The Effects Of Domestic Violence On Children

Lorenzo 'Shakes' Carcaterra was a boy from Hell’s Kitchen, New York, in the 1960’s. Shakes is of Italian decent and lives with his father and mother in a small apartment. Lorenzo’s father worked long hours for little pay and was quick to anger and used violence to control the household. Shakes witnessed the physical and emotional abuse of his mother. He never confronted his father, but always tried to play the peacekeeper between the two. Shakes mother was not fluent in English and had a hard time connecting to the community and her son. The trauma that Shakes went through because of the domestic violence shaped his psychological and social development. Shakes was a resilient kid and sought social support from three boys: Thomas "Tommy" Marcano, Michael Sullivan, John Reilly and various other men in his community.

Just about everyone out there can say they know someone who has been affected my intimate partner violence. Or most often they have been a victim themselves but the point is intimate partner violence is so widespread that it has often been referred to as an epidemic. Most dictionaries roughly define the word epidemic as affecting many people at the same time or a rapid increase or spread in the occurrence of something. That right there can easily be compared to the problem with intimate partner violence. Some may believe that intimate partner violence only happens in poor homes or poor communities because it’s so closely associated with poverty, drugs and alcohol. Contrary to what many may

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

My program, "The Wounds of Words," was held on the campus of area high schools. Three women spoke; one was a specialist on dating and domestic violence, and the other two were survivors of emotionally and physically abusive relationships. Approximately two hundred people attended the program; some came out of concern for loved ones, others came out of concern for themselves. Regardless of their reasons for coming, I knew as I listened to the speakers and their courageous stories that if one girl could be saved from the emotional abuse that may await her in the future because of my program, the program was a success.

The formative experiences that define a child's home life will have a lasting impact on the individual as he or she enters the later stages of childhood, adolescence and adulthood. The degree to which one's family life is loving, nurturing, supportive and attentive is a substantial determinant in emotional, social and intellectual development. Accordingly, a home which is abusive, violent, negative and neglectful is more than likely to have deleterious effects for the child both while and well after maintaining residence there. This turns us toward the focus of the present study, which is the impact levied by domestic violence on children.

In the present literature review, the effects of intimate partner violence on children are primarily discussed. The overlapping of exposure to intimate partner violence and targeted child abuse are discussed thoroughly as well in relation to the impact these types of violence have on the development of children. The main body of the present literature review focuses on the prevalence of intimate partner violence, the overlapping of intimate partner violence and child abuse, outcomes for these children as a result of either witnessing and/or experiencing abuse, and potential mediating factors that could contribute to these finding. The second part of the literature review focuses on specific issues and difficulties concerning this research.

Children who witness domestic violence in their home often experience a multitude of mental and emotional difficulties. Many studies have shown childhood violence is associated with depression, incarceration and committing domestic violence themselves Buckley et al. (2007) and Katz, Settler & Gurtovenko (2016). Scholars also found that children who are both witnesses and victims both have increased levels of aggression and behavior problems Sternberg, Lamb, Guterman & Abbott (2006). Not only are children prone to aggression and behavior problems, witnessing domestic violence makes children susceptible to post traumatic stress disorder. Meltzer et al. (2009) found children who have witnessed domestic violence to be fearful and show more anxiety and depression than other children who did not experience domestic violence.

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

Abstract: There are certain vulnerabilities that leads to a person’s decision to live with the physical and mental abuse that takes place among male and female dating partners, same sex partners, and married couples. During this research, I was able to relate to how these vulnerabilities ultimately lead to many of the domestic violence survivors’ decisions to stay in their abusive relationships.

Domestic abuse is a serious ongoing situation that is occurring all around the world, and according to the Women’s Aid organization, they define this abuse as a “pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behavior” (2015). This violence can vary from aggressive behavior to sexual assault that occurs with their partner or family member. In most of the cases reported to officials, this is experienced by women and is continued by men, due to the fact that females are seen as the weaker link. So to advocate about anti-domestic violence, the Women’s Aid campaign made a billboard, with one simple goal. It was to see if anyone in the public passing by the enormous sign would notice what it showed or read the

Millions of women and men are hiding a terrifying secret, they are being abused by someone they love. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline nearly half of all women and men in the United States have experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Domestic violence is more common then you may think and affects all types of people. Victims of domestic violence have often succumbed to the controlling patterns of their abuser. For many, once they realize how bad their situation is, it is too late.

Domestic violence has grown to become a prevalent issue within households in the United States. Being such a great issue, we come to question the percentage of children affected and the impact it has on their social development and interaction with others. It is crucial for us to understand and recognize the long term effects that domestic violence can have on adolescents.

When we think about stress affecting individuals, various images can come to mind such as the single mother working two jobs in order to keep food on the table, the father who just lost his job and has a mortgage along with other bills, the teen who is pressured under cultural norms and wont be true to himself, or the fulltime student who is working part time in order to pay his/her college tuition.

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

Domestic violence affects 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men (NCADV, 2015). Although the devastating effects that domestic violence has on women are well known, there is a population of domestic violence victims that we tend to overlook. These are the children of the women and men who are in domestic violence situations. Children are the invisible victims when it comes to domestic violence. There are many statistics being thrown around when it comes to the number of children who are exposed to domestic violence; they range from as little as 200,000 to even 3-18 million (Sousa et. al., 2011). A 2001 study discovered that in 75% of the cases in their study, children were present in the home during the assaults (Hutchison & Hirschel, 2001).