DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Domestic Violence

Abstract

Since the late 1970s, attention paid to domestic violence has increased exponentially. It is now one of the types of victimization garnering the most policy and research attention. Initially, domestic violence was defined narrowly as physical violence perpetrated by husbands against their wives. This definition has evolved in the last 30 years as people have come to realize that violence exists in all kinds of romantic relationships. Here, domestic violence is defined broadly as abuse perpetrated by one romantic partner (or ex-partner) against another. Other terms used to characterize abuse in a romantic relationship are intimate partner violence, spouse abuse, battering, and dating violence. This entry details how common domestic violence is, the kinds of abuse victims experience, risk factors for abuse, and how abuse impacts victims, their children, and the community.

Table of Contents

Abstractii

Introduction1

Discussion1

Child Witness and Domestic Violence2

Child Exposure Defined4

Prevalence of Children's Exposure to Domestic Violence6

Behavioral Impact on Children7

Treatment9

Law against Domestic Violence12

Conclusion13

References15

Domestic Violence

Introduction

Exposure to Domestic Violence (DV) is among the most common and severe adverse events in childhood, with DV occurring in approximately thirty percent of homes with two parents. When this number is extrapolated to the 2001 US population, it translates to approximately 15.5 million children in households with DV. These numbers are likely underestimated (Chan and Yeung 2009). This number does not include children of single parents, and it does not consider the more than fifty percent of children nationally who experience corporal punishment in the home. Also, many children exposed to DV are removed from their homes due to the severity of the violence (Chan and Yeung 2009). These studies do not account for the children living in shelters and with non-parent caretakers such as aunts, uncles or grandparents. Of the thirty percent of children witnessing DV in the home, five to ten percent are directly victimized by severe abuse. Further, many children of domestic violence are known as invisible victims. That is, violence exposure is not known to those outside the family (Chan and Yeung 2009).

Discussion

Many studies focus on the mother as the victim of DV. It has been shown that witnessing violence against the mother is more distressing for the child (Girvin, DePanfilis and Daining 2007). However, witnessing aggression against the father can also destabilize the child's adjustment. According to El-Sheikh et al., the cycle of DV is reciprocal. As conflict escalates within the parental relationship, children are likely going to be exposed to violence against both parents (Girvin, DePanfilis and Daining 2007).

Conflicts over child rearing are the most common trigger of DV, suggesting that children all-too often get caught up in marital violence. In homes where DV is present, it is estimated that there is a 30 to 60 percent greater chance that the child will become a victim of direct child abuse (Girvin, DePanfilis and Daining 2007). Further still, this chance increases with each instance of DV witnessed. The chances of direct child abuse increases from five percent with one instance of marital violence, to near certainty with fifty instances of ...