The Role Of Family Unhealthy For The Child Essay

Believe it or not exposure to violence affects children in many ways. Children are like sponges they absorb everything they see. Children who are exposed to violence in their homes become fearful, anxious, and never feel safe. They are always worried for themselves, their mother, and their siblings. They may even feel worthless and powerless. Many children will keep the abuse a secret and not tell anyone but as time progresses they will think that it’s their fault and that that’s why the violence is occurring. Children exposed to abuse can look normal to the

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

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

“Negative stereotypes or myths are often at the heart of a service provider 's lack of cultural competence (Allard, 1991). One stereotype is that of the strong African American woman, who can sustain anything, has no fear, and can easily protect herself (Hill-Collins, 1991)”.

“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).

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.

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

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.

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

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between a child who witnesses abuse in his/her home and the child’s development, physically, emotionally, and socially. Young children exposed to abusive environments are at risk of higher levels of emotional stress, which can impair their physical and social development.

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

Physical abuse is a violent way of maltreating an individual. When it happens to young girls, it impacts them negatively. The girl more often are brutally beaten by either their parents, other close family members or their peers, which, in turn, come to respond the same way after some time of building up the hurt. Physical abuse from parents or close family members make young girls emotionally troubled and cognitively disturbed. The aspect of them not doing anything about it, results them into copying what they see because they are used to it. Moreover, they see abusing somoen physically as the answer to their problems or getting what they want. It is in this way that young girls as well as boys tend to become brutal, violent and aggressive, which are acts that make them deviant as well as delinquent. Mersky, Topitzes & Reynolds (2012) state that developmental psychopathology holds that early childhood traumatic experiences tend to have deep intense impacts on functioning because the later development of a person is shaped by how earlier developmental elements were integrated. A very young girl witnessing physical abuse or being physically abuse is traumatic to her because she is young. The effect of this act makes the girl continue growing up with the bad thoughts and feelings and whenever a person reacts negatively towards her, the results are committing a

Domestic violence also greatly impacts the family structure and the relationships between the members. Domestic violence threatens both the relationship between the child and their mother and the child and their father. Children who are exposed to domestic violence do not have an emotionally available parent to foster their development and have a 30-60% higher risk for being abused by the perpetrator (NCADV, 2007); when the father is the perpetrator of the violence, he often knows little about his children, their interests, and progress in school (Crosson-Tower, 2009, p. 84). The mother’s parenting style may also be damaged from domestic violence; the perpetrator may not allow the mother to take care of her children properly or soothe them when they are upset, which can cause the children to believe their mother does not care for them. When a mother is constantly traumatized by domestic violence, it can be more difficult for her to be present and attentive in her children’s lives due to depression, anxiety, and lack of sleep (Centre for children and families in the justice system, 2009). Domestic violence has an impact on the ability for a family to function. The perpetrator may sow divisions between the members of the family by turning them against each other, or favoring one child over the others. There may also be role reversals in families who experience domestic violence; parentification of the children and infantilizing of the mother may

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