The Impact of Domestic Violence on Children's Well-Being
A daughter witnesses domestic abuse in her family, which escalated to the death of her mother, and the suicide of her father. So she pleads with others in domestic violence situations to escape before it is too late. What effect does witnessing domestic violence have on secondary victims, such as the children who live in homes where partner abuse occurs? Although, the awareness about the rate of domestic violence in our society is increasing, the majority of the medical literature to date has focused has only focused on the primary victim and not the secondary victim.
It is estimated that 3.2 million American children witness incidents of domestic violence annually. According to “The Miami Times” magazine in many domestic cases, it is always the children who are the silent witnesses to their parents or guardians pain and suffering. And according to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, 15.5 million children in the past year have seen one incident of domestic violence at east once in the past year and least 7 million of those children lived in families in which severe partner violence occurred.
In this is issue “Medicine and Society” commentary on the adverse effects that children may have when witnessing violence in their home (see p. 2052). Domestic violence is also an ongoing experience of physical, psychological, and/or sexual abuse in the home that is to establish power and control over another person. 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 attempts later in their lives. Dr. Stiles notes that when a child witnesses domestic violence, it can have negative effects including cognitive, behavior and emotional effects. Children who see violence in their home may have the sorts of psychological effects as children who are abused. These children are at greater risk for internalized
It is estimated that 3.2 million American children witness incidents of domestic violence annually. According to “The Miami Times” magazine in many domestic cases, it is always the children who are the silent witnesses to their parents or guardians pain and suffering. And according to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, 15.5 million children in the past year have seen one incident of domestic violence at east once in the past year and least 7 million of those children lived in families in which severe partner violence occurred.
In this is issue “Medicine and Society” commentary on the adverse effects that children may have when witnessing violence in their home (see p. 2052). Domestic violence is also an ongoing experience of physical, psychological, and/or sexual abuse in the home that is to establish power and control over another person. 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 attempts later in their lives. Dr. Stiles notes that when a child witnesses domestic violence, it can have negative effects including cognitive, behavior and emotional effects. Children who see violence in their home may have the sorts of psychological effects as children who are abused. These children are at greater risk for internalized
Citations: Heard, K. "Silent victims: Children often affected by witnessing domestic violence." Miami Times 13 Oct. 2010 Wright, Janis. "A look at domestic violence and children.”American Family Physician 1 DEC. 2002: 2031-2032. Print. Stiles, Melissa M. "Witnessing domestic violence: The effect on children." American Family Physician 1 DEC. 2002 2052-2057. Print. Richards, Linda. Family Violence. Detroit: 2007. Print. Sternberg, Kathleen J, Lamb, Michael E, Greenbaum, Charles, Cicchetti, Dante, and et al. "Effects of domestic violence on children 's behavior problems and depression. " Developmental Psychology 29.1 (1993): 44. Research Library Core, ProQuest. Web. 7 Apr. 2011.