The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children

Children are negatively impacted by the surrounding of domestic violence in multiple ways, in which need to be identified.

The audience that needs to be aware of domestic abuse’s effects on children is adults that care for children; such as pediatricians, teachers, counselors, and parents. The issue that needs to be addressed is the negative effects on children involved in a domestic violence situation. Many people can see how abuse can affect a child, however many of those people do nothing about it.What causes children to negatively be affected by the surroundings of domestic abuse? According to Long Term Effects of Domestic Violence, “the children are also affected in both overt and subtle ways”. (Stewart, 2012). Sometimes children feel guilt when they are unable to protect the one being abused.

What also may lead to hurt is when children witness yelling, pushing, or hitting. This type of hurt can lead to confusion, stress, fear, shame, or blaming themself for the problem. These causes then affect children in ways which have been stated by Stewart.Families where a mother is abused are at a higher risk of child abuse by 6 to 15 times.

When these children witness abuse, they are more likely to develop emotional problems. Angela Browne had stated that, “boys who witness their fathers’ abuse of their mothers are more likely to inflict severe violence as adults. Data suggest that girls who witness maternal abuse may tolerate abuse as adults more than girls who do not”. (Browne, 1987). Also, drug and alcohol abuse is a higher risk for these children.Interviews by Maria Roy, with children in battered women’s shelters, “85% of children have stayed twice with friends or relatives because of the violence, and 75% over the age of 15 had run away at least twice”.

(Roy, 1988). These children may experience emotional problems, difficulty of making friends, have fear of adults, depression, excessive absences, use violence for solving problems at school, runaway, suicidal, criminal activity, difficulty sleeping, bed wetting, over-achieving, behavior problems, withdrawal, stomach aches, headaches, and/or diarrhea. Stewart, 2012).Obviously, domestic abuse has some serious effects, but how can this large problem be resolved? In 1992, the Boston Medical Center is the founder of the Child Witness to Violence Project (CWVP).

Their goal is to provide therapy services to children who had been exposed to violence in the community. A vast majority of people that have been referred to this program are children that have been exposed to domestic violence.The CWVP provide many services for children and other family members to help with the healing process caused by domestic violence, as well as, working with other community agencies in helping families find safety. This program is one way of supporting people of domestic violence.

There are many other avenues out there to help battered women and their children relate to the effects of domestic violence. Domestic violence needs to be treated as a crime. Societal values need to be reinforced to encourage men and women to be non-violent.Children also need to be taught about non-violent conflict resolutions at a very early age. If you do come across a child that is in this situation, report this situation to the police and show any injuries to them.

Make sure to document any signs of abuse and contact the child’s parents. Many of the professionals and parents that deal with the effects that abuse has on children everyday may wonder where they can get access to information on helping this situation as well as how that information may be useful to them.Since they are in direct contact with children and are an authority, they definitely need to be aware of the signs of domestic abuse and the effects that abuse has on children as well as where to report an incident. There are many community-based domestic violence programs that have been providing services to the children who have been involved in cases of domestic violence. There are other programs providing trauma treatment and social support to help the exposed children and their families. As for where to report an incident or a concern, the police office is a very good option.

It is important that any incident that happens or any concern that approaches must be documented for future reference. A child’s safety is the most important aspect of this issue that is at hand. Children are negatively impacted by the surrounding of domestic violence in multiple ways, in which need to be identified. This is a continuing problem that still affects many children today. Hopefully, many professionals and parents are more aware of the signs and effects of abuse that children show, so they are able to take control of the situation.