Domestic Violence and The Child Well being

Domestic Violence and The Child Well being

國立東華大學

諮商與臨床心理學系

Nadia Merlin

Children as Silent Victims

     Home is supposed to be a safe heaven for children. Children have a right to grow up in safe environment. They should feel that those they love are also protected. They need a sense of routine and stability. Home can be a place of comfort, help, and support for children when things go wrong in outside world (Behind closed doors: The impact of domestic violence, 2006). Domestic violence affects every member of the family, including the children. However, the children who become witness of violence between adults in their homes are only recent victims. These children have been called as the silent victims of domestic violence (Edleson, 1999).

     Some parents may think that their children are unaware of the violence and the extent of it. They also think that their children may actually have not seen anything.  In fact, children are usually far more aware than parents likely to believe (Strene & Polle, 2010). They see actual incidents of physical and sexual abuse. They hear the threats or fighting noises from another room. Children may also observe the aftermath of physical abuse such as blood, bruises, tears, torn clothing, and broken items. Finally children may be aware of the tension in the home such as their mother’s fearfulness (The effect of domestic violence, 2008). Children who grow up in a violent home are more likely to be a victim of child abuse. Domestic violence seriously impacts the children in physical and psychological aspect (Fantuzzo & Mohr, 1999).

Definition of Domestic Violence

    Domestic violence or intimate partner violence is a pattern of purposeful coercive behaviors that may include inflicted physical injury, psychological abuse, sexual assault, progressive social isolation, stalking, deprivation, intimidation and threats (Groves, Augustyn, Lee, Sawires, 2004). Behind closed doors: The impact of domestic violence (2006) defined domestic violence as a pattern of an assaultive and coercive behavior including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks as well as economic coercion used by adults against their current or former intimate partners. United Kingdom government (quoted by Strene & Polle, 2010, p. 3) defined domestic violence as any incident of threatening behavior or abuse between adults who have a relationship. Stiles (2002) defined domestic violence as an ongoing experience of physical, psychological, and/or sexual abuse in the home that is used to establish power and control over another person. Therefore, domestic violence is defined as a pattern of coercive behavior which including physical, sexual, financial, and psychological aspects between adults who are having intimate relationship.

Types of Domestic Violence

     There are four types of domestic violence (Strene & Polle, 201 &Groves, Augustyn, Lee, Sawires, 2004). The first one is physical abuse such as slapping, beating, arm twisting, stabbing, strangling, burning,choking, kicking, threats with an object or weapon, and murder. It also includes traditionalpractices that harmful to women such as female genital mutilation.The physical abuse is usually accompanied by psychological abuse and sexual assault.

     The second one is sexual abuse such as coerced sex through threats, intimidation or physical force, forcingunwanted sexual acts or forcing sex with others. Sexual abuse and rape by an intimate partneris not considered a crime in most countries. In many societies, women do not consider forced sex as rape if they are married or cohabiting with the perpetrator. The assumption is that once a woman goes into a contract of marriage, the husband has the right to unlimited sexual access to his wife.

     The third one is psychological abuse which includes behavior that is intended to intimidate andpersecute, and takes the form of threats of abandonment or abuse, confinement to thehome, surveillance, threats to take away custody of the children, destruction of objects, isolation, verbal aggression and constant humiliation. The last one is economic abuse includes acts such as the denial of funds, refusal to contributefinancially, denial of food and basic needs, and controlling access to health care and, employment.

Domestic Violence as a Traumatic Event for Children

     Traumatic stress is produced by exposure to events which are so extreme or severe and threatening, that they demand extraordinary coping efforts. The events are often unpredictable and uncontrollable. The traumatic stress makes a person feel unsafe and unsecure (Volpe, 1996). Domestic violence can include physical or emotional aggression, and involve at least one family member as a victim and another as a perpetrator. The actions vary widely in severity, from minor aggression (e.g., pushing, shoving, slapping) to death of a family member. Moreover, the physical and psychological impact of specific aggressive acts varies not only by severity but also by size and developmental status of the recipient. For instance, shaking can be fatal to a young infant, but it is unlikely to injure an adolescent. For some children, domestic violence leads to one parent leaving, an out-of-home placement for the children, or temporary relocation with their mother and siblings to a domestic violence shelter. Their normal everyday activities always disrupted by domestic violence (Margorlin & Vikerman, 2007).

     Terr (quoted by Volpe, 1996) has divided traumatic events into two types, type I and type II. Traumatic exposure may take the form of single, short-term event (e.g., rape, assault, severe beating) and can be referred to as type I trauma. Traumatic events can also involve repeated or prolonged exposure (e.g., chronic victimization such as child sexual abuse, battering); this is referred to as type II trauma. This type of traumatic event tends to have greater impact on the individual's functioning. Domestic violence is typically ongoing and therefore, may fit the criteria for a type II traumatic event.

     Children consider domestic violence as a type of war zone. They feel that they can predict the time, but the event of domestic violence is unexpected sometimes. They are always on guard, watching and waiting for the next event to occur. This makes them to have a sense of danger and uncertainty. Children’s experiences of intense physical child abuse and domestic violence are quite similar in their overwhelmingly intense affective and physiological reactions.From an attachment perspective, the children are likely to respond with disorganized attachment. The children are in an irresolvable situation (Hesse & Main, 2006). Moreover, the non-offending parent may not be able to offer security if she herself is threatened or victimized. Therefore, children who live with family violence cannot rely on home as a safe base when threats of repeating violence are happening (Margorlin & Vikerman, 2007).

Effect of Domestic Violence on Children

Children are exposed to experience domestic violence in many ways. They may hear one parent threaten the other, observe a parent who is out of control or reckless with anger, see one parent assault the other, or live with the aftermath of a violent assault. Many children are affected by hearing threats to the safety of their caregiver, regardless of whether it results in physical injury or not. Children who live with domestic violence are also at increased risk to become direct victims of child abuse. Those children who are non direct victims have the same psychological and physiological problem as children who are abused themselves. Therefore, children who exposed to domestic violence are at risk for dysfunction in one or more of the following domains: (a) cognitive, (b) behavioral, (c) social, (d) emotional, and (e) physical (Kolbo, Blakely, Engleman, 1996).

   In cognitive domain, the cognitive symptoms in children who exposed to violence include over estimations about danger, preoccupied worry, and intrusive thoughts about the safety of oneself and other family members. Attempts to modulate these cognitive symptoms can result in efforts either to minimize the impact of new information (slower processing of incoming information)or to maximize new information (maintaining a state of preparedness and vigilance). If these cognitive reactions lead to difficulties in concentration and decision-making, they can have serious consequences for the children’s ability to function in school (Rossman quoted by Margorlin & Vikerman, 2007). Therefore, children who exposed to domestic violence either directly or non-directly tend to have low academic performance.

  In behavioral, social, and emotional domains, children who exposed to domestic violence exhibit more aggressive and antisocial (externalized behaviors) as well as fearful and inhibited behaviors (internalized behaviors). They also have lower social competence than other children. The children's exposure to adult domestic violence may generate attitudes justifying their own use of violence. The boys who had been exposed to family violence believed that acting aggressively enhances one's reputation or self-image. Boys and girls appear to differ in what they learn from these experiences. The boys who witnessed domestic abuse were significantly more likely to approve of violence than girls who had also witnessed it. Children who are exposed to domestic violence were also found to show more anxiety, self-esteem, depression, anger, and temperament problems than children who did not exposed violence at home. Children from homes where their mothers were being abused have shown less skill in understanding how others feel and examining situations from others' perspectives when compared to children from non-violent households (Edleson, 1997).

 In physical domain, sensory experiences associated with trauma events are closely intertwined with physiological reactions and alterations in biological stress systems. Repeated neural activitation due to trauma exposure can alter the quantity and quality of neurotransmitter release. Prolonged stress due to family violence exposure and sexual abuse has been linked to chemical changes, such as higher levels of nor-epinephrine, dopamine, epinephrine and cortisol. Elevations in adrenalin and noradrenalin prepare the body for quick action, through increased heart rate and blood flow, but also increase agitation and perhaps decrease attention. Over prolonged exposure, the body regulates arousal by decreasing the number of receptors for arousal.Children’s brains are still developing, so that they are particularly vulnerable to negative effects of periods of over-activation or under-activation in their neurodevelopment (Mohr & Fantuzzo, 2000). Besides that, the children tend to have poor personal hygiene, eating problems, and sleeping problem. It is happen because their parent does not pay attention to them.  The children sometimes have psychosomatic complaint in order to get their parent’s attention

Effect of Domestic Violence Based on Age Span Differences

     The potential negative effects vary across the age span. In infants from homes with partner abuse, the child's needs for attachment may be disrupted. More than 50 percent of these infants cry excessively and have eating and sleeping problems. Infants are also at a significantly increased risk for physical injury (Volpe, 1996; Stiles, 2002).

     Preschool-aged children who witness intimate violence may develop a range of problems, including psychosomatic complaints such as headaches and abdominal pain. They also can display regressive behaviors such as enuresis, thumb sucking, and sleep disturbances. During the preschool years, children will turn to their parents for protection and stability, but these needs are often disrupted in families with partner abuse. The dangerous circumstances of home life make the children cannot develop a sense of trust or security. It has found that children exposed to domestic violence may respond to adult anger with greater distress and increases in aggression directed at peers. Increased anxiety around strangers and behaviors such as whining, crying, and clinging may occur. Nighttime problems such as insomnia are more frequent in this age group. Children in this age group who have witnessed domestic violence also may show signs of terror, manifested by yelling, irritability, hiding, and stuttering (Volpe, 1996; Stiles, 2002).

     School age children do not understand the meaning of the abuse they observe and tend to believe that they must have done something wrong. Self-blame can precipitate feelings of guilt, worry, and anxiety. It is important to consider that children, especially younger children, typically do not have the ability to adequately express their feelings verbally. Consequently, the manifestations of these emotions are behavioral problems. Children may become withdrawn, non-verbal, and exhibit regressed behaviors such as clinging and whining. School-aged children more likely have the same problems with the preschool age children such as eating and sleeping difficulty, concentration problems, generalized anxiety, poor school performance, and psychosomatic complaints. They are less likely to have many friends or participate in outside activities (Volpe, 1996; Stiles, 2002).

     The pre-adolescent child typically has greater ability to externalize negative emotions such as to verbalize negative emotion. The victims within this age group may show a loss of interest in social activities, low self-concept, withdrawal or avoidance of peer relations, rebelliousness, and oppositional-defiant behavior in the school setting. The aggression behaviors are more obvious and heavy such as temper tantrums, irritability, frequent fighting at school or between siblings, lashing out at objects, treating pets cruelly or abusively, threatening of peers or siblings with violence, and attempts to gain attention through hitting, kicking, or choking peers and family members. Whereas, the girls are more likely to exhibit withdrawal and run the risk of being "missed" as a child in need of support (Volpe, 1996; Stiles, 2002).

In adolescent, the impact may be different for adolescents who have been part of an abusive system from their earliest years compared with those who experience it for the first time in adolescence. Violence against mothers in childhood is highly associated with ongoing depression in adolescent girls. In addition, they have higher rates of interpersonal problems with other family members, especially inter-parental (parent-child) conflict. For adolescent, the stresses associated with violence in the home may increase the rate of risk taking and antisocial behavior, such as school absenteeism, early sexual activity, substance abuse, and delinquency (Volpe, 1996; Stiles, 2002).

Long Term Consequences

     Children who exposed by domestic violence either physically abused or not often suffer emotional and psychological trauma from living in unsafe homes. Children whose mothers are abused are denied the kind of home life that fosters healthy development. Children who grow up observing their mothers being abused, especially by their fathers, grow up with a role model of intimate relationships in which one person uses intimidation and violence over the other person to get their way. They may ally themselves with the abuser and lose respect for their seemingly helpless mother. Abusers typically play into this by putting the mother down in front of her children and telling them that their mother is crazy or stupid and that they do not have to listen to her. Theboys have been thought that they can disrespect women the way their fathers do by seeing their mothers treated with enormous disrespect. Boys who witness their mothers’ abuse are more likely to batter their female partners as adults than boys who rise in nonviolent homes (Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable, n.d.). Thegirls who witness their mothers being abused may have a greater rate of tolerance for abuse in a relationship (Olsen & Fuller, 2008). In addition, children who are raised in abusive homes learn that violence is an effective way to resolve conflicts and problems. They may replicate the violence they witnessed as children in their adult relationships and parenting experiences (Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable, n.d.).

The Psychologist Role in Helping Children Who Exposed Domestic Violence

Psychologist plays an important role in helping children who exposed domestic violence. Mental health interventions for children who witness violence have well established. There are four goals to in therapeutic intervention in order to help children who exposed domestic violence (Grove, 1999). A first goal is promoting open discussion of the children's experiences. It is better for the child not to dwell on the disturbing events, and forget it. For many children, the process of retelling or reenacting a traumatic event in the safety of a therapeutic relationship is in itself a healing experience. It is a first step toward integrating the experience into their understanding of themselves and their world. In addition, the process of speaking openly about the violent events serves to reduce the children's senses of isolation, which allows them to begin emotional healing.
     The second goal is seek to help children understand and cope with their emotional responses to the violence, while promoting their acquisition of positive behavior patterns. Strategies include assisting children with understanding why their parents fight and helping them to realize that the fighting is not their fault, and that they are not responsible for managing it. With older children, groups may also discuss violence in personal relationships, and address anger management and the use of conflict resolution skills.
     The third goal is reduce the symptoms the children are experiencing in response to the violence. Most approaches strive to help the child and the non-abusing parent to link the problematic symptoms to the exposure to violence, and to teach specific strategies for managing and decreasing symptoms. For example, if the child is suffering from insomnia and nightmares, an individual therapist might work with the parent and child to build soothing and comforting rituals into bedtime routines.
    The last goal is to create a safe, stable, and nurturing environment for the child, so that children can begin to recover from the effects of exposure to violence. In situations where children continue to live in a dangerous environment, therapists strive to help the non-abusing parent obtain safety for herself and her children. In accomplishing this task, the therapist must often help the family address additional stressors, such as substance abuse or housing difficulties. In situations where the children and mother are not living with the batterer, mental health intervention strives to promote the children's feelings of safety and security. Therapists work with parents to help them understand the children's needs for consistent routines. With parental permission, treatment may also include consultation with teachers or child care providers in order to develop consistent strategies for the classroom or day-care setting. In addition, therapists attempt to strengthen those emotional supports potentially available to the children, and work to reinforce the bond between the child and the non-abusing parent.

There are a few interventions which can achieve all of the goals such as group therapy, individual therapy, and family therapy with their non-abusing parent. An essential component of intervention with all children is the priority of supporting and strengthening the relationship between the non-abusing parent and the child. For most children, a strong relationship with a parent is a key factorin helping a child to heal from the effects of domestic violence. The choice of treatment depends on the child's age, the nature and severity of the traumatic reaction, the circumstances of the family, and the availability of other supports. In either a group or an individual format, treatment can provide children and their caregivers with important information about domestic violence and common childhood reactions, which can help normalize their experience and decrease their sense of isolation (National Child Traumatic Stress Network, n.d.) 

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