The United States Department Of Justice Defines Domestic

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

The first five years of a children’s lives are when he or she are most vulnerable to negative developmental effects due to trauma. More than half of the school age children in domestic violence shelters show clinical levels of anxiety or post traumatic stress disorders. (Myers, 2002) “Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an emotional illness that usually develops as a result of a terribly frightening, life-threatening, or otherwise highly unsafe experience” (Edwards, 2009). Because children in these early ages have little understanding of the situation, children may interpret the acts of violence as a result of something they have done wrong. Small children will complain of stomachaches. Children may learn unhealthy was of dealing with anger, meaning they might have outburst of anger and rage or may just withdraw. Children may regress to an even younger age crying, whining or sucking their thumb. Children will learn that this violence is acceptable behavior. With out intervention and therapy, negative behaviors can be carried over to adolescence and adulthood (Moore, 2004).

Traumatized children show outcomes of negative physical and mental health once entering adulthood. DeJong talks about the different types of stress. In this section of the article, the author describes the difference between positive stress, tolerable stress, and toxic stress. DeJong describes tolerable stress as having supportive relationships, whereas he describes toxic stress as having a lack of supportive relationships. The author states that experiencing toxic stress in early in childhood could lead to child traumatic stress. According to DeJong, “Child traumatic stress is the physical and emotional responses of a child to events that threaten the life or physical integrity of the child or of someone critically important to the child” (205). Traumatic stress occurs in response to a single traumatic event or reoccurring traumatic events. The author states traumatic stress could lead to toxic stress if it makes changes to the way the body reacts to it. As the article continues, the author begins to describe the effects of toxic stress in multiple body systems. DeJong describes the effects of toxic stress on the social/ behavioral system, the brain and neuroendocrine system, and the molecular and genetic levels. The tone of these sections of the article is very informal. The author did a great job of providing an explanation of the consequences of domestic violence exposure to children, as well as

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.

Domestic violence can lead to several long-lasting effects for both adults and children. While growing up, children’s brains are very susceptible to remembering and reenacting what they have previously seen. In the case of domestic violence, children can suffer from adverse childhood experiences, ACEs, which have long-lasting effects such as having trouble with school work, personality problems, social development issues, and more cognitive struggles (UNICEF, 2006, p. 4). As discussed by Karen Kenney in her book “Domestic Violence” Emotional trauma can lead to elevated levels of stress which can cause a variety of health problems. This trauma can also cause depression which can lead to thoughts of suicide and cause PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress

Emotionally, a child may constantly cry and fear the person who is committing these acts of violence. Some children may have a difficult time learning inside and outside of a classroom setting because of not getting enough rest at home, not being in a stable home, and worriedness. Most children have difficulties being socially active with others. They may not know how to talk or socialize with other children due to the fact that they might fear that they will say something wrong or do something wrong and be punished for it. Mentally, they may suffer from depression and/or anxiety, and maybe even exhibit the behavior that they have been observing (McGee, 2005).

Credentials: What does the author know about the subject? The author of this article knows what children need. In the article the author describes that child needs a safe and secure environment free of violence. They also need to feel loved and protected by both of their parents. The author also describes that children who are exposed to domestic violence may suffer arrange of lasting effects. ( UNICEF)

Many children witness domestic violence each day. Most times, children witness their mothers being abuse by their fathers, step-fathers, or mother’s boyfriends. According to Couchenour and Chrisman (2011), “Women and children are at greater risk of being victims of abuse than are men” (p. 131). Witnessing violence or being abused at home has serious effects on children. This article explains the short-term and long-term effects that domestic violence has on children.

this article was to address the significant of children’s exposed to intimate partner violence; and

Domestic violence is defined as the inflicting of physical injury by one family or household member on another (“Domestic violence – Definition and more from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary,” n.d.). Texas Family Code Sec 71.004 defines family violence as an act by a member of a family or household against another member of the family or household that is intended to result in physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault or that is a threat that reasonably places the member in fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault, but does not include defensive measures to protect oneself. Nowhere in the definitions does it specify male to female, adult to child, child to elderly or any other kind of specific limitations for what is domestic violence. That being said, one group that does often get overlooked is the witnesses to the violence. Most people consider domestic violence as between two adults in some sort of non-stranger relationship. So, for this paper, that is how we will address the ones who watch it happen and suffer because of seeing it – the children.

Domestic abuse is a far-reaching problem, impacting not just the victims but their children. Even the child is not being abuse, simply witnessing domestic violence can be harmful. What hurts the mother, hurts the children. Some children feel guilty that they cannot protect her when they getting abuse. Another kind of psychological harm will occur when they see their parents being hurt, they may feel confusion, stress and fear or think whether is they cause the problem. Research shows the rate of child abuse is 6-15 times higher in families where the mother is abuse. (Clarkprosecutor, n.d.) Besides, it misleading children grow up learning that it is right to hurt other people or let others hurt them for develop emotional

(2008) did not examine if infants and toddlers exposed to domestic violence have similar outcomes as school aged children or adolescents. Infants and toddlers exposed to domestic violence may experience difficulties with attachment. Their caregiver may be overwhelmed and depressed as a result of experiencing domestic violence. The quality of parenting and the ability of parents to meet children’s needs may be compromised in households that experience domestic violence. Results of a meta-analysis conducted by Kitzamnn, et al. (2003) indicated that one to two thirds of abused women experience post-traumatic stress disorder, low self-estimate, depression, and anxiety. This may impact the infant or toddlers ability to experience emotions and form a secure attachment (Holt, et al.,2008). Bogat, DeJonghe & Levendosky (2006) found that 44% of infants exposed to domestic violence had at least one trauma symptom. This was found for infants whose mothers exhibit trauma symptoms, but not for infants exposed to less severe forms of domestic violence. Holt et al. (2008) found that toddlers exposed to domestic violence have more difficulties with separating from parents, which may indicate an unsecure attachment. Results of these studies indicate that children may experience the negative outcomes of witnessing domestic violence from infancy to

Many children are also affected by domestic violence. This is not because they were the one who are being attack. Most of the time it is because they are witnessing what is happening to their mothers and sometimes fathers. As 15% of all children have witnessed domestic violence and 32% of children know someone who is affected by domestic violence. Domestic violence can also impact a child’s health as it can lead to depression, anxiety, leaving the home early, running away and even suicide. Many children are also affected by domestic violence as it is not only one group of people that it

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 history, millions of children have been victims of physical abuse; it has been shown that the effects of this abuse can profoundly influence ones mental and physical health in the span of his or hers life.