Introduction
Our existence can be illustrated by a work of art. As the artist uses their brush, each splash of paint is a sequence of schema’s that are strategically placed on the canvas. Each are needed to cultivate the appropriate psychological, emotional, and physical response. Regrettably, if one splash is too harsh, the painting can be altered, damaged, or destroyed. Comparatively, like the painting, our sense of self is delicately ever changing with each interaction and response to an internal and external factor. A caregiver with a neglectful nature and/or an imbalance of neurotransmitters can impact an individual’s development and overall self-image. Equally, an individual’s experience with domestic violence and its horrific ramifications can also impact a person’s psychological, emotional, physical, and social growth.
Domestic Violence
Domestic violence, is a virulent calamity that has woven its way into our society for thousands of years. It is not biased to a particular race, group, or culture. Grievously, it has an everlasting negative impact on its victims. Although; adult victims suffer a great amount of pain and anguish, research has shown that children who witness domestic violence undergo neurological, biological, emotional, physical, and social repercussions. According to The Consequences of Witnessing Family Violence on Children and Implications for Family Counselor’s article, there is “a rough estimate of 17.8 million children who are witnesses of
Traumatized children show outcomes of negative physical and mental health once entering adulthood. DeJong talks about the different types of stress. In this section of the article, the author describes the difference between positive stress, tolerable stress, and toxic stress. DeJong describes tolerable stress as having supportive relationships, whereas he describes toxic stress as having a lack of supportive relationships. The author states that experiencing toxic stress in early in childhood could lead to child traumatic stress. According to DeJong, “Child traumatic stress is the physical and emotional responses of a child to events that threaten the life or physical integrity of the child or of someone critically important to the child” (205). Traumatic stress occurs in response to a single traumatic event or reoccurring traumatic events. The author states traumatic stress could lead to toxic stress if it makes changes to the way the body reacts to it. As the article continues, the author begins to describe the effects of toxic stress in multiple body systems. DeJong describes the effects of toxic stress on the social/ behavioral system, the brain and neuroendocrine system, and the molecular and genetic levels. The tone of these sections of the article is very informal. The author did a great job of providing an explanation of the consequences of domestic violence exposure to children, as well as
Every action is followed by a reaction; however, occasionally the reaction is only a temporary solution that leads to long-term consequences. This is especially true of how domestic violence is currently governed by the criminal justice system and social norms. A lack of preventative care exists and this ignores the consequences of domestic violence in our society. Incidents of domestic violence are often treated as one-time or isolated occurrences; however, in many cases abusers and victims fall back into these learnt behaviors. Therefore, domestic violence is a never-ending cycle that cannot be stopped without cultural and legal changes that focus on preventing further instances of violence and empowering victims to break the cycle.
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
Millions of women in the United States are physically, and emotionally abused by an intimate partner each year. Domestic violence is a situation that harms and kills most particularly women, children, and families members. As a result, battering of women is one of the foremost causes of injury to women. The growing awareness of how pervasive and destructive this situation is in our society, and the violence that accompanies it, has created a wide variety of programs, shelters, educational endeavors, law enforcement initiatives, and other efforts to prevent the development of this well-known trend. Fortunately, most victims of domestic violence today have one or more ways out, if they know there are available opportunities exist and able to use them accordingly.
Million of women in the United States are physically, and emotionally abuse by an intimate partner each year. Domestic violence is a situation that harms and kills most particularly women, children, and families members. As a result, battering of women is one of the foremost causes of injury to women. The growing awareness of how pervasive and destructive this situation is in our society, and the violence that accompanies it, has created a wide variety of programs, shelters, educational endeavors, law enforcement initiatives, and other efforts to prevent the development of this well-known trend. Fortunately, most victims of domestic violence today have one or more ways out, if they know there are available opportunities exist and able to use them accordingly.
Domestic violence can lead to several long-lasting effects for both adults and children. While growing up, children’s brains are very susceptible to remembering and reenacting what they have previously seen. In the case of domestic violence, children can suffer from adverse childhood experiences, ACEs, which have long-lasting effects such as having trouble with school work, personality problems, social development issues, and more cognitive struggles (UNICEF, 2006, p. 4). As discussed by Karen Kenney in her book “Domestic Violence” Emotional trauma can lead to elevated levels of stress which can cause a variety of health problems. This trauma can also cause depression which can lead to thoughts of suicide and cause PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress
Whenever we talk about the subject of domestic violence, the first concern that we have is on adults who have experienced it. However, little attention has been paid to children who were exposed to domestic violence. The tragic reality of a long term effects for who have experienced domestic violence is not only to adult but their children. The younger the children is the harder for them to understand violence and coping with it. Therefore, children who witness their parents being abused are more likely to growing up thinking hurting people is a way to protect themselves or that is okay to being hurt by other. According to a study, nearly “4.8 million acts of physical or sexual aggression are perpetrated against women while 2.9 million physically
Children are impacted the most in a household where domestic violence occurs. Fifty-four percent of families reported that domestic violence occurred in the child’s home (Bowen, 2000). That is over half of all children who experience some sort of physical or psychological abuse at some point in their lifetime. Children exposed to violence exhibit many more problems than children who do not witness violence at home, including anxiety; aggression; depression and temperament problems; less empathy and self-esteem; and lower verbal, cognitive, and motor abilities. Furthermore, the American Academy of Pediatrics reports that “children who witness domestic violence are likely to become sufferers of posttraumatic stress disorder” (Lundy, Grossman, 2005). They lack the confidence in themselves, because they are constantly told they are bad. Behavioral problems, particularly externalizing behavior, in children who witness marital violence and who are victims of abuse have been found to be worse than in children who are exposed to just one type of violence (Cox, Kotch, & Everson, 2003). Some children act up just so they can get attention from peers and elders. This is because the child does not receive the appropriate attention at home, possibly from being neglected by their parents.
People are exposed to violence on a daily basis, whether it is through media, personal relationships, or simply observed during daily activities. The few types of violence that are most prominent in today’s society are physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, and domestic violence. Domestic violence is one of the most problematic and dangerous forms of violence that exist due to the detrimental effects it has on the individuals directly involved, children who witness these acts of violence, and society as a whole. Both men and women can be victims of domestic abuse, however, Safe Horizon states that, “1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime” (Safe Horizon). Everyone who experiences or witnesses domestic abuse are affected in detrimental ways. The abusers often have anger problems or lack of impulse control which only progresses. The victims become physically and emotionally scarred and the children who fall witness to parental domestic violence develop issues with emotional and behavioral functioning as well as social competence. More often than not, domestic violence is a learned behavior by children in abusive homes. Research conducted by The American Medical Association estimates that over 3.3 million children observe spousal abuse every year (Bennett, 1995). Because of this, children will believe this behavior is ‘okay’ and may even
The study of human culture provides us with a look into other cultures from an up-close and distinct perspective, which allows us to better understand their culture and way of life. Taking an objective look at another culture without being somewhat biased can be a difficult task. This being the case, we must examine culture by using emic and etic perspectives. An emic perspective is an insider views; observing the culture from within the culture itself. An etic perspective is an outsider’s view of a culture; evaluating the culture through the eyes of someone who is not part of the culture.
Emotional development in a child is when the child can manage their own personal feelings, as well as understand other’s feelings, understand other’s needs, and are able to interact positively with others. However, when children are exposed to domestic violence it is a traumatic event which in return causes traumatic stress. When a child is exposed to traumatic stress it affects structures of the brain that helps regulate emotion. Each person’s brain is made up of different regions in which each region is responsible for something different. When a person undergoes traumatic stress the part of the brain that deals with attention, planning, and judgement, called orbital prefrontal cortex, decreases in activity which then causes for faulty attention, planning, and judgement. Furthermore, the part of the brain that is involved with making fast judgments and empathy for others is called the anterior cingulate. When a person experiences traumatic stress the anterior cingulate decreases in activity as well and in return causes for the person to have poor impulse control as well as lack of empathy. Finally, the last part of a person’s brain that is effected by traumatic stress is called the amygdala. When a
In America most cases of Domestic Violence are never actually reported, many times these cases go unheard and the victims suffer in silence. The worn out cries of a battered woman as she lays on the ground clutching herself and begging her significant other to just stop. The bruises and cuts that remain unreported due to the victim claiming they accidentally fell yet again. The abusers tend to make the victim almost entirely dependable on them. An abuser will do this to gain control and to create a weaker victim, “behaviors used by one person in a relationship to control the other” (Par. 1, Definition). Control. The abuser seeks control over their victims. When their control is threatened they act out in ways harmful to others. Domestic
Throughout the course of one’s lifetime, there are countless events that shape the personality, actions and mentality of that individual. Some of these events will affect the individual in a positive way allowing great life opportunities, while other events will unfortunately affect the individual in a negative way which can lead to disorders. Among the various events that can affect a person, one of the most common occurrences that some children witness early on in their lives that deeply affect their long-term mental health is being a witness to domestic violence. Research and observations that were studied revealed that there are multiple factors that can contribute to a child witnessing domestic violence. The more categories that the
Abuse is never an easy subject. When it comes to abuse there are always people affected one way or another. Children especially because to some degree they always believe that they are to blame. 1 in 4 women will experience violence during her lifetime and this affecting everybody surrounding her. Domestic violence is the third leading cause of homelessness ion families. According to (act.liveyourdream.org) “each year 2 million injuries and 1300 deaths are caused as a result of domestic violence”. How are our children affected by this? Our children are affected because they depend on us. Their well-being depends on their parents. We are the ones to provide for them financially and emotionally. Domestic violence has its effects long term. It impacts a woman’s mental, physical health, productivity, earning potential, and financial security. Her child’s mental well-being is also at risk when they endure this type of situation. Abuse affects the mom and by that the mom may grow bitter or upset and take it out on her children causing them too to be victims of abuse themselves. Some individuals don’t have the capability to understand that no one else is to blame for this abuse and that’s where neglect and maltreatment kick in. The mother may blame her child for the abuse. For example, I have a friend who was victim of domestic violence and when her boyfriend would abuse her she would blame her son and take it out on him. He also became a victim of abuse. He was very young and
Violent or aggressive behavior within the home, coming from either of the parents is what we consider domestic violence. Domestic violence is something we are all familiar about and we know it occurs all around the world, but it’s not a topic a lot of people talk about but it happens so often that it should be talked about more. Domestic violence in families has a huge effect on the children, the targeted individual, and the person who is creating the violence. The causes for domestic violence varies but one of the causes that stands of to me the most and one I am familiar with is when the person who is creating the violence is intoxicated. When a person is intoxicated from drugs or alcohol they do not think or act like they would normally, drugs and alcohol has a huge effect on the brain and that is what causes the person to act in such way.