Home violence is increasingly becoming a common phenomenon affecting both adults and children. Although this form of abuse is common amongst adults, rarely do parents realize that children are also affected. All over the world, children are usually exposed to violence at home in one way or the other. Being exposed to violence can be in many ways, which can be either directly or as a bystander, and the effects on either are unavoidable. Exposing children to violence is believed to have far-reaching, negative consequences on them more than people can imagine. Most are the times when the problems are left unattended.
The most prevalent form of home violence children are exposed to is domestic violence. While some children only suffer from witnessing violence at home, some of them get involved in the violence. The effects of domestic violence are dire hence affecting the well-being and developmental growth of the victimized children. According to Sherr et al. (2016), domestic violence comes in many different forms, and the outcomes affect a child’s academic performance. Some of these forms include intimidation, chronic arguing and yelling, threats of murder and weapons as well as serious injuries. Majority of such children develop serious problems that are hard to heal on their own hence requiring a domestic violence therapist to help them (Sherr et al., 2016).
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History and Commonality of the Problem
Home violence is one of the most significant human rights challenges of all times, with alarming effects. In most occasions the victims are left suffering in silence. It is a challenge that has remained neglected, with most people claiming and viewing it as only a family problem that will soon fade away. This fact makes domestic violence not limited to geography, status, or ethnicity but a global phenomenon that people should not be afraid of debate. According to Mueller and Tronick (2019), about two-fifths of the children between ages 17 and below are subjected to home violence in one way or the other. This is about 38% as per the year 2014, and the problem has been on the rise recently.
The Affected Population
Children and youths are the most affected by home violence issues. Their exposure to home violence brings about various disorders hence affecting their developmental growth. In most cases, the victims claim to experience emotional, mental as well as social damages which need to be handled carefully by a psychologist. The problem extends to a point where they start losing their ability to feel empathy for others and begin to act violently as well. The nature of being socially confused makes other children to feel socially isolated and not able to make friends easily. Since most of these cases are under-reported, child welfare professionals need to collaborate and work together in understanding and identifying these issues (Sherr et al., 2016). Through teamwork, the stakeholders will be able to find ways of assisting the children who have been exposed to these home violence.
Supporting Theories
Various theories have been developed to try and explain the major causes of domestic violence. However, the more people try to understand home violence; the more their interventions take many different forms over the years. According to Rakovec-Felser (2014), violence at homes and child involvement has been witnessed all over the world. Various organizations have been formed to try and end domestic violence, which in most cases, occurs against women. Still, they have been failing due to a lack of proper exploration of the underlying causes. The two major theories that explain home violence include feminist theory and cultural theory (Rakovec-Felser, 2014). The feminist theory mostly revolves around gender inequality as the major contributor to domestic violence. On the other hand, cultural theories assert that home violence occurs as a result of traditional beliefs especially those against women.
Recent Changes
The problem of children being exposed to home violence has been on the rise in the last few years despite the increase in law reforms against home violence. Additionally, the trend has also been changing in the nature that men are also victims of domestic violence. Unlike before, which only involved women in most cases. Children are also sexually and physically abused during home violence and those witnessing it have difficulties in coping with the after-maths (Mueller, & Tronick, 2019). However, unlike before, when people were not ready to open up to the problem, people are nowadays prepared to open up and seek help. Most national domestic violence hotline numbers have reported an increase in the number of contacts reaching out for help and support against home violence including children and teenagers (Sherr et al., 2016).
Research Credibility
Violence at home is a problem that has been witnessed and experienced by many people and therefore not a new phenomenon. As such the topic is of interest since it focuses on a problem that exists within society. According to research conducted by Sherr et al. (2016), children exposed to violence are likely to develop short-term and long-term learning disabilities. The research is credible in that all the researchers are qualified in the field of psychology. For instance, Sarah Skeen is an associate professor, while Mark Tomlinson is a professor at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Moreover, the article is a recent one, given that it was conducted within the past five years.
General Consensus of the Problem
Studies on home violence are not subject to controversies since most of the authors and evidence seem to agree on the fact that violence affects children both directly and indirectly. Additionally, the consensus regarding this issue point to the fact that children exposed to violence at home tend to be emotionally and socially disturbed hence requiring immediate help. This disturbance affects not only their physical health but also their developmental growth.
References
Mueller, I., & Tronick, E. (2019). Early life exposure to violence: developmental consequences on brain and behavior. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 13 , 156. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6629780/
Rakovec-Felser Z. (2014). Domestic Violence and Abuse in Intimate Relationship from Public Health Perspective. Health Psychology Research, 2 (3), 1821. https://doi.org/10.4081/hpr.2014.1821
Sherr, L., Hensels, I. S., Skeen, S., Tomlinson, M., Roberts, K. J., & Macedo, A. (2016). Exposure to violence predicts poor educational outcomes in young children in South Africa and Malawi. International Health, 8 (1), 36-43. doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihv070
