Domestic Violence and Its Impact on Children

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Introduction

Violence is the act of intentionally applying force either through threats or through physical means. Violence results in both physical and emotional harm. An act of violence can involve an individual or a group. Its actions and effects revolve all gender, sexual orientation, age, families, age, ethnicities, and cultures. It is reported across many countries and regions across the globe ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”KkO68iRv”,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Morris M.D., 2007)”,”plainCitation”:”(Morris M.D., 2007)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:841,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/ULJM937I”],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/ULJM937I”],”itemData”:{“id”:841,”type”:”article”,”title”:”The Causes of Violence and the Effects of Violence On Community and Individual Health”,”author”:[{“family”:”Morris M.D.”,”given”:”Stephen C.”}],”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2007″]]}}}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (Morris M.D., 2007). Among the significant contributing factors may involve an individual or their family. In this case, there is a history of use of alcohol, drug and substance abuse, education levels, and prevalence of mental and emotional disorders. Depressive and anxiety disorders, in most cases, affect the behavior of an individual. Other factors are poverty, environmental factors, and cultural backgrounds. For instance, the surrounding neighborhood or community may underperform in looking after the welfare of others, therefore causing disunity in the particular society. Violence takes many forms. The common types are sexual abuse, domestic abuse, verbal abuse, and assault. Verbal abuse is a frequent argument, and shouting that generally result in threats to murder or suicide. Domestic violence usually involves people who are bonded biologically, through marriage or intimacy alone. People in this form of relationship plot to harm or harm the other person, through violence or intimidating them. Usually, this act of violence begins regularly but intensifies with time, to the extent that one party has dominance or control over the other ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”cS1mYp4q”,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Roy, 2015)”,”plainCitation”:”(Roy, 2015)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:838,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/B7GN86FU”],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/B7GN86FU”],”itemData”:{“id”:838,”type”:”article-journal”,”issue”:”10″,”journalAbbreviation”:”IOSR-JHSS”,”page”:”1-4″,”title”:”Domestic violence and its impact on children”,”volume”:”20″,”author”:[{“family”:”Roy”,”given”:”Ms.Disari”}],”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2015″]]}}}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (Roy, 2015). A home or family should be a safe place filled with love, care, and loyalty.

Naturally, all gendered relationship thrives in a natural environment free from any form of domestic violence. However, an environment lacking these essential elements is out-rightly against human rights. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) states that domestic violence prevails more in homes that have smaller children compared to older ones ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”jXHDpZJN”,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(UNICEF, 2007)”,”plainCitation”:”(UNICEF, 2007)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:834,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/R3HBNNS8″],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/R3HBNNS8″],”itemData”:{“id”:834,”type”:”article”,”title”:”Behind Closed Doors The Impact of Domestic Violence on Children”,”URL”:”https://www.unicef.org/media/files/BehindClosedDoors.pdf”,”author”:[{“family”:”UNICEF”,”given”:””}],”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2007″]]}}}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (UNICEF, 2007). Domestic violence affects and destroys family relationships, especially in a family that has children. According to ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”nUieFhT8″,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Edwards, 2019)”,”plainCitation”:”(Edwards, 2019)”,”dontUpdate”:true,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:840,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/XAFP4TJS”],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/XAFP4TJS”],”itemData”:{“id”:840,”type”:”article”,”title”:”Alarming Effects of Children’s Exposure to Domestic Violence”,”author”:[{“family”:”Edwards”,”given”:”Blake Griffin”}],”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2019″]]}}}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} Edwards (2019), a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) an existing high probability of child abuse in families experiencing domestic violence in 45%-60% of homes. The damage may not be physical, but witnessing the abuse causes adverse effects on the psychological and emotional health and development of these children. This paper will discuss domestic violence, majoring on the impacts it has on children. These children are either young or old, and witnessing an abusive relationship by their parents or getting directly involved, they become affected psychologically, socially, and their overall health outcome. However, violent behavior can be modified after identifying the root cause and developing relevant strategies to prevent more harm from the children.

Parties involved in domestic violence

In general, domestic violence involves all members living in a particular household. Previously, it was a gender-based problem where the perpetrators and women were the victims. Many cultures are patriarchal. For this reason, men have the compulsion to control women, both children, and grown females physically, economically, psychologically, even sexually ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”GB4eg81Y”,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Roy, 2015)”,”plainCitation”:”(Roy, 2015)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:838,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/B7GN86FU”],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/B7GN86FU”],”itemData”:{“id”:838,”type”:”article-journal”,”issue”:”10″,”journalAbbreviation”:”IOSR-JHSS”,”page”:”1-4″,”title”:”Domestic violence and its impact on children”,”volume”:”20″,”author”:[{“family”:”Roy”,”given”:”Ms.Disari”}],”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2015″]]}}}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (Roy, 2015). This domestic abuse also occurs in members of the LGBTQ community. Pregnant women facing domestic violence will affect their unborn baby through the emotional and psychological abuse she undergoes. Domestic violence in pregnant women has a high possibility of causing miscarriages, and therefore this poses as a public health issue.

Effects of domestic violence in children

Pre-school children, school-going children, and adolescents can all be victims of domestic violence. The impacts are different on these parties, but all lead to affecting their social behavior, health outcomes, and general performance as an adult.

Child psychosocial behavior

As earlier discussed, violence may root from an individual, family, community, and the environment/ society. Poor choices of raising children, discord among partners, poverty, violent friends, or other members of the household are risk factors for domestic violence. For instance, bringing up a child in violent environments, by exposing them to hearing and seeing the act has a high probability of risking their future personality of becoming a violent adult. They will lead a vicious cycle of poverty, living in the streets, and sexual promiscuity, In most cases, children will blame themselves for the violent acts of their parents ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”HaPHFd3Z”,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Wallace, 2014)”,”plainCitation”:”(Wallace, 2014)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:831,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/NHHYT22Y”],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/NHHYT22Y”],”itemData”:{“id”:831,”type”:”article”,”title”:”Children: The silent victims of domestic violence”,”author”:[{“family”:”Wallace”,”given”:”Kelly”}],”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2014″]]}}}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (Wallace, 2014). Moreover, communities with low regard to good social relationships predispose the children to violence ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”lAkxfP6s”,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Osofsky, 1999)”,”plainCitation”:”(Osofsky, 1999)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:825,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/XTVC57AF”],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/XTVC57AF”],”itemData”:{“id”:825,”type”:”article-journal”,”abstract”:”Existing research on the effects of children’s exposure to violence covers a broad range of community, family, and media violence. This research is relevant and useful to an examination of domestic violence in two key ways. First, understanding how exposure to various types of violence affects children and what best enables them to cope can point to important considerations when trying to help children cope with exposure to domestic violence in particular. And second, many families experiencing domestic violence are exposed to other types of violence as well. Exposure to violence on multiple levels can affect the parents’ behavior and can compound the effects on children. This article begins with an overview of the extent of children’s exposure to various types of violence, and then examines what is known about the effects of this exposure across the developmental continuum. Key protective factors for children exposed to violence are examined. Research indicates that the most important resource protecting children from the negative effects of exposure to violence is a strong relationship with a competent, caring, positive adult, most often a parent. Yet, when parents are themselves witnesses to or victims of violence, they may have difficulty fulfilling this role. In the final section, directions for future research are discussed.”,”container-title”:”The Future of children / Center for the Future of Children, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation”,”journalAbbreviation”:”The Future of children / Center for the Future of Children, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation”,”page”:”33-49″,”source”:”ResearchGate”,”title”:”The impact of violence on children”,”volume”:”9″,”author”:[{“family”:”Osofsky”,”given”:”Joy”}],”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“1999″,2,1]]}}}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (Osofsky, 1999). These children may have aggressive behavior or prosocial behavior in attempts to justify their thoughts as being the cause of violence in their homes.

Adverse health consequences

According to a study done by ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”wz8HV9pH”,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Wathen & MacMillan, 2013)”,”plainCitation”:”(Wathen & MacMillan, 2013)”,”dontUpdate”:true,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:828,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/Q2UALY6K”],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/Q2UALY6K”],”itemData”:{“id”:828,”type”:”article-journal”,”abstract”:”Exposure to intimate partner violence is increasingly being recognized as a form of child maltreatment; it is prevalent, and is associated with significant mental health impairment and other important consequences. The present article provides an evidence-based overview regarding children’s exposure to intimate partner violence, including epidemiology, risks, consequences, assessment and interventions to identify and prevent both initial exposure and impairment after exposure. It concludes with specific guidance for the clinician.”,”container-title”:”Paediatrics & Child Health”,”ISSN”:”1205-7088″,”issue”:”8″,”journalAbbreviation”:”Paediatr Child Health”,”note”:”PMID: 24426794nPMCID: PMC3887080″,”page”:”419-422″,”source”:”PubMed Central”,”title”:”Children’s exposure to intimate partner violence: Impacts and interventions”,”title-short”:”Children’s exposure to intimate partner violence”,”volume”:”18″,”author”:[{“family”:”Wathen”,”given”:”C Nadine”},{“family”:”MacMillan”,”given”:”Harriet L”}],”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2013″,10]]}}}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} Wathen & MacMillan (2013), children raised in an abusive home will develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Syndrome (PTSD), which is a type of anxiety disorder. Moreover, they become vulnerable to eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa. Other physiological effects usually experienced by young children are nightmares, are short tern illnesses, gastrointestinal problems, and headaches. As they grow to adulthood, they will develop chronic diseases such as cancers, which often result from tobacco use or reliance on drugs and substance, diabetes, and cardiovascular problems.

Victims of abuse

The UNICEF reports a relationship between being prone to abuse and growing up in an abusive family ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”Ju2OMRRY”,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(UNICEF, 2007)”,”plainCitation”:”(UNICEF, 2007)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:834,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/R3HBNNS8″],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/R3HBNNS8″],”itemData”:{“id”:834,”type”:”article”,”title”:”Behind Closed Doors The Impact of Domestic Violence on Children”,”URL”:”https://www.unicef.org/media/files/BehindClosedDoors.pdf”,”author”:[{“family”:”UNICEF”,”given”:””}],”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2007″]]}}}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (UNICEF, 2007). In the USA, domestic violence is pandemic. Media, especially social media, exacerbates the effects on children, especially adolescents. Besides, a low-income background stands as a stressor to the already existing problem.

Physical injuries, suicide or death

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that domestic violence involving physical abuse may cause the perpetrator to use firearms ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”6kbipaAW”,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(WHO, 2019)”,”plainCitation”:”(WHO, 2019)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:837,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/G34GKJXD”],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/G34GKJXD”],”itemData”:{“id”:837,”type”:”article”,”title”:”Violence against children”,”author”:[{“family”:”WHO”,”given”:””}],”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2019″]]}}}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (WHO, 2019), knives, or other crude weapons on their victims. The effects are sustaining mild to severe injuries depending o the magnitude ad frequency of abuse. Furthermore, especially adolescents may be victims or death resulting from severe injuries or gunshots.

Interventions of the effects of domestic violence on children

Domestic violence is a subject that requires collaborative efforts from all disciplines. Key to resolving domestic abuse is finding its root causes Whether through witnessing or experiencing, it has far-reaching consequences on the children. The many effects make it to pose as a global health problem. Morbidity and mortality, psychological trauma, social disruption, reduced quality of life, family disruption, and economic losses are the adverse effects of domestic violence ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”XFq7BIGT”,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Morris M.D., 2007)”,”plainCitation”:”(Morris M.D., 2007)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:841,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/ULJM937I”],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/ULJM937I”],”itemData”:{“id”:841,”type”:”article”,”title”:”The Causes of Violence and the Effects of Violence On Community and Individual Health”,”author”:[{“family”:”Morris M.D.”,”given”:”Stephen C.”}],”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2007″]]}}}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (Morris M.D., 2007). It, therefore, calls for physicians, psychiatrists, social workers, parents, guardians or caregivers, teachers to work as a team and address the matter when they get into contact with these children or their parents. Violence is an acquired behavior. Therefore, using the Cognitive Behaviour Model (CBT) can solve anxiety and depressive disorders. The CBT model helps children or the victims through guidance on improving their relationships with other people. Especially after showing the aggressive behavior, CBT and will help them in learning interaction skills, dealing, and coping with stressing or troubling events, and gradually changing their habit and grow into productive adults.

Parents have the role of ensuring that they are at the forefront of helping their children recover from an incidence of domestic violence. They should hold conversations on the fears they are facing, thereby providing a home with care and protection (OFFICE ON WOMEN’S HEALTH, 2020). They should also discuss topics such as sex education to give them insights on how to respond to any sexual abuse or probability of falling a victim due to a poor home environment.

Secondly, the US Department of Justice’s Defending Childhood Initiative has measures to protect children from experiencing violence on various grounds. It has made an awareness that children ought to be protected from any negative outcome resulting from domestic violence ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”w8MFnNbH”,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(National Institute of Justice, 2020)”,”plainCitation”:”(National Institute of Justice, 2020)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:842,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/95MKNWHY”],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/95MKNWHY”],”itemData”:{“id”:842,”type”:”article”,”publisher”:”National Institute of Justice”,”title”:”Children Exposed To Violence”,”URL”:”https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/children-exposed-violence”,”author”:[{“family”:”National Institute of Justice”,”given”:””}],”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2020″]]}}}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (National Institute of Justice, 2020). It made its mandate to develop strategies for a timely response. An example is funding sites for the implementation of programs aimed at solving the problem.

The World Health Organization had developed a technique on ending this matter. The technique called INSPIRE takes into account evidence-based steps applicable when addressing the adverse effects especially cause on mental health. The technique further educates populations on various types of violence and strategies to address them ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”X7GLB60t”,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(WHO, 2019)”,”plainCitation”:”(WHO, 2019)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:837,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/G34GKJXD”],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/G34GKJXD”],”itemData”:{“id”:837,”type”:”article”,”title”:”Violence against children”,”author”:[{“family”:”WHO”,”given”:””}],”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2019″]]}}}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} (WHO, 2019). Moreover, ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {“citationID”:”KnvMwtGs”,”properties”:{“formattedCitation”:”(O\uc0\u8217{}Donnell & Quarshie, 2019)”,”plainCitation”:”(O’Donnell & Quarshie, 2019)”,”noteIndex”:0},”citationItems”:[{“id”:836,”uris”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/WAG3TJDF”],”uri”:[“http://zotero.org/users/local/rEYGfGF8/items/WAG3TJDF”],”itemData”:{“id”:836,”type”:”article”,”publisher”:”USA Today”,”title”:”The startling toll on children who witness domestic violence is just now being understood”,”author”:[{“family”:”O’Donnell”,”given”:”Jayne”},{“family”:”Quarshie”,”given”:”Mabinty”}],”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2019″]]}}}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} O’Donnell & Quarshie (2019), add that children’s advocates should impose faster mechanisms of identifying and preventing cases of domestic child abuse. These are coupled with an immediate response from schools and public health systems to respond to treatment.

Conclusion

In conclusion, domestic violence does not favor the victim on the grounds of age, education level, race, or economic status. Sometimes, however, it may be hard to identify or detect whether a child is experiencing domestic violence from their homes. However, through full wholesome involvement especially forming solid communal fabrics is a significant step to solving this problem. The adverse effects should receive more reinforcement through not only academic publications but also practically handling the matter. While some children are sensitive to the impact of domestic violence, others are more resilient, resulting in the behavioral outcomes observed. Early intervention of the problem will, therefore, solve any adverse effects that would otherwise cause severe results. Organizations such as the WHO and UNICEF are actively involved in the protection of children against any form of violence. Anti-violence measures are vital as they contribute to raising a generation that is aware of domestic violence and its adversities.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {“uncited”:[],”omitted”:[],”custom”:[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Edwards, B. G. (2019). Alarming Effects of Children’s Exposure to Domestic Violence.

Morris, M.D., S. C. (2007). The Causes of Violence and the Effects of Violence On Community and Individual Health.

National Institute of Justice. (2020). Children Exposed To Violence. National Institute of Justice. https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/children-exposed-violence

O’Donnell, J., & Quarshie, M. (2019). The startling toll on children who witness domestic violence is just now being understood. USA Today.

Osofsky, J. (1999). The impact of violence on children. The Future of Children / Center for the Future of Children, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, 9, 33–49.

Roy, Ms. D. (2015). Domestic violence and its impact on children. 20(10), 1–4.

UNICEF. (2007). Behind Closed Doors The Impact of Domestic Violence on Children. https://www.unicef.org/media/files/BehindClosedDoors.pdf

Wallace, K. (2014). Children: The silent victims of domestic violence.

Wathen, C. N., & MacMillan, H. L. (2013). Children’s exposure to intimate partner violence: Impacts and interventions. Paediatrics & Child Health, 18(8), 419–422.

WHO. (2019). Violence against children.