Negative Effects of Domestic Violence on Children

Negative Effects of Domestic Violence on Children
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Negative Effects of Domestic Violence on Children
Introduction
Research studies have revealed that domestic violence tends to negatively affect the growth and development of children. Children are usually exposed to violence in several areas, include at home, in the community, or media related violence. However, exposure to domestic violence has a severe impact since it changes the behavior of the parents and this can have a compounding effect on the development of children at multiple levels (Osofsky, 2009, p.33). In addition, studies have also revealed that in some regions, more than 50% of calls made to the police seeking help is as a result of domestic violence. This essay affirms that domestic violence poses a number of negative effects on children, including social development, brain development, and social behaviors among the afflicted, and no individual in the society should be a victim of the vice.
It is often argued that it is necessary to beat a child strongly with a stick, lest they become spoilt. This conception is derived from the old adage with religious roots that goes “spare the rod, spoil the child” to make them gain coping strategies and help them develop with good behaviors. However, this kind of argument is flawed since numerous studies have already revealed that domestic violence impacts negatively on children’s development and coping strategies, especially when they are exposed to toxic stress (Lourenço, Baptista & Senra, et al, 2013, p.3). Intervention strategies such as child protection and reporting cases of violence that takes place at home can play an instrumental role in protecting children from adverse health impacts in the future. A common example of the kinds of domestic violence that takes place at home includes the use of controlling, threatening, and coercive behavior. In addition, domestic abuse and violence can be in form of physical, psychological, verbal, financial, emotional or sexual nature. These examples of domestic violence tend to affect more than one million children within the United Kingdom alone, and these statistics have been on the rise (Devaney, 2015, p.80). This is mostly attributed to the fact that the role of public agencies is affected by systemic failures when it comes to the assessment of domestic violence and how it affects the development of children.
In 2014, Adrian Peterson’s leaked photos showed his son with bruises and cuts on his back, buttocks, legs and scrotum (Sanders, 2014). When details emerged, Peterson took to Twitter claiming that while he is not a model parent, his goal of punishing the son did not amount to child abuse, but it was to discipline and teach his son to draw a line between right and wrong. However, scholarly evidence has also proved that when children witness domestic violence, their brain development is adversely affected. According to Tsavoussis, et al (2014, p.1), research studies have revealed that children who are exposed to domestic violence suffer from psychosocial mal-adaptation which is related to evident changes in the physiological and anatomic composition of the central nervous system. Whe...