Domestic Violence and Children
Domestic violence is also known as domestic abuse, intimate partner violence, spousal abuse, intimate partner abuse, or dating violence. Domestic violence occurs in different types. It is any form of maltreatment that occurs in any romantic relationship context. Research implicates that 275 million children worldwide and more than 10 million kids in the US experience domestic violence each year (on average). In every six hours, domestic violence claims a life in every four women in the United States. This aspect implicates that every 15 seconds, a woman is attacked violently. Domestic violence affects boys, teen girls, women, or men in unmarried or married homosexual or heterosexual relationships. Research shows that intimate partner abuse consists of different forms, including economic abuse, sexual, physical, and psychological abuse. It is a circumstance where one person in an intimate relationship uses various means to control or put down the other partner. As a result, this article explains how the children exposed to domestic violence become physical abuse victims.
Domestic violent forms include verbal (psychological, mental, or emotional abuse), physical, spiritual, financial or economic, and sexual abuse. Cyberstalking and stalking are also forms of domestic abuse. Domestic violence has multiple effects on children. The impact of domestic violence ripples through a family to affect the victim and the children. In the United States of America, domestic violence is the leading cause of harm (injury) among women. Domestic violence children become either involved, or witness is always at a higher risk for long-term mental and physical health problems. Indeed, children who are victims or witness domestic violence between their parents later become violent in their future relationships. Parents who experience abuse have difficulties when protecting their children from violence. Children in families where one of their parents is a victim of a domestic parent or are victims themselves feel both anxious and fearful. These children wander and on guard at most times, wondering when the next episode of violence will occur. In connection with this, a study shows that children behave in different ways according to their age.
The impacts of witnessing domestic violence among children are detrimental. Children do not need to be in the visible range to witness domestic violence. Some of them have recorded traumatic events of violence between their children, which they have heard. The psychosocial impact of children who experience domestic violence is detrimental compared to those who have never experienced it. The result of witnessing domestic violence has several developmental consequences. They can start in the conception period through to adulthood, but this depends on the severity of the trauma. There are several psychological, emotional, and social development of kids who experience domestic violence. During the conception stage, the distress of the mother affects the child. Emotional and social impacts on the child affect the behavioral and mind regulations such as mental activities, intellectual abilities, and behaviors. Besides, domestic violence also affects the physical and physiological development, affecting their bodies, aging, sexual orientation, and the structural differences in their body or brain.
Domestic violence makes children have common symptoms such as increased aggressiveness towards their peers, fearfulness, and hyperarousal. Caregivers (parents) are supposed to nurture, support, and love, but domestic violence is capable of interrupting the bond hence damaging the relationship. Children who experience domestic violence also develop different health issues with general emotional, cognitive, and behavioral implications such as being passive or withdrawn, problems eating, low frustration tolerance, violent behaviors, depression, anxiety, antisocial behaviors, aggressiveness, poor concentration, poor language development, immaturity, fear of being alone, sleep problems and irritability just mentioning a few. Infants have feeding and sleeping disorders while the pre-school age becomes more fearful, have heightened anxiety, and withdrawn social behavior when they experience domestic violence. On the other side, school-age children develop impacted educational abilities. Boys show externalized behaviors such as disobedience and aggressiveness, while girls show internalized behaviors such as depression and anxiety.
Some of the coping emotions of experiencing domestic violence include fear, anxiety, and sadness, where some of them are emotion-focused or problem-focused. Physically abused kids lose a sense of integrity to their bodies while others lose their senses because of the trauma. Domestic violence’s effects play a critical role in explaining the difficulties that most children experience both in intimate and parenting relationships. The attachment theory stipulates that the part of the parent and parent-child relationship is providing protection. When the parents fail to protect themselves, this aspect leads to causing distress in the relationship hence straining the attachment. Study shows that exposure to domestic violence perpetrates dating violence.
Research shows that 10-20% of adolescents experience violence when dating. Social learning theory states that children who experience domestic violence are likely to become more violent to other people. Boys who experience domestic violence become perpetrators of domestic violence in their future. Females who experience domestic violence are more likely to become victims later in life. Learning theory explains that girls learn about victimization while boys learn how to be abusers. Indeed, domestic violence disrupts the child’s emotional attachment, and this aspect goes all through to affect the child’s ability in the future, and the same affects their intimate relationships. Attachment issues affect intimate relationships, where fear and jealousy leads to increased violence and aggression.
Different interventions, which include the ability to respond appropriately and differently among the children, is vital. For instance, household routines such as consistency in disciplining the children’s misbehavior, regular household rules, and knowing consequences are necessary interventions when applied in families. Developing a clear understanding of the effects of exposing kids to the school settings and people working for the community is supposed to be aware of the urgency of designing and implementing interventions to help the children become successful people in life. It is essential to develop effective strategies for creating supportive relationships is a critical way for professionals and teachers to interact with parents. Parents are also supposed to be involved in prioritizing and defining the services which are needed. Relevant personnel and school workers are supposed to understand the resources, needs, and experiences related to the exposure of kids to violence.
The effects of domestic violence produce long-lasting intergenerational cycles involving abuse when the causes are not treated effectively. Domestic violence happens everywhere globally to different people regardless of their social, economic, or political classes. It is always essential to understand families’ social and cultural beliefs that are involved in domestic violence. There is a need to prepare for cross-cultural communication and assessment and the importance of going beyond an individual’s cultural referencing frame and continuing to seek to be more competent on cultural and social matters. The domestic violence professionals and agencies need to consider how the culture affects a client and, hence, becomes more resilient. Understanding cultural differences is essential in assisting the children, abusers, and victims appropriately.