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Intimate partner violence and its effects on children
Intimate partner violence and its effects on children
Intimate partner violence and its effects on children
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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.
When looking at children who are 5 years old and younger there have been indications that IPV can negatively affect a child’s memory development. A large part of the development of working memory, long term memory and strategies for remembering information occurs in the preschool years of children. Due to the little amount of literature on how family situations can affect a child’s memory development it is not clear as to how great of a role IPV can have on a child. However there is a small amount of information that seems to indicate that IPV causes children to be so concerned with their safety that it interferes with their attentional skills. The children who then develop attention problems have problems with encoding information and their working memory performance. Researchers, in attempt to gather more information on this matter, began a longitudinal study that would be used to attempt to find more information about the link between IPV and memory.
The focus of the test was on IPV that was occurring around chil...
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...ers were able to come to the conclusion that the violent relationship of the parents was linked to the children‘s memory skills. The study helped to determine that IPV does have a negative impact on the children’s’ working memory so it is important that programs are designed to help children overcome the negative effects that IPV has on the children’s short-term memory, working memory performance and deliberate memory strategies. While the study did help to support previous studies it also has its flaws. The main problems the study has was that the research was mainly correlational and not all possibilities were considered, and only information taken from the mother was taken into account.
Works Cited
Gustafsson, Hanna C., et al. "Intimate Partner Violence And Children’S Memory." Journal Of Family Psychology 27.6 (2013): 937-944. PsycARTICLES. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.
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
This paper will explore those effects and how it affects children. Exposure to violence in the first years of life brings about helplessness and terror, which can be attributed to the lack of protection received by the parent. The child can no longer trust their parent as a protector (Lieberman 2007). This lack of trust early in life can bring about serious problems later in life, as there is no resolution to the first psychosocial crisis, trust vs. mistrust. For these children exposed to domestic violence, the imaginary monsters that children perceive are not only symbolic representations or a dream.
Infantile amnesia has been studied by many researchers without a concrete answer. The topic has been a significant and mysterious topic not only in the field of research, but also in media such as the film, Baby Geniuses. While there is a more complex story line to the movie, it discusses the idea of infantile amnesia and gives its own perspective as to what occurs during the first couple years of a child’s life. While the movie initiated the thesis behind the essay, the study conducted by researchers Tiffany West and Patricia Bauer aim to explain the differences in early and later memories in hopes of finding an answer to infantile amnesia. The results indicate that there may be a connection between infantile amnesia and Piaget’s stages of
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.
In the course of child development, a multitude of factors have severe ramifications on the child’s future. These factors are either categorized as risk or protective, based on the positive or negative benefits that are derived from each. Risk factors exist as potentially mal-adaptive behavior profile variables that influence or interfere with a child’s competency to thrive in their environment. Protective factors, on the other hand, create positive influences on development by negating effects of various risk factors. Both risk and protective factors exist in a variety of forms. Genetic, biological, psychological, familial, and social-cultural influences can be seen on each side. Not only do they exist in a variety of forms, but their abilities also depend on contextual situations such as age, gender, and environmental conditions. It is important to look at these factors when determining norms in developmental pathways or observing deviances, which could explain future behavioral problems. On a superficial level, the amalgamation of risk and protective factors could create predictable outcomes in the behavioral, emotional, and social stability of an individual. Adequate preventative measures to increase resilience in a child with many risk factors, could lead to sufficient buffering of these potentially harmful variables. From a psychologist’s perspective, it is vital to understand risk factors and protective factors to better understand and aid patients who may show preemptive signs of future developmental problems.
Megan R. Holmes discusses Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and the effects it has on children. She starts her article by stating that one in seven men and one in four women have experienced IPV, and the households with female victims show that thirty-eight percent have children under the age of twelve living there. References Holmes, M. R. (2013). The sleeper effect of intimate partner violence exposure: long-term consequences on young children's aggressive behavior. Journal Of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 54(9), 986-995 Katz, C. (2014).
The outcomes of domestic violence on women are more commonly documented, but we know far less about how domestic violence impacts the children of those relationships. Many women in the United States that are affected by domestic violence try to make sure their children are not harmed by the people who hurt them. There is no denying that children who are abused experience a lot of pain. However, children who are witnesses to the abuse are also affected. Children who see their mothers being beaten could develop real issues later in life.
These children often show signs of emotional distress and immature behavior at a very young age. These symptoms might affect thei...
A fundamental aspect of human memory is that the more time elapsed since an event, the fainter the memory becomes. This has been shown to be true on a relatively linear scale with the exception of our first three to four years of life (Fitzgerald, 1991). It is even common for adults not to have any memory before the age of six or seven. The absence of memory in these first years has sparked much interest as to how and why it happens. Ever since Freud (1916/1963) first popularized the phenomenon there have been many questions and few robust empirical studies. Childhood amnesia is defined as the period of life from which no events are remembered (Usher & Neisser, 1993) beginning at birth and ending at the onset of your first memories. The implications of why this occurs are important for the understanding of how our memory system develops and the memory formation process. Research Limitations: There have been many hypothesized causes for childhood amnesia but very little strong evidence to support them. This problem arises out of the difficulty of obtaining reliable information pertaining to this area of study. Research is only as good as the information used. Most studies have used adult participants who are asked to report their earliest memories and the date. There are several factors contributing to the unreliability of this data. In a self-report method, people often have difficulty pinpointing what their earliest memory is and even more difficulty getting an accurate date. Verification of the memories is also a problem since it is nearly impossible to design and conduct a study that observes the initial experience to compare with the subsequent recall. The experience reported by a participant can often be...
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is historically referred to as domestic violence. It describes a pattern of coercive and assaultive behavior that may include psychological abuse, progressive isolation, sexual assault, physical injury, stalking, intimidation, deprivation, and reproductive coercion among partners (The Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF), 1999). IPV leads to lifelong consequences such as lasting physical impairment, emotional trauma, chronic health problems, and even death. It is an issue effecting individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality or educational background. Eighty-five percent of domestic violence victims are women (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2003). More than one in three women in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime (The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2012). Thirty to sixty percent of perpetrators tend to also abuse children in the household (Edelson, 1999). Witnessing violence between parents or caretakers is considered the strongest risk factor of transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the next (Break the Cycle, 2006).
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.
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...
...tumps them and studies and research is still being conducted in order to gain more insight into this quizzical case. But in order to understand the correlation between age and eidetic memory, one can look at the causes as three different theories. The first theory is the Linguistic theory, the idea that as children mature, their language skills help them perceive information. The second theory is one dealing with functionalism. The idea is that over time, the child’s brain learns to retain only significant bits of information and discard unnecessary ones. And the last theory deals with association. As one matures, one learns to associate their different senses in order to process information. In all, each theory takes credence, because one provides a thoughtful and logical explanation as to why children rely less and less on visual imagery to build their memory.
Lemmey, D., McFarlane, J., Willson, P., Malecha, A. (2001). Intimate partner violence: mother’s perspectives of effects on their children. The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 26(2), 98-103.