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.
There are millions of examples of children who not only witness intimate partner violence (IPV) but also has been victimized. ( Christoff, Murrell & Henning, 2007) Children exposed to these kinds of violent behavior at such a young age also show signs of these behaviors, many violent, as adults. Evidence shows that witnessing violent behavior as a child correlates to patterns of abuse into adulthood as well. (Murrell et al., 2007) Over the years there has been a growing recognition that young people who witness IPV is has much of the same impact as a child victimized of abuse. This often damages their long term social and emotional well-being. Having a safe place outside of the home along with a supportive
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
The “estimated overlap of domestic violence and child abuse is 30 to 50 percent” of all cases (Henderson 321). As the child grows older and sees the violence in their household there is a possibility that the child will think that it is acceptable.
There are studies showing that 3-4 million children who are between the ages of 3 and 17 are at the risk of domestic violence every year. The children of the women who get abused, usually witness it. (2) This causes the children to have psychological problems, and trust issues. Children that grow up in a violent household, learn very easily that no one can be trusted. It ruins their thought of love and also ruins their courage. (8) No child should have to witness their mother or father get abused. These children show the same behavioral patterns as those who are neglected. They often look for attention, affection, and approval, since they aren't getting much in their home lives. (8) Children deserve to be loved and cared for. They shouldn't have to worry about the things they do, and they shouldn't have to worry about what might happen to them next. There are statistics that show that most of the children who witness domestic violence, will become a victim too. If they do not become a victim, they will have severe psychological trauma. (8) The children are likely to be abused, but they are just as likely to abuse. It's common for children who watch abuse to repeat that abuse to others, such as significant others, and possibly their children.
Effects of domestic violence on children, result from witnessing domestic violence in a home, plays a tremendous role on the well-being and developmental growth of children witnessing the violence. The child will always be on guard, scared for himself, and his mother. The child will suffer emotional and psychological trauma from living in a home where his father abuses his mother. Most experts believe that children who are raised in abusive homes learn that violence is an effective way to resolve conflicts. They may replicate the violence they witnessed as children in their teen and adult relationships and parenting
Children who experience domestic violence are certainly suffer a emmense amount of physical symtoms.Family Violence research states that children can be influenced harmfully by witnessing even when children are not direct targets of domestic violence in the home. Another factor is gender, Edleson said that several studies have claimed females are more likely to deal with internalised problems such as emotional,thought, whereas males are bound to have external problems such as behavior(Rachel Brooks 2011)Besides, the intense of effect rely on additional stressors such as
According to Zannettino & McLaren (2014), “witnessing domestic violence can be a terrifying experience for children as they don’t understand what’s going on and can’t find a way to stop it, which can be just as bad for them emotionally as being a victim of abuse themselves.” The victims usually want the abuse to end, but not the relationship per se. The saddest part is most intimate partner violence end up in homicide. The earlier the situation is brought under control, the better. Domestic abuse victim may feel isolated, depressed and helpless.
Children exposed to child and domestic abuse can have very severe mental disorders. “Numerous studies have demonstrated that children exposed to domestic abuse and/or child abuse are more likely to experience a wide range of adverse psychosocial and behavioral outcomes’’(Carrie). Exposure to domestic abuse in childhood has been linked to a similar set of outcomes, including low self-esteem, social withdrawal, depression, and anxiety also aggression, violence, and delinquency. If a child witnesses punching, hitting, and screaming around a preschool age group can affect them through their whole life with horrific memories and/or flashbacks. It's important to realize that domestic abuse has different effects depending on the child. Problems were significantly higher for boys exposed to domestic abuse rather than girls. Other studies have shown boys to be at higher risk of externalizing problems in adolescence after being abused in childhood, but girls exposed to domestic abuse were at higher risk than boys for both externalizing and internalizing behaviors, including
Exposure to domestic violence can impact the behavioral, social-emotional, and cognitive development of children. Children who are exposed to domestic violence tend to exhibit more aggressive behaviors with their peers, show signs of depression, and have a difficult time forming relationships (Brown & Bzostek, 2003). Cognitively, studies have shown that children exposed to domestic violence may have difficulties learning and concentrating in school, have difficulties with conflict resolution skills, and may believe in male privilege, (Brown & Bzostek, 2003). Concentration is difficult for children exposed to domestic violence because of how unsafe they may feel in their surroundings. They may be preoccupied with the violence that is
When faced with domestic violence these children sometimes carry on violence when they become adults or blame themselves. This article explores theories and situations that show the long term and short term effects of domestic violence. They identified 41 studies that provided relevant and adequate data for inclusion in a meta-analysis. Forty of these studies indicated that children 's exposure to domestic violence was related to emotional and behavioral problems, translating to a small overall effect (Wolfe, Crooks, Lee, McIntyre-Smith, & Jaffe, 2003).
Yet another woman died this week as a result from domestic violence and it has sent a ripple effect of outrage. Outrage that “We need to change the system.”
In introduction this paper is going discuss, based on psychological theories, what impact and effects witnessing domestic violence can have on children. The purpose of this paper is to further an understanding on explaining its consequences based on a few psychological theories. It will begin with defining what domestic violence in order to get a clear indication on what it actually involves and further presenting a sample papers studying the question, on its impact and effect, it is suggested to have on children, in order to produce a paper with both high validity and reliability. Then moving onto presenting various psychological theories which on could considered relevant to the topic in question. By further engaging in a discussion in attempt to highlight and acknowledge several aspects regarding its consequences.
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
Until recently, there have been limited studies focused on the effects of exposure to domestic violence on children. This paper will review various literatures that identify the effects of domestic violence exposure on children. There were many trends in the literatures that were studied but there were two common trends worth mentioning. The first trend was the participants that were used in the studies. Many of the literatures mention that previous studies mainly gathered information from women and children who resided in battered women shelters. The second trend was the methods used for the studies. Many of the studies used surveys and interviews where women and children self-reported on their experiences.