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Effect of abuse on child development
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The Effects of Domestic Violence on Child Behavior
The United States Department of Health and Human Services found parents and other caretakers mistreat 900,000 children in the case of child abuse (as cited in Moylan et al., 2010). Children can be abused directly or indirectly. Indirect abuse can be exposure to violence enacted by the mother or father towards each other (Baldry, 2007). As for direct abuse, this can include physical, sexual or psychological abuse done personally to the child. Research conducted by Jaffe, Sudermann, & Reitzel, and McDonald & Jouriles, shows that children growing up in a family that displays violence are at increased risk behavior problems (as cited in Jouriles, Norwood, McDonald, Vincent, & Mahoney, 1996).
“Numerous studies, done by Herrenkohl et al., Stenberg et al., and Wolfe et al., have demonstrated that children exposed to domestic violence and/or child abuse are more likely to experience a wide range of hostile psychosocial and behavioral outcomes” (as cited in Moylan et al., 2010). According to Putnam, abusive children can become harmful to others, attempt to harm themselves or commit suicide, or become depressed, compared to non-abused children (as cited in Baldry, 2007). The pressure of being physically abused can put a toll on a child’s life. The subject of abuse is not something people just bring up into conversations and the child might to afraid to talk to someone about it. Some children might feel that taking their own life would be the best way to get away from the situation.
Parents are not always aware of what they do effects their children. Some “mothers tend to underestimate the amount of violence their children have been exposed to” (Baldry, 2007). Parents might th...
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...ed by peers?. Swiss Journal of Psychology/Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Psychologie/Revue Suisse de Psychologie. Vol.65(2), 107-116.
Moylan, C. A., Herrenkohl, T. I., Sousa, C., Tajima, E.A., Herrenkohl, R. C., & Russo, M. J. (2010). The effects of child abuse and exposure to domestic violence on adolescent internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Journal Of Family Violence, 25(1), 53-63.
Sternberg, K. J., Lamb, M. E., Greenbaum, C., Cicchetti, D., Dawud, S., Cortes, R. M., Krispin, O., & Lorey, F. (1993). Effects of domestic violence on children's behavior problems and depression. Developmental Psychology. Vol.29 (1), 44-52.
Wolfe, D. A., Jaffe, P., Wilson, S. K., & Zak, L. (1985). Children of battered women: The relation of child behavior to family violence and maternal stress. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Vol.53 (5), 657-665
Stanley, J., Gannon, J., Gabuat, J., Hartranft, S., Adams, N., Mayes, C., Shouse, G. M.,
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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
Timpano, K. R., Keough, M. E., Mahaffey, B., Schmidt, N. B., & Abramowitz, J. (2010).
Kobau, R., Zack, M. M., Manderscheid, R., Palpant, R. G., Morales, D. S., Luncheon, C., et al.
Ornstein, R., Rosen, D., Mammel, K., Callahan, S., Forman, S., Jay, M., Fisher, M., Rome, E., &
Zosuls, K. M., Ruble, D. N., Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Shrout, P. E., Bornstein, M. H., & Greulich,
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.
Duley, S. M., Cancelli, A. A., Kratochwill, T. R., Bergan, J. R., & Meredith, K. E. (1983).
How does domestic violence between parents and parental figures affect the children who witness it? This is a question often asked by Sociologists and Psychologists alike. There have been studies that prove that children who witness domestic inter-parental violence experience mental health problems, issues with gender roles, substance abuse, the committing of crimes and suicide/suicide attempts later in their lives. This paper will explore all five of these 'effects' of domestic violence on children and show that there is evidence of a clear relationship in which increasing parental violence is associated with increasing outcome risks (Fergusson & Horwood, 1998, p.8).
Child abuse is a social problem in America that has many contributed factors. Factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect includes poverty, divorce, substance use, lack of education, stress due to unemployment, mental health issues, teenage parent, and a history of child abuse in the family. It took decades for physicians to conclude that parents have been violently assaulting their children. Child abuse, child labor, juvenile delinquency, and similar social questions historically were ethical and moral problems, not strictly medical ones. (Helfer, Kempe, & Krugman, 1997). In 1962, the Journal of American Medical Association published “The Battered-Child Syndrome.” The article transformed society’s views and dates the rediscovery of child abuse as a social problem. Following this article, the U.S. Children’s Bureau adopted the first laws mandating physicians to report any suspicions of abuse and neglect to the police or child welfare. By 1974, some 60,000 cases were reported. In 1980, the number exceeded one million (Myers J. E., 2004).
When the topic of abuse comes up, many different forms of abuse pop into individuals heads. Whether its Physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse or even drug abuse, the list just keeps going. Now take all those different forms abuse and imagine them happening in a family. A father physically abusing his children, a mother verbally berating her daughter about her body image, a child growing up in fear. According to the research by David Wolfe in the Journal of Consulting and clinical Psychology, that the number of children that have suffered a physical injury due to physical abuse is between 1.4 and 1.9 million annually. With such a high number of physical abuse happening to children, one can imagine how high the number of all the
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