It is estimated that at least 3.3 million children witness physical and verbal spousal abuse each year (Jaffe, Wolfe & Wilson, 1990). In England and Wales, more than 34,000 children attend domestic violence refuges yearly (Rivett et al, 2006). However research on the effects that domestic violence has on children did not appear in the research literature until the 1980’s (Fantuzzo & Mohr, 1999). Witnessing domestic violence does not essentially mean being within visible range of the violence and seeing it occur. Many children describe traumatic events that they have heard but not necessarily seen the actual violence happen (Edleson, 1999). Children can also indirectly witness domestic violence by seeing the effects it may have for example the …show more content…
Effect size was calculated for behavioural, emotional (e.g. depression and anxiety) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) outcome measures. An overall effect size was calculated for each study by taking the average of the behavioural, emotional, PTSD and social problem effects (weighed up by sample size, where relevant). They found that forty of the forty-one effects indicated that exposure to domestic violence has a negative effect on children. To further support this outcome they also found a positive correlation effect between exposure to violence and negative outcomes. The one study found in their meta -analysis that reported a reverse effect from what they expected, Wolfe et al explained it as an ambiguous result (Tannenbaum, Neighbours & Forehand, 1992). When all 27 studies that had samples within a particular developmental stage were compared, the school aged children demonstrated the largest average effect size, followed by pre-schoolers and adolescents. This suggests that the age in which a child is exposed to the domestic violence largely affects the consequences they endure suggesting there is an age vulnerability. They also found emerging evidence for the link between exposure to domestic violence and PTSD in children suggesting that further research should be conducted in …show more content…
depression and anxiety) and externalizing (e.g. Aggression and social withdrawal) behaviours. Evans, Davies, DiLillo (2008) used a meta-analysis to observe the association between childhood exposure to domestic violence and children’s internalizing, externalizing and trauma symptoms. The 60 studies comprised in the meta-analysis produced a total of 61 samples where an effect size was estimated. By limiting studies included in their study to those published after 1990, the methodological excellence of the involved studies was enhanced (Evans, Davies &DiLillo, 2008). They found 58 effect sizes representing the relationship between exposure to domestic violence and internalizing problems, 53 effect sizes representing the relationship between exposure to domestic violence and externalizing problems and six effect sizes linking exposure to domestic violence and trauma symptoms. They found that the mean effect size differed for boys (d=.46) and girls (d=.23) for externalizing problems which shows that boys who have a past of exposure to domestic violence displayed considerably more externalizing symptoms than girls with a comparable history. Additional analysis inspected age, age by gender and recruitment setting variables discovered no significant effects, suggesting that gender is a higher predict of the effects of exposure to domestic violence than
Thornton, Victoria. “Understanding the Emotional Impact of Domestic Violence on Young Children." Educational & Child Psychology, Mar2014, Vol. 31 Issue 1, p90-100, 11p, 3 Black and White Photographs, 1 Diagram; found on p95
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
Making an Impact – Children and Domestic Violence – A Reader second edition, Marianne Hester, Chris Pearson, Nicola Harwin and Hilary Abrahams
... 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.
Gewirtz, A., & Edleson, J. (2007). Young Children’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence: Towards a Developmental Risk and Resilience Framework for Research and Intervention. Journal of Family Violence, 22(3), 151-163
“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 throughout 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 homes are more likely to experience aggression and antisocial behaviors as well as depression.... ... middle of paper ...
There exists a vast amount of literature that suggests that there is a connection between intimate partner violence and maladaptive outcomes for children. Studies have shown that children who witness violence undermines the children’s sense of security. Intimate partner violence (IPV) proves to be distressing and deregulating for the children victims of intimate partner violence. Not only is witnessing violence distressing for children but is also been shown that it can interfere with the deal with stressors and learn age-appropriate skills. While there have been many studies to show the effects of IPV on the development of children, there have not been studies that show how IPV can affect children’s memory skills.
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
Children today are likely to experience or witness violence at home. Researchers are concerned about the effect domestic violence has on children, and has prompted researchers to conduct an increasing number of investigations into this issue. Social learning theory and Erikson's theory of basic trust are two tools used to predict aggressive behavior in children.
Holt, S., Buckley, H., & Whelan, S. J. (2008). The impact of exposure to domestic violence on children and young people: A review of the literature. Child Abuse and Neglect, 32, 797-810.
Lundy, M., & Grossman, S. F. (2005). The mental health and service needs of young children exposed to domestic violence: Supportive data. Families in Society, 86(1), 17-29. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/230168631?accountid=10825
In the article “The Mental Health of Children Who Witness Domestic Violence”, Meltzer et al. (2009) noted that domestic violence is not only limited to seeing the actual violent acts taking place, but it also includes witnessing the outcomes of the violence. These outcomes can include seeing their parent hurt and depressed, as well as noticing the broken objects left around the house. As well as defining domestic violence, Meltzer et al. (2009) discussed the steps that were taken to conduct a random research on families and children that had been exposed to domestic violence and those who had not. The researchers identified...
Another leading cause of PTSD most commonly found in this day and age in people is neglect. With all the technology running our planet today and social media, cheating and neglect of important relationships occur quite often. Social media enables people to cheat without even knowing or realizing it as well as takes away precious time you have with the people whom are surrounding you at that moment. Also neglect can occur when violence transpires within the home and can have very serious effects on the ones in the household. “Neglect may be co-morbid with witnessing family violence. In the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, the first nationally representative study of children referred to the child welfare system (Burns et al., 2004), high rates of domestic violence were reported (Hazen et al., 2004). In a twin study of 1116 families of monozygotic and dizygotic 5 year old twin pairs, children exposed to high levels of domestic violence had IQs that were on average 8 points lower than unexposed children (Koenen et
When a child witnesses domestic abuse it can have many different effects on the child. From my research I found that one of the most common effects on the child were mental health problems. In one study, conducted in New Zealand, young people that reported high levels of exposure to inter-parental violence had elevated rates of mental health problems (Fergusson & Horwood, 1998, p.1). Some of the least severe mental health problems included anxiety, inability to focus, and nightmares (Brescoll & Graham-Bermann, 2000, p.2). But these problems, which appear to be less severe, can also be the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Brescoll & Graham-Bermann, 2000, p.2). In a study conducted in 2001 the results indicated that higher levels of symptoms indicative of post traumatic stress were associated with children who have witnessed domestic violence (Hill & Nabors & Reynolds & Wallace & Weist, 2001, p.1). ?Children who have witnessed domestic violence are more likely to develop symptoms associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; that is, high levels of an...
Violence is displayed everywhere in society through media like entertainment, in their schools and communities, and within their homes. It is difficult to imagine living in a world without some sort of violence due to it being so prevalent in society. Many children have been exposed to violence in their own homes or have become victims leaving detrimental short and long term effects. There are three forms of domestic violence in the homes. They are physical, sexual, emotional abuse. People often think of domestic violence as having bruises or a broken arm, but in reality it is an occurrence that happens repeatedly over a period of time. One study concluded “children in domestic violence shelters found that almost half their mothers had