Theories Of Domestic Violence

Domestic violence or intimate partner violence, is a pattern of threatening or controlling behavior that involves violence or other abuse. Domestic violence can be between a heterosexual or homosexual couple. Children who see or hear domestic violence from parents experience negative outcomes because it affects children negatively both mentally and physically. Domestic violence is already bad enough, but when children are exposed, it affects their growth. It traumatizes them and puts them in danger. I think that educating people over the signs of domestic violence is important. Domestic Violence is a very big problem. 5 million children witness some type of domestic violence. 40 million adult Americans grew up with some type of domestic violence

According to Albert Roberts’ Handbook of Domestic Violence Intervention Strategies, “Theorist who advocate this approach believe that abusive situations may be the result of the interaction among personal, situational, social, political, and cultural factors (Roberts, 35). There have been three consistent risk factors for someone to become an abuser. These three include, growing up without a consistent father figure, witnessing domestic violence when they were children, and having been physically or sexually abused (Roberts, 35). An example for the micro system includes drug or alcohol use. An example of a macro system risk factors could include the way society gives a sense of male entitlement or ownership over a woman (Roberts,

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