Essay Example on Domestic Violence: Impact on Child Development

Introduction

Domestic violence is rampant. However, most go unreported. Statistics indicate that, In the USA alone, between 960,000 and 3,000,000 domestic violence cases are reported annually (Leite et al., 2016). There are children in these statistics that witness or are subjected to domestic violence. The environment that a child grows in and the things they witness is critical in a child's development. This paper assesses and evaluates the impacts of domestic violence on child development while providing implementations required for mitigating the effects that the violence has on children.

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When a child is born, his or her mind is an empty slate. As he or she grows up, they collect the information from their environment and store them in the brain. The kind of information that child records in her mind shape the life of that child. A child develops Physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively depending on their kind of information that he or she has collected from his or her environment. According to research, young children who have been subjected to domestic violence become more vulnerable and have behavioral problems compared to their counterparts, who have not witnessed the same. Children internalize the domestic violence that they experience and witness, which affects their cognitive development. Such children do not interact with their age-mates because their social lives have been affected. They find it hard to create a friendship with trust in their social circles because the caregivers who they trusted had violated them, or the child had seen them violate other people. In this case, a child fears to interact with others in society for fear of being mistreated. Therefore they withdraw themselves from society and leave a life of isolation.

Children's emotional development is affected when they are subjected to domestic violence. They grow in a fearful environment and always find it hard to express themselves. Children who grow up this way have hampered speech development because fear causes brain lockdown. Due to this condition, they do not reach specific milestones at the right time, which may impede their education as they attend school at a much older age. Also, research indicates that these children are quick to resolve physical confrontation whenever there is disagreement. It happens this way because these children have grown up to understand that violence is the best way of resolving conflicts. They have seen or experienced people that they trust in a home setup do the same, and therefore get convinced that this could be the right way. As these children grow up, they also develop trust issues and Mostly accuse their friends or Intimate partners of either lying to them or cheating on them. Forming intimate relationships becomes difficult because they always break up due to mistrust.

Children whose family setups are characterized by violence are affected by cognitively. When the mental growth of a child is affected, school life becomes difficult for the child. According to Schafran (2014), children who have been subjected to domestic violence are impacted negatively on learning capacity. When children who come from violent families and have witnessed domestic violence severally in the home setup, were interviewed, the researcher concluded that the children exhibited delayed brain development. According to the studies by Schafran (2014), Changing these children's perspectives becomes impossible because of the repeated exposure to violence, and therefore they grow with this mentality up to adulthood. This study indicates that these children perform relatively lower in academics than children who come from peaceful homes.

Domestic violence affects the physical growth of children. Children who have been exposed to domestic violence reach growth milestones later than their counterparts. The psychological impact of violence harms the mental capability of a child. When a child is cognitively affected the physical growth is also inhibited. Children in these families do not access basic needs due to the violence between their parents. Abused children are mostly denied necessities at home as an accompanied punishment. And this affects them mentally and physically, and they end up not growing the way they should. Children who come from hostile environments like this are less energetic and physically fit because most of them resolve to drug and substance abuse as a way of finding peace (Flowers, 2000).

Role of Family Life Educators and Organizations in Helping Domestic Violence Child Victims

According to the World Health Organisation, the majority of domestic violence cases go unreported. The organization indicates that domestic violence on children can result in death, impairment of the brain, and the nervous system, coping with health risk negatively, and impact negatively on the future of the child. It is because of this that the organization has come up with a prevention and response team that helps in helping Communities and individuals. The organization has come up with an approach called "INSPIRE" that has seven strategies aiming to end domestic violence. Family life educators also have roles to play in helping children affected by domestic violence cope. The educators provide guidance and counseling to the affected children and provide recommendations to social workers to consider helping such children.

Conclusion

In conclusion, domestic violence hampers the cognitive, physical, emotional, and social development of a child. Children need to be protected against domestic violence as it affects their growth negatively. There are various organizations such as the World Health Organisation that help in fighting domestic violence and helping the child victims recover. Individual family life educators also have a vital role in helping children affected by domestic violence.

References

Schafran, L. H. (2014). Domestic violence, developing brains, and the lifespan: new knowledge from neuroscience. Judges J., 53, 32. https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/judgej53&div=38&id=&page=

Flowers, R. B. (2000). Domestic crimes, family violence and child abuse: A study of contemporary American society. McFarland. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=PIYvU9t1l_8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=Statistics+indicate+that,+In+the+USA+alone,+between+960,000+and+3,000,000+domestic+violence+cases+are+reported+annually&ots=iuzozLe-Io&sig=7EiSx1oWQETgy90lfUuiOh7cHH4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Leite, J. T., Beserra, M. A., Scatena, L., Silva, L. M. P. D., & Ferriani, M. D. G. C. (2016). Coping with domestic violence against children and adolescents from the perspective of primary care nurses. Rev Gaúcha Enferm, 37(2), e55796. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/80d0/1a38157de747660694a4e5d08cd8b7e69ab0.pdf