Domestic Violence & Victimization: A Comprehensive Study of Causes & Effects - Essay Sample

Introduction

A comprehensive study carried out on domestic violence and victimization selected diverse respondents to help with the research. The study used five men and five women, all in the age bracket of 18 years and 55 years. It was a comprehensive study given that there was one hundred percent participation from all the selected respondents. This study aimed to comprehensively answer three main questions: How does domestic violence affect victims? What are the causes of domestic violence? How do people respond to domestic violence? This paper, with the help of the respondents, comprehensively analyzes these questions and tries to provide unbiased insight for each item.

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How does domestic violence affect victims?

People are vulnerable in varied aspects, and when an individual in violently abused, it is bound to take a toll on one of their most vulnerable elements. The effects of domestic violence tend to be severe, depending on the frequency and brutality of the perpetrator. Still, in the long run, there is no violence without harsh effects on the victim. Typically, domestic violence will affect the victim physically, mentally, and emotionally.

What is the physical effect of domestic violence on victims?

Victims of domestic violence tend to suffer severe physical injuries that significantly affect them in their day to day lives. However, the most dangerous material effect of domestic violence is the physical health of the victims. Many perpetrators of domestic violence are extremely brutal and do not hold back during an act of violence. In cases like this, the victim is at risk of getting severely hurt and result in lifelong disabilities. From the research, 100% of the respondents agreed to the fact that domestic violence leads to severe bodily injuries. There was also the discovery that, according to 80% of the respondents, domestic violence leads to changes in eating and sleeping patterns, which is a ripple effect from the mental and emotional impact of abuse, while 10% added that the domestic violence could lead to sexual dysfunction and infertility.

How are the victims affected mentally?

Another severe effect of domestic violence is the mental state of the victim. When an individual in an abusive relationship, with time, the force will start affecting their mental abilities and perception. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is the dominating psychological effect of domestic violence. Other effects of domestic violence on the mental state of the victim include; Depression, Anxiety, Low self-esteem, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and drug abuse. In many cases, these victims need the support of family and friends. If not helped, the victims end up feeling trapped in their relationships and mostly wind up addicted to drugs as a coping mechanism. In very extreme cases, the victims will resolve to take their own lives as a way of escaping the abusive partners.

How does Domestic Violence Affect the victim emotionally?

Domestic violence can lead to overwhelming emotional effects compared to physical impacts. Victims of domestic violence will tend to lose their self-esteem, and most cases become overwhelmed with feelings of unworthiness. Most perpetrators use isolation of the victim to break them down. When a victim is emotionally torn down, they will resolve to withdraw from family and friends out of shame or fear of violence from their partners.

What are the Causes of Domestic Violence?

The study carried out among the respondents showed that there are varied causes of domestic violence in relationships. Some things trigger violence in a partner, and others intensify the violent behaviors in the partners. Many people will stay in partnerships for very many years and endure domestic violence without speaking out or seeking any form of help, fearing that this would lead to more abuse from their partners.

What Trigger's Domestic violence?

Some individuals have severe cases of low self-esteem. As a result, they are angry at the world and end up fielding their anger and frustrations on their partners. Another effect of low self-esteem is jealousy; once a partner has low self-esteem, they become insecure and jealous. Some batterers were raised in homes where violence and abuse were the order of the day. As a result, their first response in any situation is violence. Many batterers are individuals who were abused at one point or another in their lives, and for the most part, they are filled with anger, and it is only through violence that they deal with this overwhelming emotion.

How do People respond to Domestic violence?

The perpetrators of domestic violence are never remorseful and feel that they did right punishing their partners or the victims. In many cases, the victims do not make an effort to report these violent crimes, but instead, they withdraw from family and friends. For reasons of protecting their marriages or being there for the children, many victims choose to stay in abusive relationships hoping one day it will stop.

Should Victims Leave?

Many victims do not realize the dangers of being in abusive relationships. With the help and support of family and friends, the victims should understand that perseverance will not help, and the violence does not stop. For reasons of safety, victims need to have the courage to leave abusive relationships.

Conclusion

The data Collected is ion agreement with the work of Goldsmith (2006) Domestic violence is on the rise for both genders. However, male victims are usually dismissed on the grounds of being weak men. It is nearly impossible to predict the violent nature of a partner; therefore, victims should not be ridiculed or judge from being in an abusive relationship. However, family support, love, and help through such times are vital for victims of domestic violence.

References

Toby D. Goldsmith (2006) Domestic Violence and Psychological Well-being of Survivor (pp. 62)