One of the five leading causes of childhood deaths, child abuse shows serious physical, emotional, and behavioral consequences for the children. More likely to report child abuse from families of color, poor, or a single mother, professionals have created a misconception. Child abuse cannot only be found in these circumstances, but also in every population and economic levels in society. Children suffer from abuse regardless of their age, race, ethnicity, or gender. Individuals who have difficulties meeting the demands of parenthood because of depression neglect their children causing them to fall into depression and suicide, parents who turn from domestic violence to child abuse leave their children with social anxiety, and people who use …show more content…
In most cases, adults who either physically, sexually, or emotionally assault their partners will also abuse the children who reside in the household. Carolyn Moore Newberger, clinical phycologist, describes stressors, such as the loss of a loved one or losing a job, can cause an individual to become violent to their partner or children. After the initial act of aggression from their significant other, individual may believe the abuse was a one-time occurrence and will not happen again. Until, eventually, the abuse continues and the individual develops “Domestic” Stockholm Syndrome, a coping mechanism to endure continual intimate violence (Newberger, 1998, pg. 3). Domestic violence eventually leads to physical child abuse, affecting children for the rest of their …show more content…
Authors Moylan, Herrenkohl, Sousa, Tajima., Herrenkohl, and Russo of “The effects of child abuse and exposure to domestic violence on adolescent internalizing and externalizing behavior problems” explained, “Numerous studies have demonstrated that children exposed to domestic violence and/or child abuse are more likely to experience a wide range of adverse psychosocial and behavioral outcomes” (Moylan, Herrenkohl, Sousa, Tajima., Herrenkohl, & Russo, 2010). The effects of physical abuse persist into adolescence leading teenagers to become socially awkward or, in some cases, pregnant. These individuals tend to keep to themselves or in small groups of trusted people. Correspondingly, as children age, the damage of the abuse leads them to become dependent upon drug substances and can also lead to them becoming child abusers themselves. Domestic violence remains one of the many causes adults physically abuse
According to the book, Children Who See Too Much, frequent exposure to violence changes the structure of the developing brain. And, it also leaves marks on the chemistry of a young child’s brain (Groves, 37). The children begin to be afraid of their environment because they see their world as unpredictable and dangerous. Hence, them become very aware of their environment, they become guarded waiting for the next dangerous thing that might happen (Groves, 46) Seeing violence at home also affects the child in school. Because their fight or flight system is always running, it begins to interfere with the ability to do learning tasks in school. “They do not complete assignments. They may be highly active and restless.” (Groves, 47) “It affects their emotional development their social functioning, their ability to learn and focus in school, their moral development, and their ability to negotiate in intimate relationships as adolescents and adults.” (Groves, 57). Children are also at risk for both internalizing factors such as anxiety, depression, and self-blame. They are also susceptible to externalizing factors such as aggression and delinquency behaviors. Witnessing or hearing abuse can also affect children in the long run. If they witness long term abuse, it can become “a form of modeling for present and future behavior” according to the Handbook of Domestic Violence Intervention Strategies by Albert
... In conclusion, it is clearly shown that domestic violence has a negative effect on the children who witness it. An expanding body of research suggests that childhood trauma and adverse experiences can lead to a variety of negative health outcomes (Anda & Chapman & Dube & Felitti & Giles & Williamson, 2001, p.1). In fact, childhood stressors such as witnessing domestic violence and other household dysfunctions are highly interrelated and have a graded relationship to numerous health and social problems (Anda & Chapman & Dube & Felitti & Giles & Williamson, 2001, p.2). It is obvious and clearly shown that the children who witness domestic abuse have serious long-term mental effects.
Child abuse in general is quite complex and at the same time one of the most challenging social issue facing people all around the USA. Child abuse cases have been recorded in all the states of the USA. The cases occur in all areas be it cities, small towns, suburbs, and even in rural areas. The vice also happens in all types of families regardless of the ethnic origin of the family or the even family income (UNICEF, 2015). It is thus important that effort is put into reducing cases of child abuse.
For example, the article written by Kress, Protivnak, and Sanlak (2008), suggest that 34 percent of females suffer from domestic violence at some point in their life. In these domestic violence situations 30-55 percent of female deaths are committed by intimate partners. According to Kress et. al., (2008), suggest that approximately 3.3 million children observed domestic violence situations inside of their home. According to the same authors numerous of these children have experienced long term effects. When individuals are suffering from domestic violence situations they could experience the following consequences mental health disorders, such as “depression, anxiety, and suicide” (Kress et. al., 2008 pg. 200). Kress et. al., (2008), suggest that individuals that suffer from domestic violence can suffer from other mental health disorders like “PTSD, depression symptoms, anxiety, psychosomatic complaints, substance abuse, and lowered self-esteem” (pg.
Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in a relationship that is used by one partner to achieve and maintain power and also to gain control over another partner. It can be emotional physical or even sexual. Domestic violence can happen anywhere and to anyone but certain factors increase the risk, these include the mother’s age, poverty, unemployment, and alcohol and drug abuse . A study done in Canada found that women who lived with heavy drinkers were five times more likely to be assaulted by their partners than those who lived with non-drinkers. “Rodgers, K. ‘Wife assault: the findings of a national survey” Children who live in a home where domestic violence takes place will face many challenges that could last through out their whole lives. Studies have shown that a third of all children who see their mothers being hurt develop emotional problems and boys who see their fathers beating their mothers are ten times more likely to be abusers in their future relationships. “Clarkprosecutor.org domestic violence in families” Children also living in these home are more likely to experience aggression and antiso...
The early childhood years are a period of rapid change in the brain, this leaves children exceptionally vulnerable to psychological abuse. Psychological abuse includes rejecting, ignoring, criticizing, belittling, humiliating, threatening with violence, or otherwise terrorizing the child, all of which have the effect of eroding the child's self-esteem and sense of security. Psychological abuse can come as a result of actions that do not specifically target the child. Studies show that children who have experienced domestic violence are more anxious and insecure then those who do not. Children who observe violence react with many of the same psychological symptoms as children who have experienced it directly. Psychological abuse is often accompanied by other forms of abuse. It is difficult to prove, however, and rarely is
Moylan states, “The effects of being abused persist into adolescence; teens who were abused as children are more likely to experience depression and other internalizing problems” (pg. 54). A lot of children that have been exposed to domestic violence are often sad. They are depressed. Most people who have been depressed have been tempted to do bodily harm or commit suicide. Most depressed children are depressed from fear that they may be next, or they may be the one being abused. Moylan also states, “Teens who were abused as children are also more likely to exhibit externalizing behavior problems, such as delinquency and violence perpetration” (pg. 54). The children that are acting out are taking their anger out on other people or other things. They feel like they are being abused so it is okay for them to hurt others. Most children that have been exposed are more likely to be in some kind of trouble with the law. They are crying for help and looking for attention. Domestic violence has a very negative effect on the way children behave. However, other people believe that children will just use that excuse just to try to get away with committing crimes. They believe that the child would probably do the same thing even if they were not exposed to the violence. The sad truth is that the children need help and they need to be removed from the violent environment
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 3.3 million referrals for alleged maltreatment were made in 2013. Out of the 3.3 million referrals, 899,000 children were officially documented as being maltreated(Child Abuse & Neglect 2015). Child abuse is the mistreatment of a child. Child abuse is recognized in several forms; physical, emotional, sexual and neglect. Children who experience any form of abuse will tend to withdraw themselves from their peers and sometimes from other family members who are not aware of what is taking place. Child abuse occurs not just in the homes of these children, but can also occur in schools, churches and after school programs. Anywhere a child is present there is a chance that abuse can occur. This paper will review the forms of child abuse, the effects of child abuse, reasons child abuse occurs and possible therapies to bring healing in the parties involved.
According to research, 275 million children are annually exposed to domestic violence around the world (Miller et al., 2012). Ghasemi (2009), Martinez et al. (2009), and Owen et al. (2009) suggested that children exposed to domestic violence could experience a variety of internalizing and externalizing problems that can lead to negative outcomes. Internalizing problems such as anxiety and depression are commonly observed in children who are living with domestic violence (Moylan et al., 2009; Owen et al. (2009). Further, cognitive development can be affected by children’s exposure to domestic violence (Thornton, 2014; Graham-Bermann et al., 2010). Trauma symptoms can be developed early in life when children are exposed to violence at home (Martinez-Torteya et al., 2009). Moreover, children feel that the violent incidents are their fault and they blame themselves (Ghasemi, 2009; Owen et al., 2009). For instance, children tend to forget the domestic violence occurrence or express emotions though play to deal with the domestic violence events (Georgsson et al., 2011). Research illustrated that children are likely to develop physical problems such as bedwetting and sleep problems when exposed to violent acts (Thornton, 2014; Ghasemi, 2009). Likewise, physical development can be delayed and impacted because of domestic violence (Thornton, 2014; Ghasemi, 2009). Researchers found that children’s externalizing issues such as aggression, substance abuse, and inappropriate behavior at school are commonly observed in children that are impact with domestic violence (Ghasemi, 2009; Moylan et al., 2009; Owen et al., 2009). Additionally, children will display poor academic performance because of the reoccurring exposure to viol...
Prevalence of childhood exposure of domestic violence can be understood considering many different things such as the numbers of children exposed and their experiences, how exposure impacts children development, factors that increase risks or provide protection against the negative effects of exposure, and the types of interventions that can be implemented to mitigate deleterious effects (Osofsky, 2003). The two most widely cited two researchers Carlson and Straus developed estimates of childhood exposure to domestic violence. Based on studies of the number of households experiencing domestic violence each year, Carlson found that at least 3.3 million children yearly are at risk of exposure to parental violence (Herrenkohl, Sousa, Tajima, Herremkohl & Moylan, 2008; Edleson et al., 2007). Straus estimated an even higher level of exposure using retrospective accounts by adults in their teenage years. Stratus estimated that 10 million American teenagers were expose...
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.
Sousa, C. (2011, January 26). Longitudinal Study on the Effects of Child Abuse and Children’s Exposure to Domestic Violence, Parent-Child Attachments, and Antisocial Behavior in Adolescence. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2921555/
When the topic of abuse comes up, many different forms of abuse pop into individuals heads. Whether its Physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse or even drug abuse, the list just keeps going. Now take all those different forms abuse and imagine them happening in a family. A father physically abusing his children, a mother verbally berating her daughter about her body image, a child growing up in fear. According to the research by David Wolfe in the Journal of Consulting and clinical Psychology, that the number of children that have suffered a physical injury due to physical abuse is between 1.4 and 1.9 million annually. With such a high number of physical abuse happening to children, one can imagine how high the number of all the
According to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) (n.d.), the causes of child abuse are 1) poverty, 2) less education, 3) unemployment, 4) changes in address, 5) marital problems, 6) lack of support, and 7) isolation. These factors are not only individual problems, but also social problems. Also, factors are considered to be interrelated to each other. For instance, parents in poverty are at higher risk of abused their children because they are more likely to struggle with economic problems because of unemployment. They are less likely to have stable jobs because of lack of education.
One of the most obvious and damaging results of child abuse is death; however, research illustrating the effects on a growing child who has been abused has demonstrated many other lifelong negative factors (Felitti, Anda, Nordenberg, Williamson, Spitz, Edwards, Koss, Marks, 1998). In consonance children who suffer from abuse can show signs of depression, social withdraw, and even violent behavior. As a child grows older, they may suffer from poor physical health, such as high blood pressure, obesity, stress, and psychological disorders and disabilities (Herronkohl, T., Hong, Klika, and Herronkohl, R., 2013). Child abuse and neglect have also been associated with depression, anger disorders, and post-traumatic