The Effects Of Domestic Violence On Children

There is no real way to tell if a child exposed to intimate partner violence will one day grow up to abuse his or her significant other but there are indicators which will be presented later on in this paper. As well as the short-term and long-term effects that witnessing intimate partner violence can have on children. First off we’ll delve into what intimate partner violence is and some of the national statistics.

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

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

Domestic violence is a widespread sociological problem wherein women and children are most often the victims. This sociological problem is compounded by the fact that so much domestic violence goes under-reported, whether against women or children. Domestic violence may take a wide range of forms and may include a variant combination of battery, sexual abuse, verbal abuse or general violence. Targets of such behaviors may include a spouse, child or both. For the purposes of this research, there will be an interest in noting the impact on children who are exposed to violence both directly as the victims of abuse or indirectly as witnesses to spousal abuse. In either instance, the same findings are anticipated. Namely, the primary thesis driving the

“It is estimated that approximately 1.5 million women and 830,000 men experience physical or sexual assault annually in the United States by intimate partners” (De Jong, 2016, p. 201). “In the United States more than 15 million children live in families in which domestic violence occurs and almost half of these children witness severe violence in assaults of a parent” (De Jong, 2016, p. 201).

The United States Department of Justice defines domestic violence as “a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another in timate partner.”(President’s Proclamation 2016). Domestic violence includes verbal, physical, sexual, or psychological attacks, even economic coercion. Bancroft et al. (2002 p.1)have claimed that 7 million or more children being exposed by acting of domestic violence each year in United States. Many of this cases are caused by witnessing violence between their caregivers, particularly conflicts between their parents.In part,since 2003, UNICEF,in coorperation with CPFC,Save the children Sweden and plan International,has been working on a

Over the past two decades, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) has received increased attention due to the undeniable ripple effects it has on families. Particularly, children who witness dynamics often seen in abusive relationships may be harmful and can have destructive effects on the development of a child(s). Protecting these silent victims from the long-term effects is important as it may lead to abusive relationships in the future. In this paper, I plan to address the direct and indirect abuse that Jordan and Jessica were subjected to while providing insight on an appropriate theory, assessment, and intervention that speaks to the dynamics of IPV that the children were exposed to.

Domestic violence has come to be quite the normal for both genders, but more recurrent for women and children. The National Council on Child Abuse and Family Violence has stated that, “It is a crime committed every 15 seconds, against a woman and possibly her child” (National Council on Child Abuse & Family Violence). From 1994 to 2010, about 4 in 5 victims of partner violence were female, and nearly half of all women in the United States have experienced a form of psychological aggression from their partner in their lifetime (The National Domestic Violence Hotline). Unfortunately, the child or children living in the household are also in high risk of being neglected as well. Most children are aware of the violence occurring in the household, but

It is estimated that between 10 and 20 percent of children in the United States are exposed to domestic violence annually (Carrell & Hoekstra, 2010). What are the thoughts and feelings of children who are exposed to violence within the home? Children who are exposed to domestic violence can become fearful and anxious. They tend to be on guard, watching and waiting for the next event to occur, a sense of hypervigilance. What are the outcomes of these children as they get older? Does the cycle of abuse continue as adults? The answers to these questions will be further discussed in this paper.

Cross, T. P., Mathews, B., Tonmyr, L., Scott, D., & Ouimet, C. (2012). Child welfare policy and practice on children's exposure to domestic violence. Child Abuse & Neglect, 36(3), 210-216. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.11.004

The study assessed 113 preschool age children who were exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV). The study was about five weeks long and it focused on preschoolers who were given an intervention and those who did not participate in the intervention. The population was children under six years of age who were exposed to IPV.  The children attended the Kids Club Program which is a recognized program to assist children exposed family violence. The children who participated were between the ages of 4 and 6 years old. The participants met for 10 sessions that lasted five weeks. Each session lasted one hour with five to six children participating. The intervention was in a community setting at Education Centers or Shelters at outreach programs.

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

Domestic violence has been a large problem for as long as societies have been around, but more recently in the past century, it has received more attention. The part of domestic violence that has gotten the largest amount of awareness is the act of spousal abuse. Between 600,000 and six million women and between 100,000 and six million men are victims of domestic abuse each year. Of course this is paralleled by the effect on children. For every family household that a spouse is abused in, if there is a child there is a large chance that the he or she will be affected by the incident. It is estimated that about 3.3 million children will witness some type of domestic abuse

Research reveals that thousands of women are suffering from exploitation by their husbands each year, and regrettably, the children who witness the horrid violence are left in emotional turmoil. Children who witness domestic violence are at an enormous risk for having adverse consequences associated with psychological, emotional, and behavioral problems. Children who witness domestic violence are victims themselves and growing up amidst violence predisposes them to a multitude of social and physical problems. Constant exposure to violence and abusive role models teaches children that violence is a normal way of life and places them at risk of becoming society's next generation of victims and abusers.

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.