is then no surprise that intimate partnership violence has been found to be one of the major causes of violence against women in Canada (Ministry of the Status of Women, 2015). Many agencies focus on supporting directly the female victims and providing them with secured shelters and safe spaces to rebuild themselves after leaving their abusive relationship (Shelter Safe, 2017). However, a need to address domestic violence from the roots arose in Ontario1982, when the community identified a gap in the offer of programs

How does domestic violence between parents and parental figures affect the children who witness it? This is a question often asked by Sociologists and Psychologists alike. There have been studies that prove that children who witness domestic inter-parental violence experience mental health problems, issues with gender roles, substance abuse, the committing of crimes and suicide/suicide attempts later in their lives. This paper will explore all five of these 'effects' of domestic violence on children and show that there is evidence of a clear relationship in which increasing parental violence is associated with increasing outcome risks (Fergusson & Horwood, 1998, p.8).

The author talks about the social, physical, and behavioral consequences of domestic violence that are associated with children. Social consequences tend to be related to the violence directed to their mother. DeJong also points out the common association of domestic violence and child abuse. The author includes “studies indicate that families with either child abuse or domestic violence have a 30%-60% chance of having both types of violence occurring in the home.” (202). DeJong says that intervention could lead to removal of the perpetrator from the home, or just removing the children instead. Physical consequences involves direct injury to the child or indirect injury by not being able to provide a stable, safe, and nurturing environment for all children involved in the home. Behavioral consequences tend to be the most significant consequences. These are “generally poor social, emotional, and developmental growth of the child with associated poor overall physical and mental health during adulthood.” (202). These consequences could lead to the child having anxiety, depression, and problems with aggression. The author has a good sense of understanding pertaining the topic. This section of the article is well put together and provides a detailed description on the social, physical, and behavioral consequences of domestic violence on

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2016, from http://www.ncjfcj.org/our-work/domestic-violence

“Every year, in the United States there are over 3 million incidents of reported domestic violence. Every year, 4,000 victims of domestic violence are killed.” (Domestic Violence: Disturbing Facts about Domestic Violence). Domestic violence is a crime that is not just committed in the United States, but worldwide. This crime is committed every day, every hour, every minute, and every second. Anybody can be a victim or the abuser. This can happen to any child, man or woman. This is a horrific crime. Women are more likely to be the victim in domestic violence than men. “Forty-five percent of all violent attacks against female victims 12 years old and older by multiple

Many children are forced to live with domestic violence because one of their parents refuses to leave the relationship. In cases of women being victims of domestic violence and failing to leave the male offender, the women are also identified as offenders and are charged with failing to protect their children from avoidable harm, regardless of the limited choices they have (Friend et al., 2008). Although domestic violence occurred in 35% of the 1,248 substantiated incidents of child maltreatment, only 31 couples were investigated for exposing a child to domestic violence or not protecting their children from the violence (Coohey, 2007). In Minnesota the parent is said to endanger the child’s mental or physical health when the child is exposed to domestic violence. When police are contacted about a domestic violence incident the investigators need to consider all types of failure to protect the child, as well as the likelihood of a domestic violence incident occurring again (Coohey, 2007). In order to determine if the children will be exposed to domestic violence in the future, the investigator needs to consider many variables. Such variables include a history of domestic violence and other types of child maltreatment, a willingness by the perpetrator to change his or her behavior, and if the perpetrator has the ability to change. Domestic

Domestic violence also greatly impacts the family structure and the relationships between the members. Domestic violence threatens both the relationship between the child and their mother and the child and their father. Children who are exposed to domestic violence do not have an emotionally available parent to foster their development and have a 30-60% higher risk for being abused by the perpetrator (NCADV, 2007); when the father is the perpetrator of the violence, he often knows little about his children, their interests, and progress in school (Crosson-Tower, 2009, p. 84). The mother’s parenting style may also be damaged from domestic violence; the perpetrator may not allow the mother to take care of her children properly or soothe them when they are upset, which can cause the children to believe their mother does not care for them. When a mother is constantly traumatized by domestic violence, it can be more difficult for her to be present and attentive in her children’s lives due to depression, anxiety, and lack of sleep (Centre for children and families in the justice system, 2009). Domestic violence has an impact on the ability for a family to function. The perpetrator may sow divisions between the members of the family by turning them against each other, or favoring one child over the others. There may also be role reversals in families who experience domestic violence; parentification of the children and infantilizing of the mother may

Had I known that children exposed to domestic violence often identify with the abuser to feel powerful, I would have left the first time he hit me. Whispering lies in my children’s ears, he told them that I was abandoning them to start a new life with my husband. Manipulating my youngest son by demeaning my current husband and sharing secret strategies for getting rid of unwanted people, my son was sent back to me charged with the mission of getting rid of the other man by stirring up trouble. “Hit him,” he whispered to my son. “Make a scene and then tell them he hurt you and then your mother will come home and we can be a family again,” he lied. Unfortunately, my son believed him, and it wasn’t too long before regular visits from CPS workers became the norm, with each outrageous allegation more improbable than the

In child custody cases, the legal field approves the methods used by psychologists, yet argues that “psychologists must understand that lawyers are trained to work in an adversarial system in which their role is to advocate the client’s best interests” (Lee, Beauregard, & Hunsley, 1998, p.118). With that being said, lawyers in child custody cases are supportive and even encourage psychological involvement in the determination of the child’s best interests, yet also argue that it is essential for them to have some knowledge of family law. The main purpose of a lawyer is to defend his client regarding of what psychologists have to say. However, they still have a word about the methods used in custody evaluation (Lee et al., 1998,

More researchers are being done on a certain aspect of intimate partner violence. The aspect researchers are focusing on it the effects of it on children; for example, the abuser hurting or pointing out how the mother gives a lot of attention/affection to the children more than him. Thus, this results in the husband or partner threatening or harming the child to control the spouse or victim partner. Furthermore, due to the additional abuse to the child or children, the negative effects worsen the child’s life and have an impact on them in society. Also, this type of abuse on the child may somehow, in a way, make her feel as though she is not the mother she should be for her children. In addition, abused mothers experiencing this type of abuse

Domestic Violence is a problem sweeping the nation. This problem can affect anyone from anywhere but is generally acting out upon children and adult women in abusive relationships. Domestic violence is emotionally and physically scarring for anyone involved, and as a result could take multiple intervention meetings to begin to understand the issue, alleviate the associated problems, and to assist the victim in getting back on his or her feet. The consequences of abuse include anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and self-harm. Children may begin to act differently to their usual behavior - withdrawal is very common, as is self-harming (Khan, 2012). There are two ways that people can consider interventions for victims of

Domestic violence is a prevalent issue that has enormous consequences for both the victimized individuals and their families. There are many injuries, deaths, rapes, and separation of families, and other fatalities which can all be interconnected to domestic violence. Which raises the question who are the perpetrators? why are they violent? Were they also abused? The answers to these questions may shed some insight on what goes on inside the mind of an abusive and violent individual.

Every year in the United States, One in four women are victims of the domestic violence; however, this is only based on what has been reported to the department of justice (Stahly 2008). While men are also victims of domestic violence, women are more often the victims. Moreover, 90% of domestic violence is male initiated. In severe cases domestic violence ends with victims being murdered. More specifically, domestic violence resulted in 2,340 deaths in the United States in 2007, and 70% of those killed were females (CDC 2012). Many people think that victims have the option of leaving and many people blame victims for putting up with the abuse; what many people don 't know is, victims of domestic violence have many reasons preventing them from leaving their abusers, these reasons include, isolation, having children bounding them with the abuser and lack of financial support. "It 's never pretty when you leave an abusive and controlling relationship. The warden always protests when a prison gets shut down," says Dr. Steve Maraboli (qtd from web). Whether a victim stays or leaves their abuser, the outcomes of both situations are not always as easy as many people predict. In some situations, the outcomes of leaving may be very dangerous for both the victim and her children.

According to data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), in 2003 to 2012, domestic violence accounted for almost a quarter of all violent crimes committed. According to the same survey conducted, only 55% of those domestic violence crimes were reported to the police. Based on a study that was conducted on past domestic violence crimes, there was a decline of domestic violence from 1994-2003 but in recent years, depending on the type of intimate partner violence, each either had a small increase or stayed the same (Truman, 2014).

Why didn’t she leave? Why did she marry him? She must have done something to provoke him. She chose to have kids with him and to stay with him. These are the resounding questions and statements that one hears when discussing domestic violence. When video broke of NFL player Ray Rice, hitting and knocking out his then girlfriend Janay, those were the types of questions that erupted on social media. Instead the question should have been, “Why did he hit her?”, “Why didn’t he show any emotion or remorse?” “What is wrong with him?” This is known as victim blaming, and it is unfortunately all too prevalent in our society today. Domestic violence is a dirty little secret that no one wants to talk about, but until we do, this epidemic of victim