Using Peled ( 1993 )

This assignment will describe the forms of abuse which may be experienced by adults; describing indicators that abuse may be happening to adults. It will then look at factors that may lead to abusive situations and assess the possible immediate effects of two different forms of abuse. The abuse that will be specifically looked at will be sexual and financial abuse, further extending by evaluating the potential long term effects of the two types of abuse.

Domestic violence is a widespread sociological problem wherein women and children are most often the victims. This sociological problem is compounded by the fact that so much domestic violence goes under-reported, whether against women or children. Domestic violence may take a wide range of forms and may include a variant combination of battery, sexual abuse, verbal abuse or general violence. Targets of such behaviors may include a spouse, child or both. For the purposes of this research, there will be an interest in noting the impact on children who are exposed to violence both directly as the victims of abuse or indirectly as witnesses to spousal abuse. In either instance, the same findings are anticipated. Namely, the primary thesis driving the

Mullender et al. (2002) highlighted the fact that although most children manage to remain strong throughout the violence, their mothers were highly aware of the psychological and behavioural consequences it had had upon their children, such as being left with a trauma disorder (Chemtob and Carlson, 2004) along the lines of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (McCloskey and Walker, 2000). Whilst the children were able to display large amounts of ingenuity and adaptability, many children showed signs of being “withdrawn; fearful and anxiety; nightmares and disturbed sleep; becoming overly compliant or aggressive” Mullender et al. (2002, pg 78), with Thiara (2010) acknowledging that ‘selective mutism’ was another common effect that domestic violence had upon children. It was also observed that the children who dealt the least well were the ones where they have experienced longer term violence, where there was a “severe depletion of the mother’s physical and emotional resources” (Mullender et al., 2002, pg 94) and where the family had moved house many times.

Violence in any form can have a lasting effect on a person. Children who witness violence are permanently scarred because of what they are seeing. Children who witness family or domestic violence are affected in ways similar to children who are physically abused. Children are often unable to establish nurturing bonds with either parent and are at a greater risk for abuse and neglect if he or she lives in a violent home. Statistics show that an estimated 3.3 million children are exposed to violence against their mothers or female caretakers by family members in their home each year (Ackerman & Pickering, 1989). When a spouse, woman or male is abused, and there are

Domestic violence perpetrators that become involved in the criminal justice system are overwhelmingly male offenders between the ages of 18 and 35 years old. Data from studies conducted in the United States have revealed that a significant amount of male abusers have had some type of previous contact with the criminal justice system. It should be noted that this contact includes positive and negative encounters. Since abusers come from all walks of life, they can be respected law-abiding members of their communities or unpopular individuals with a criminal history. There are no set standards or explicit personality traits that wholly identify abusers. However, researchers have identified certain indicators and risk factors that may predispose one to become an abuser (U.S. Department of Justice, 2009).

Next comes the phase of violence, which is characterized by hitting, slapping, kicking, choking, the use of objects or weapons, verbal threats or abuse, and sexual abuse. The final phase that sets the individuals up for the cycle to continue is the honeymoon phase. The honeymoon phase is noted by calm and apologetic demeanor. The individuals tend to go through denial about the abusive behavior, come up with excuses, and make promises about future behavior. While it is important to know how professionals define dating violence, it is also pivotal that those in the helping professions also have an understanding of how the teens themselves view the violence that occurs in their relationships. According to one study teens define abuse according to the context, intent, and actual harm caused (O’Keefe, 2005). In another study teens actually reported that in situations where revenge, retaliation, or prevention of face loss was the reason for the abusive behavior, the violence was justified (Sears, Byers, Whelan, & Saint-Pierre, 2006, p 1197). In the same study individuals reported that they also took into consideration whether the act was a result of their partner “just kidding” or a demonstration of their caring for their partner. Not only do definitions of interpersonal violence vary across the board, but they also vary significantly between males and females. Males and females have very different views as to what the purpose of

The purpose of this study is to see whether or not domestic violence causes a damaging affect on children. The study will included criminal justice students in College and the age range will be between 18 and 23 years old. The method is qualitative and will be an interview.

Research conducted in the United States of America clearly identifies an interaction between victim age and abuse characteristics (USDHHS, 2003). There exists a negative correlation between the onset and prevalence of physical neglect and victim age, for instance, indicative of a young child's dependency upon the caregiver for supervision and nurture (Mash & Wolfe, 2005). The incidence of physical and emotional abuse is also most prominent during developmental periods of independence, specifically the early, pre-school and adolescent transitional stages of development (ibid). Sexual abuse has prevailed most consistently, however, from an onset of age 3 throughout childhood, highlighting the vulnerability of children across the age-spectrum (ibid). Nevertheless, victim gender is emphasised as an influential variable within the incidence and nature of sexual abuse; for females have accounted for up to 80% of reported victims and are more likely to be abused by male family members in contrast to male victims, where the perpetrator of abuse is more likely to be a non-family male offender (USDHHS, 2003; Berliner & Elliott, 2002).

Groves, B.M. (1999). Mental Health Services for Children Who Witness Domestic Violence. The Future of Children, 9(3), 122-132.

Emotional abuse can cause serious burdens on society. Emotional abuse has a significant cost in educational and societal failures, crime, and health care costs (Hibbard, Barlow, & MacMillan, 2012) Pediatricians need to be alert and trained in recognizing emotional maltreatment of children. This can be a very difficult task for pediatricians. Learning to interview children when they are developmentally ready is an important skill which can be critical in detecting emotional abuse. Children who have been emotionally abused have higher rates of psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and aggression. Providers need to be cognizant of risk factors that may indicate a greater risk for emotional abuse. Some of the risk factors were parental psychiatric illness, depression, and substance

Cummings continues to talk about the long term psychological effects that domestic violence can have adolescence. “They[researchers] were curious to learn more about what stresses might be most strongly correlated with the child's diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. They found two factors to be the strongest predictors: a history of sexual abuse and witnessing chronic domestic violence. In fact, exposure to domestic violence seemed to be more harmful overall” (Groves 189). This statement alone shows that exposure to domestic

(Brescoll & Graham-Bermann, 2000, p.2). Another mental health problem that children who have witnessed domestic violence experience is adjustment problems. There appears to be a wide spread belief that children who witness violence between their parents are at a greater risk of later adjustment difficulties that may include behavior problems (Fergusson & Horwood, 1998, p.3). Young people reporting high levels of exposure to inter-parental violence had elevated rates of adjustment problems by age eighteen (Fergusson & Horwood, 1998, p.1). It is suggested that there are elevated rates of behavioral, emotional, and other problems in children exposed to inter-parental violence (Fergusson & Horwood, 1998, p.3). There seems little doubt that children reared in homes characterized by inter-parental violence were at greater risk of later adjustment difficulties as young adults (Fergusson & Horwood, 1998, p.11). It is quite apparent that there is a link between the witnessing of domestic violence and the mental health problems of the children who witness it.

In order to conduct the research, twenty-nine children and their families were selected from 426 different areas within England, Wales and Scotland. Some parents refused to take part in the research, while 76% agreed to be interviewed (Meltzer et al. 2009). The research that was organized determined that the violence affects different age groups and sexes in different ways.

In introduction this paper is going discuss, based on psychological theories, what impact and effects witnessing domestic violence can have on children. The purpose of this paper is to further an understanding on explaining its consequences based on a few psychological theories. It will begin with defining what domestic violence in order to get a clear indication on what it actually involves and further presenting a sample papers studying the question, on its impact and effect, it is suggested to have on children, in order to produce a paper with both high validity and reliability. Then moving onto presenting various psychological theories which on could considered relevant to the topic in question. By further engaging in a discussion in attempt to highlight and acknowledge several aspects regarding its consequences.