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Literature review on how domestic violence affects children
The results of childhood exposure of domestic violence
The results of childhood exposure of domestic violence
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Exposure to Marital Conflict and Violence and Children’s Emotional and Behavioral Effects
Exposure to marital conflict and violence is linked with negative emotional and behavioral problems among children. It is well established that the effects are unfortunate in children’s development. Internalizing (emotional) and externalizing (behavioral) symptoms are common for children who come from homes with marital conflict and violence. Along with both symptoms poor academic conduct is also huge issue. Emery (1982, cited in Glaser, Glass, Horne, & Marks, 2001) states conflict that is openly hostile is characterized as the most upsetting. Conflicts without resolution have the greatest negative impact and leave long term and short term consequences.
As a child being raised in a disturbed home, they can only try to make sense of their surroundings. The cognitive contextual framework proposes that how a child judges their parents marital relationship plays a key role. The way they judge this determines the impact of the conflict on their own development. Another theory is the developmental psychopathology framework which offers an integrative framework for conceptualizing the course of development during adolescence, in this case studying the exposure to marital conflict and violence.
The prevalence of divorce is high in the United States, half of all marriages end this way, but marital conflict and violence is not always accounted for. However, conflict and violence can be related to divorce making the likeliness of conflict a high percentage. Looking at numbers leads to the statistics of gender differences. Boys and girls differ in some aspects of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, but bother are affected. Along wi...
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...riedman, S. (2007). Clinically Significant Trauma Symptoms and Behavioral Problems in a Community-based Sample of Children Exposed to Domestic Violence. Journal of Family Violence, 22, 487-499. doi: 10.1007/s10896-007-9113-z
Wolfe, D. A., Crooks, C. V., Lee, V., McIntyre-Smith, A., & Jaffe, P. G. (2003). The Effects of Children's Exposure to Domestic Violence: A Meta-Analysis and Critique. Clinical Child & Family Psychology Review, 6(3), 171-187. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Zimet, D. M., & Jacob, T. (2001). Influences of Marital Conflict on Child Adjustment: Review of Theory and Research. Clinical Child & Family Psychology Review, 4(4), 319-335. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Wu, Zheng, Hou, Feng, & Schimmele, Christoph M. (2008). Family Structure and Children’s Psychosocial Outcomes. Journal of Family Issues, 29(12), 1600-1624.
doi: 10.1177/0192513X08322818
The phrase “domestic violence” typically refers to violence between adult intimate partners. It has been estimated that every year there are about 3.3 to 10 million children exposed to domestic violence in the confines of their own home (Moylan, Herrenkohl, Sousa et al. 2009). According to research conducted by John W. Fantuzzo and Wanda K. Mohr(1999): “[e]xposure to domestic violence can include watching or hearing the violent events, direct involvement (for example, trying to intervene or calling the police), or experiencing the aftermath (for example, seeing bruises or observing maternal depression)” (Fantuzzo & Mohr, 22). The effects of exposure can vary from direct effects such as behavioral and developmental issues to interpersonal relationships, all of which lead to detrimental prospects on the child’s development. This paper will explore those effects and how it affects children.
... one parent striking another parent while growing up. These children grew up witnessing abuse, and it affects their immediate environment. (381)
Shansky, J. (2002). Negative effects of divorce on child and adolescent psychosocial adjustment. Journal of Pastoral Counseling, 37, 73-87. http://0-search.proquest.com.prospero.murdoch.edu.au/docview/236056020?accountid=12629
Hetherington, E. Mavis, and Margaret Stanley-Hagan. "The Adjustment of Children with Divorced Parents: A Risk and Resiliency Perspective." Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines 40, no. 1 (January 1999): 129. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 8, 2011).
Hughes, Jr. R. Ph.D. (2009) The effects of divorce on children. University of Illinois at urbana-Champaign
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 child falls into, the more likely they are to develop mental health issues later on in their life (Meltzer, Doos, Vostanis, Ford, and Goodman, 2009). The research conducted by Meltzer et al. (2009), was used to study the factors that were intertwined with domestic violence, as well as to better understand the needs of children who have witnessed the violence at a young age.
Wallace, P. M., & Gotlib, I. H. (1990). Marital adjustment during the transition to parenthood: Stability and predictors of change. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 21-29. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/352834
How does domestic violence between parents and parental figures affect the children who witness it? This is a question often asked by Sociologists and Psychologists alike. There have been studies that prove that children who witness domestic inter-parental violence experience mental health problems, issues with gender roles, substance abuse, the committing of crimes and suicide/suicide attempts later in their lives. This paper will explore all five of these 'effects' of domestic violence on children and show that there is evidence of a clear relationship in which increasing parental violence is associated with increasing outcome risks (Fergusson & Horwood, 1998, p.8).
Vescio, V., Ross, D., & Adams, A. (2008). A review of research on the impact of
Some of the behavioral problems children of family violence suffer from are aggression, withdrawal, and frustration. Children of family violence are often more violent than other children (Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing). Some stress management techniques that children learn are bursts of anger. Violence is learned as an efficient way to solve problems. They often model their parent's conflict resolution techniques. These children are often withdrawn and internalize their emotions. Most of these children are isolated from their peers. Frequent change of residence could be a cause of children's isolation from peers (Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing). Children of family violence are often frustrated because they can not deal with their problems. Often, their education is disrupted by family violence and they start having problems concentrating at school and with truancy. Most are underachievers as a result of low self-esteem which leads to low participation in class or other school activities (Children's Services Plan).
The statistics for divorce in America are alarming. As of 2013, forty-three percent of all marriages end in divorce. (Trudi Strain Trueit) Of that percentage, only twelve percent went through a friendly and easy divorce. (Trudi Strain Trueit) Research shows that more than twenty percent of people have parents who argue excessively prior to their divorce. (Trudi Strain Trueit) Sometimes, the split helps calm these tensions, but statistics show that most couples who separate, will get divorced. Other times, the fighting continues after the divorce, with children getting caught in the middle. Studies show that the divorce rate among couples with children is forty percent lower than couples without children. (Miller)
They are the ones who are force to sit back and listen to all the shouting, harsh words, and even abuse being exchanged between their parents. Not to mention what is said and done to the children who are innocent and helpless toward the situation, not being able to do a single thing without someone speaking on their behalf. A divorce effects a child so much more than is given credit for, whether the effects be good or bad, they are inevitably exposed to the effects. Being surrounded by all the heated emotions, children often tend to act out in different behavioral ways. Some become involved in drug abuse, and are exposed to “higher rates of suicide.” Performance in “reading, spelling, and math” may begin to suffer along with the gradual dropping of “Religious worship”(Rector) in many families. The child may believe he or she is the reason for the fighting and in tern the divorce not knowing what they can do to improve the situation and make everything as it was once before. This can cause them to “feel sucked into a vortex of loneliness, guilt, and fear”(divorcesource). The macrosystem, involves culture in which individuals live as stated in the Life-Span textbook by the Bronfenbrenner Ecological Theory, is the most effected in a child’s life. Which a child feeling these emotions can suffer when it comes to their education. They often cause problems in the classroom by lashing out when a teacher gets
Considering that over 45 percent of marriages today end in divorce, it is crucial to understand recent research regarding the positive and negative effects of divorce on children’s mental health. Studies have shown that although children of broken homes generally have more adjustment difficulties than children of intact families, the distinction between these two groups appears to be much less significant than previously assumed (1). In the case of parental separation, studies suggest that children undergo a decline in the standard of living, exhibit poorer academic performance, engage in increased alcohol/ substance abuse, as well as experience diminishing rates of employment. However, underlying factors must be taken into consideration when assessing the long-term consequence of divorce on children, which happens to be resiliency rather than dysfunction (1). These key contextual factors that influence post-divorce adjustment include parenting styles, custody arrangements, age of the child, financial stability, and most importantly, the nature and magnitude of parental conflict. Persistent, unsettled conflict or violence is linked to greater emotional anxiety and psychological maladjustment in children, whereas negative symptoms like fear and insecurity are reduced when parents resolve their conflicts through compromise and negotiation. Although divorce unveils many risk factors involving a child’s health, it may be more beneficial rather than detrimental to children living in highly discorded families, in which children are able to acquire externalizing and internalizing behaviors (1). The development of coping skills and living in a supportive and empathetic environment are two crucial components for children to manage their ne...
...up to their parents as role models in their lives, would you want your child to partake in arguments with teachers or fellow students while in school? When it comes down to domestic violence within the parental relationship, the parents are to look at their argument from the child’s perspective and how detrimental it may be for the child in the long run. Children’s emotional effects from the arguments may include being anxious, nervous, depressed, confused, and embarrassed. These negative emotional states also could include nightmares about these arguments, distraught while at school, and social problems with friends. Lastly, how would a parent feel if the child believes the fighting is caused by the child? The amount of distress a child will endure if the child makes the fighting and arguments their own personal faults is damaging towards the child’s well-being.
There is a substantial body of evidence suggesting that violence in the family is a risk factor for the perpetration of partner abuse. Men who witnessed interparental violence were three times more likely to hit their wives than men who did not (Ronfeldt 72). Men who witnessed their fathers hitting their mothers were more likely to approve of violence against women and to abuse their own partner. Those growing up in a violent home were more likely to move from verbal to physical aggression. Witnessing paternal marital violence would moderate the association between psychologically controlling behaviors and physical violence so that the association would be stronger for individuals who had witnessed paternal marital violence (Ronfeldt 73).