The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children Essay examples

This article provides a good introduction for practitioners working with children who witness family violence. The article summarizes the effects domestic violence can have on children such as; aggressiveness, depression, anxiety, learning disabilities, and sleep deprivation. The author stresses the importance of proper identification and assessment of children exposed to domestic violence. There are four goals of intervention described in this article: reducing the child’s sense of isolation, helping children to understand their

Another common effect on children who witness domestic violence is that they have severe gender role issues. Clearly, children exposed to the abuse of their mothers are at risk for learning deleterious patterns of social behavior and for developing distorted expectations about the appropriate roles of men and women in the family (Brescoll & Graham-Bermann, 2000, p.2). Therefore, children exposed

The aim of this report is to highlight the fact that children are indeed affected by domestic violence, and to utilise extracts from recent research to illustrate the point. Krug et al. (2002) have observed that children who have seen the abuse of a parent are likely to display psychological and behavioural issues that a child unaffected by domestic violence would not, such as suicidal tendencies, self-esteem issues and anxiety disorders. This report will look into three main categories, the first being what children know and understand about domestic violence, which shall touch on the

Children react to their environment in different ways, and those reactions can vary, depending on the child 's gender and age. Children exposed to family violence are more likely to develop behavioral, emotional, psychological, and social problems than those who are not. Recent research indicates that children who witness domestic violence show anger and temperament problems, depression, low self-esteem, and more anxiety than children who do not witness violence in the home. The trauma they experience can show up in behavioral, physical, social, and emotional disturbances that affect their development and can continue into adulthood.

For children living in violent and unsafe homes, they are learning that hitting and verbally abusing someone is the proper way of communicating love. According to Holt, Buckley & Whelan (2008), “as they learn a generational cycle begins in which children grow up to be victims and abusers as adults.” The effects that domestic violence has on children are heartbreaking. Some of the major effects are; increased risk of poor health, poor education, isolation, learned helplessness and decreased satisfaction in such family environment.

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.

At the mention of "domestic abuse " most people 's first reaction is "wife battery " or spousal abuse . However , It is not only the beleaguered spouse who suffers the effects of an abusive domestic life . Due to their age and dependence on their parents , children are among the hardest hit by the effects of domestic abuse . While they may not necessarily receive direct physical or verbal abuse from their parents , exposure to domestic violence alone can affect their cognitive development and perceptions not only of gender roles but also their sense of identity

Children who live in domestic violence homes are constantly being exposed to verbal and physical abuse, directly or indirectly, it has to account for some form of damage within them. They generally suffer in silence, but often develop high levels of aggression, anger issues and anxiety, and often become depressed, there is even a potential to develop Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Therefore,

Studies indicate that 30-43% of children in the United States have witnessed some form of physical violence between their parents. This violence can have a profound effect on preschoolers cognitive and emotional development. Studies suggest that younger children may be more vulnerable to the effects of witnessing domestic violence than older children (Johnson and Lieberman, 2011) so it is very disturbing to recognize that young children are more likely to witness incidents of violence than older children (Ybarra, Wilkens, & Lieberman, 2011). Witnessing these acts of violence has a detrimental effect on the cognitive development as well as emotion regulation and internalizing and externalizing behaviors in preschoolers (Lieberman,

Domestic violence is a dilemma that affects every family member, including the children. Two previous studies have shown that child abuse, domestic violence, and both in combination increase a child’s risk for internalizing and externalizing negative behavioral outcomes and that the belief that some children may have that they are capable of controlling a domestic violence situation may actually trigger them into adopting traumatic behavioral symptoms. The goal of this study is to focus on children in New York and determine the specific ways that they are mentally and behaviorally affected by exposure to domestic violence by measuring the amount of times that they have acted out violently. This study will juxtapose those who are greatly

An estimated 8.2 million children are exposed to violence within their home every year (Alpert). The “American Academy of Family Physicians” stated that “women and men exposed to “Physical Aggression” as a child are 3.5 and 3.8 times more likely to be “perpetrators or victims in adulthood.” Many studies have shown that exposure to violence even when it takes place in another room has shown to be extremely damaging to children as them being abused directly. Thus, parents who display conflict and hostile negative interaction with each other may model unregulated behavior for their children (Violence). The “Center for The Journey of Family Violence” indicated that women who witnessed serious parental conflict during their childhood were much more likely to be victimized by their current partner. Statistics show that 70% of female victims who have grown up in households where they saw violence occur regularly or have experienced being battered themselves are much more likely to become victims of “Intimate Partner Abuse” (therapy).

Domestic violence has a very devastating on the children raised in such partnerships. During their formative years, children internalize what goes on in their environments, including both positive and negative things; and that is how they form their social interactions in life. The parents exact the most influence on their children among everybody in the social cadar that they have to deal with growing up. Children always perpetuate the pathology of their family line, and that is because of the influence exacted on them by their family both directly and indirectly. Children are the future and dysfunctional children cannot forge a functional future society. Families are the foundation of our society and if we can get the family unit right we will have much better society.

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.

Through this article, we learn that infants who experience domestic violence have trouble sleeping and eating, while older children develop a change in behavior and anxiety (McFarlane et al. 2003; Hornor, 2005). Boys who experience violence in the home tend to be more aggressive and disobedient. While on the other hand, girls who experience violence in the home tend to be more introverted and depressed. Nonetheless, both genders are impacted negatively by domestic violence.

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).