The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children

Over the years there has been an increase in the rate of domestic violence cases reported. Domestic violence occurs in all regions of the world, religions, financial statuses, ages, genders, cultures, and ethnicities. As children, teens, and young adults grow up in an atmosphere where domestic violence is present, there is a change in their mental, emotional, and physical traits. Children from violent homes have more emotional, behavioral, and psychological problems than those who grow up in nonviolent homes. Some of the psychologic effects can put children at a greater risk of developing anxiety and depression or showing other behaviors such as fighting, bullying, cheating, or lying. They are also disobedient at home and at school, more likely to perform poorly in school, and have problems in society such as fewer relationships with people.

Domestic violence affects children in many ways: behavioral, emotional, mental, and physical. Being physically beaten until a bruise or blood appears is a result of going too far. Domestic violence is not only becoming more prevalent in today's society and is not looked at because it is not spoken out about. Domestic violence must be identified by a certified official, that could be a police officer, judge, or a primary care physician. Not only will confidentiality be maintained, but the certified official will take all legal action to make sure everyone involved will remain safe and have a place to stay while action and legal justice is being taken care of. With not only experiencing pain, hurt, and distrust in a lot of people around the victim, people and society need to be aware and to look out for warning signs on suicide, depression, and anxiety. People who are abused from domestic violence do not have the mental capacity to think for themselves and how to take care of the situation at hand.

People who struggle with depression and anxiety are likely to have sleep effects, eating too little or too much, and will likely feel as if they have no outlet for what is going on. In today's society people can see others struggling with mental disorders and as society is evolving everyday there are less resources for people to reach out. It is also looked at as weak and made fun of or mocked due to others not being informed on what certain disorders effect peoples bodies. Being informed on mental disorders, especially depression and anxiety, will inform those around loved ones experiencing domestic violence on how to help their loved ones around them. With domestic violence being so traumatic for an individual to experience, there is a more likely chance of them experiencing suicide. Suicide is more commonly successful in males than females. This is because females turn to taking pills, cutting, and other forms of violence that are less harsh than males who turn to guns, hanging themselves, and jumping in front of vehicles. This is why death of males from suicide are higher than females.

According to the article that was looked at by Fuller-Thomson, the reader can make a conclusion that suicide is a major deal, not only across the world, but is seen as an outlet for those who experience the regret and mental disturbances that come from domestic violence. Children, young adults, and teenagers who have either experienced domestic violence or who have seen it are more likely to hide in fear of what has happened to them or a loved one. This results in them feeling as if they can no longer trust anyone and if they tell the violence will continue and possibly be worse. The child is then left with a lot of what if questions and they will eventually break down and left to become depressed and possibly suicidal if left unattended. Not only is suicide more common in teenagers and young adults, but males are more prevalent to complete it then females who focus more on cutting and attempting, but not succeeding. Not only does domestic violence affect the mind, but the teenagers and young adults are looking for outlets and people they can trust. With societies mindset being take care of yourself and let others worry about their problems, it is beginning to crumble right in front of us how to solve the problem. Society needs to be there for one another and to carry others through their battles, because some people cannot walk through life without guidance and trust.

Children who are exposed or involved in abusive relationships show signs of behavioral problems that affect their social and emotional interactions. They can often see physical injuries inflicted on the abused by the abuser, furniture being broken out of rage and anger, or overhear arguments which often result in anger, sadness, and frustration. Children who experience any or all of that are more likely to be aggressive and could possibly have psychological problems such as, depression, anxiety, or low self-esteem. Children are often neglected not only by the abusive parent, but also the one who is being abused. They often turn to physical aggression, drugs, alcohol, delinquency, verbal assault, and smoking to fight their problems they are facing at home. Some of the children at school who are the bully will often have hidden secrets of their own which sometimes can be domestic violence. Children who are younger and often think it is funny to mimic their parents can have problems if they experience hurt, distrust, neglect, abuse, and aggression. They can often imitate the abuse, rudeness, and fighting as a sign of behavioral problems. A story from Ain tells about her son and the parent teacher conference she had attended: A teacher came and complained to me that my child had been talking rudely to his friends.

The problem is, his father does the same thing at home whenever we get into a fight. All sorts of harsh words came out of his mouth. I often advise my children to mind their words while talking and not to curse at each other. But I don't know how they behave when I'm not around (Ghani 114). This proves that children will often mimic their parents not knowing right from wrong which will get them not only in trouble, but will often concern the other parent as they have felt they have left their child down. Children can sometimes look to other sources to stop the emotions they are feeling from the abuse. They often look to experiment with alcohol or drugs, will either overeat or not eat enough, and either sleep too much or too little. Self-harm may play a role to numb their feelings as they feel they have no other way to get out of what they are feeling. Behavioral problems are often from neglect, any type of abuse, or from viewing aggressive acts that impacted their social skills. Physical concerns that can erupt due to domestic violence can be bed-wetting, malnourishment, sleep problems, and many other rising concerns can be present. As children's brains are still developing there is a rise in concern for their cognitive and sensory growth. Cognitive learning are the skills the brains uses to read, analyze, learn, think, remember, and pay attention to what is happening around them. When a child's cognitive learning is interrupted, they can often experience problems such as language development, bathroom habits, sleeping, and immatureness. Problems with bed-wetting can occur in children who are around school age which rises concerns because those children have already learned how to use the toilet, but those who experience or are around domestic violence can become detrimental to cognitive skills they have already learned.

Children who are immature experience a social block meaning they do not behave the same way as other children. They are perceived as childish and irresponsible to their peers and families. Children who are not getting enough sleep-in fear of what could happen to them or their parent can become tired throughout the day, during school, and are likely to not have the mental capacity to think or control themselves. They can also experience a language block which means they will begin to fall behind on learning new words and will result to more childish talking. Childish talking includes words such as mama and dada instead of mom and dad. Physical concerns are not only monitored in schools, but are always to keep an eye out for around the world today. Children who act irrationally or uncontrollably often times think they are not doing anything out of the ordinary and are just mimicking one of their parents. Domestic violence does not only raise many concerns around the world today, but is now becoming a social norm that people refuse to acknowledge or report because they think it is normal or feel as if it will not get better if they speak up. Many people do not report domestic violence out of concern for themselves and their loved ones in case they do not get justice.

Many people are frightened by the thought if the abuser does not go to jail then violence will become worse and could possibly result in death. As our justice and legal systems have changed over the years, more people are speaking out for themselves and their loved ones because they know they will be safe in the court process. Not only does domestic violence effect the one being abused, but it has many long-term effects and short-term effects that can follow in children. Not only are some of the effects frightening, but concerns are rising around the world questioning on how to help children. People are speaking out about their stories and helping adults understand how to not only help themselves, but how to be there for their children in this awful predicament. With all the effects children could go though from domestic violence, physical, psychological, emotional, social, behavioral, and developmental consequences, people begin to see the importance of how to help children. This can be taking them to see a psychiatrist or just guiding them through their emotions if the person helping them is stable.

Domestic violence impacts children either short-term or long-term and the outcome of who they are depends on if the help they receive benefits them. Struggling with psychological effects such as anxiety or depression causes eating problems, excessive crying, sleeping problems, and many other consequences that require professional help. Children will need to go through different exercises to help them distress and how to handle with coping through the emotions they are going through. Learning different exercises will help them in different sections, but people do not want them to lose all emotion and pretend that everything is fine when they are not. Those who become numb to what is happening around them will begin to think that their problems are not something to be concerned about and that others around them do not want to take care of their problems because they have problems of their own. Not only do people need to be on the lookout for signs of domestic violence in adults, but be aware of the signs in children as they are the next generation and cannot handle short-term and long-term effects on their own.

Cite this page