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Essay on The Relationship between Child Abuse and Domestic Violence
Domestic violence is a pattern of assault and coercive behaviors—including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks, and economic coercion—that an adult uses against an intimate partner. This pattern of serious assault is most typically exercised by men against a female partner and sometimes against their children. These assaults are often repetitive and continuous and may leave women and children feeling dazed and bereft.
In recent years, many studies have been done and much has been written about the impact of domestic violence on children. What we are learning is that domestic violence begins affecting children at all stages of development, even before birth. Domestic violence causes more birth defects than accidents and illnesses combined. In one study, 30% of battered women were battered during pregnancy. Babies in violent households often experience symptoms of emotional distress, sleep disturbances and separation anxiety, sometimes leading to aggression as toddlers.
All children who live in homes where domestic abuse is occurring are affected by this experience. Each child will be affected differently based on the following factors:
- Their understanding of the experience (influenced by their age).
- How they have learned to survive and cope with the stress created by domestic abuse.
- The availability of support through friends, relatives and adults in their life.
- Their ability to accept support and assistance from adults.
- Hypothesis
- Review of Literature
Child abuse and neglect in the context of domestic violence can be played out in a variety of ways: the same perpetrator may be abusing both mother and children, probably the most common scenario; the children may be injured when ‘caught in the crossfire’ during incidents of adult domestic violence; children may experience neglect because of the impact of the violence.......
