Effects of Domestic Violence on Children

Domestic violence has negative effects on children regardless of their sex.

According to Anda (2006), also noted that childhood trauma can have diffuse effects on neurobiological development.

A total of 316 families with a young infant and at high risk for maltreatment were recruited

for participation. 245 of the families were followed past the age

of 4 years old. annual assessments included a comprehensive assessment at age 12, which is the focus of the

analyses presented here.

Reports from child protective agencies Demographic information Youth behavioral problems Examination of other academic outcomes

Exposure to violence is especially ubiquitous in poor urban areas, where as many as 90% of children and adolescents witness violence.

While the rates of witnessing violence at home tend to be lower compared with witnessing violence in the school and community, between 17% and 25% of youth are exposed to violence at home

The exposure of children to violence is likely to have initial problems to the community before anywhere else.

witnessing community violence attenuated the impact of witnessing domestic violence on anxiety, aggression, and delinquency.

The stronger independent effects of violence exposure in more proximal contexts of home and school replicated previous cross-sectional findings

A pattern of coercive control that one person exercises over another.

Domestic Violence is not limited to physical abuse, but also includes verbal abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and economic abuse.

Infants, toddlers, and young children are exposed to violence when they are abused or maltreated.

Violence can also be exposed to children when hear or see others experiencing it.

Domestic violence:

Child protectionChild contact

Domestic violence: considered a crime

(civil and criminal law);range of support

violent male partner

Child protection: (public law)

welfare approach; state intervention

in abusive families; mother seen as failing to protect

Child contact:(private law);negotiated or

mediated outcome;good enough

father

New initiative:Safeguarding Boards

From April 2006

What is the Connection Between Domestic Violence and Child Abuse?

Significant overlap- 40-60% of families who present with partner violence also present with child abuse

32% of caseloads for protective service workers involve DV

50% of children who are physically abused were in the middle of an inter-parental attack

When there is DV, look for child abuse

Estimates show that 3-5 children in every classroom3-5 children in every classroom have witnessed a woman being abused

In Chicago, studies have shown that among 500 elementary school students one in fourone in four had witnessed a shooting and one-thirdone-third had seen a stabbing

3 in 5 of those children who witnessed a shooting or stabbing, indicated that the incident resulted in death.

More than 25%More than 25% of these children had been victims of severe violence themselves-that is, they had been shot at, suffered a knife attack, or had been beaten or mugged.

Intentional injury to young children (0-4) is most likely to occur as a result of child abuse (and neglect)

Nationally in 2002, there were over 900,000 estimated maltreated children, with more than 1,300 child fatalities

80% of these children were under the age of five

Children witness 68-80% of domestic assaults According to the NYU Child Study Center, 3

million children are diagnosed as having PTSD

38,985 (97% Women) sought shelter, 16,570 were turned away (IDHS, 1997).

In 2001, state funding supported 67 domestic violence

programs, serving 113,700 clients. This includes 25,700 children.

Chicago Police Department receives 655 domestic calls per day (Mayors Office on Domestic Violence).

Directly witness assault, rape Hear the violence, name calling, threats,

intimidation, disrespect Feel the tension See aftermath—broken furniture, bruises on their

mother, father (or mother) being taken away by police

Forced to participate in or watch the abuse of their mother

Intervene to protect their mother

Over 100 studies available A third separated abused from exposed children and

found similar outcomes Generally show:

◦ Behavioral and emotional problems◦ Cognitive functioning problems◦ Longer-term problems

Edleson (1999a)

Boys are at risk of: Learning that males are violent Learning to disrespect women Using violence in his own

relationships Confusion or insecurity about

being a man Attacking parents or siblings

Girls are at risk of Learning that male violence is

normal Learning that women don't get

respect Accepting violence in her own

relationships Embarrassed about being

female Becoming pregnant

www.yoursocialworker.com 16

Child Abuse◦ Physical◦ Sexual◦ Emotional◦ Neglect

Domestic Violence

Child Abuse affects children from all:

Ethnicities Socioeconomic

levels Religious affiliations Cultures

Lack of parenting skills Parental stress Family Hardship Alcohol and substance abuse Economic difficulties or poverty Domestic Violence Previous Victimization Depression

domestic violence is the most common context for child abuse;

  male domestic violence perpetrators are

more likely to be abusive to children and more extremely so;

  the more severe the domestic violence,

the more severe the abuse of children in the same context; and

  children may experience multiple forms

of abuse.

Characterized by the infliction of physical injury as a result of:

Punching Beating Kicking Biting Shaking Burning Or otherwise harming

a child

Unexplained injuries Repeated injuries such as bruises, welts or

burns Unexplained abrasions or lacerations Injuries in various stages of healing Small circular burns Burns with a “doughnut” shape Delays in obtaining medical care

When a caregiver fails to provide a child with adequate:

Food Clothing Shelter Supervision Needed medical

treatment

Appears poorly nourished or inadequately clothed

Appears consistently tired or listless Inconsistent attendance at school Poor hygiene Unable to relate well to others

Acts that damage immediately or ultimately the behavioral, cognitive, affective or physical functioning of a child, such as:

Criticizing Name calling Ridiculing Blaming Screaming Withholding love and affection Unpredictable responses Double-message communication

Clingy and forms indiscriminate attachments

“Acts out” and considered a behavior problem

Withdrawn, depressed, apathetic

Exhibits exaggerated fearfulness

Bedwetting or soiling

Children are too young to understand

They won’t remember what happened

You can’t help kids anyway, especially young kids

We should just move on

Kids should just forget about it

All children are affected by witnessing violence

The younger the child, the more likely they will show signs of distress

Children have more trouble under-standing and coping with violence

IntensityProximityFamiliarityDevelopmental Level

Chronicity

Sleep Disturbances Somatic

Complaints Increased

Aggressive Behavior

Angry Outbursts Increased Activity

Level Hypervigilance

Numbing Increased

Separation Anxiety Distractibility Changes in Play Withdrawal Regression Behavioral Changes

Eating Disturbances Developmental

Regression Language Delay Attachment Disorder Attachment Difficulties Failure To Thrive

Psychosomatic Complaints Enuresis School

Problems/Absenteeism Behavioral Problems Parentification Violence Depression Attachment Difficulties Changes in Play May Talk About

Death/Dying

Children need to feel safe to:◦ Grow ◦ Be Healthy◦ Succeed

When children see or hear violence, they worry they will not be safe

wide range of effects – physical, psychological, behavioural, social

influenced by factors such as age, race, economic status, gender, disability, sexuality and children’s resilience

children (even within the same family) may be affected in quite different ways

Lack of trust – adults can’t protect them Feeling of powerlessness – can’t impact

environment Turning to aggression Risk for violence in later life

Fear of the violent man finding out Fear of not being believed Fear of being stigmatised Difficulty in talking to adults Not having anyone to tell Services not being available

empowering (rather than punitive) work with the mother

validate and acknowledge children’s difficult experiences, and reassure them that they are not alone and not to blame

long-term ‘therapeutic’ or other 'talking/ playing' interventions to help children make sense of their experiences

support which takes account of children’s particular circumstances (cultural/ ethnic, age, disability needs etc)

Lack of understanding of the dynamics of domestic violence

Lack of co-ordinated practice between agencies

Lack of safe practice Referral Circuit Blaming mothers while ignoring violent

men Avoiding violent men, and violent men as

fathers

Thinking constantly about the traumatic event.

Having nightmares. Avoiding places, people, or activities that re-

mind them of the event. Losing interest in doing things that they

liked before. Feeling alone, empty, sad, anxious, or

uncaring. Becoming irritable, angry, and easily

startled.

39

Research has failed to address the fact that even indirect exposure of children to violence has profound effect

Most of the research on the effects of witnessed violence have focused on the psychological or behavioral aspects at the expense of other domains

Any examination of academic outcomes must also take into account some key demographic factors.

The parents should ensure that children are not exposed to any form of domestic violence.

The child protection laws should be strengthened to protect children from violent homes

People should avoid making general assumptions concerning the domestic violence issues and address them based on individual experience

Michael Windle, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 51:8 (2010), pp 953–961

Richard ,Thomson ,Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 19:721–733, 2010

Total Assignment = 100 pts (=23% of course grade)

10 pts -- Your research question/ appropriate selection of articles and presentation length--total presentation should be no shorter than 20 and no longer than 40 slides

45 pts -- Summary of each study; please include for each study the following.

a. Purpose of Study--what are the study's research questions? (6 pts)

b. Design --First, answer this question: is this study experimental?, quasi-experimental?, or correlational? Experimental=are there randomly assigned groups that were treated differently?, Quasi-Experimental--are there groups that naturally occurred--e.g., smokers vs. non-smokers--that were treated differently by the researcher?, Correlational--a group is described and the results show differences among the group members? Second, IF the study has a developmental focus, analyze the developmental design: cross-sectional, longitudinal, or sequential. (6 pts)

c. Methods--include participants, materials/instruments, data collection techniques, and data analysis techniques. After summarizing the methods, analyze what the researchers did in terms of the criteria of 1) objectivity, 2) reliability, 3) validity, 4) representative sampling, and 5) replication. (21 pts)

d. Findings--look for information indicating significant differences--connect the findings back to the research hypotheses. The findings should be contained in the Results section of the paper (6 pts)

e. Conclusions--summary of authors' interpretations from Discussion section (6 pts)

15 pts--Theoretical Perspective--what are the researchers' (probably implicit) perspectives on human development?--defend your decisions for each study with reasons (from the purpose, design, data collection and analysis, results, and interpretation); you should 1) identify (2 pts), 2) explain (5 pts), and 3) defend (8 pts) whether the perspective of each study is organismic, cognitive-developmental, cognitive-learning, behavioral, psychodynamic, contextual, or humanistic. If possible to determine the specific theory being tested by the study, further analyze the origins of the developmental approach being used. Be sure to defend your point of view.

15 pts -- Take Home Message--having read these two studies (notice this is a comparative analysis), what do you now believe? (=conclusions, 5 pts) What other questions do you have? (=future research questions, 5 pts) What can you not know for sure? (=limitations, 5 pts)

15 pts -- Communicative Effectiveness a. Presence of a brief introduction and conclusion (2

pts) b. Does paper flow? (please use headings) (3 pts) c. Are words misspelled or used incorrectly, are

subject-verb agreements correct? (4 pts)

d. Correct use of in-text citation (e.g., refer to studies by the authors' last names and year of publication)--please note that the only proper way to refer to a study in formal writing is by the last names of the authors and the year of publication. No article titles should appear in the narrative. (3 pts)

e. Style of references (3 pts)

For both d. and e. please follow the APA Manual of Style, 6th ed. An APA tutorial is available under the Cunningham Memorial Library's home page (see online tutorials).

Please post your presentation as an attachment (with document in Power Point or Word or rtf, preferably) under the Research Presentations Forum of the Discussion Board by the due date listed in the Calendar (under Tools)