Hidden Victims of Violence
Mary Deveney
American Public University
5/27/2018
What happens when a child is exposed to violence in their home? Children need to feel safe in their homes. It should be a place free of violence and parents that love and protect them. Sadly in many homes this is not the case. It is estimated that 3.3 million children witness physical and verbal spousal abuse each year. These assaults include a variety of behaviors from insults and hitting to fatal assaults involving weapons (Osofsky, 2003). Seeing this sort of violence can have a powerful impact of children for the rest of their lives. The sights and sounds will be remembers of what they saw for years to come. discriminate. It can be found in all …show more content…
Even though some of these children may not be direct victims they have some of the same behavioral and psychological problems as children who themselves were physically abused. Children in homes with violence between adults have higher rates of externalizing behaviors along with possible clinical disorders (Fleckman, J.M. , Drury, S.S., Taylor, C.A., Theall, K.P., 2016). Researchers have found a correlation between violence exposure and negative psychological functioning, including eternalizing behavior problems, like aggressive and disruptive behaviors and internalizing problems including symptoms of post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression (David, K.B., LeBlanc., Self-Brown, S., …show more content…
D., 1999). In a study by Ybarra(2007) found that violence exposed preschoolers had significantly lower scores on a test of intelligence than non-exposed. Another researcher Jourilest(2008) found a negative correlation between domestic violence exposure and explicit memory functioning in preschoolers (David, K.B., LeBlanc., Self-Brown, S., 2015). Preschoolers are in a crucial developmental stage. They have less mature cognitive skills and greater dependence upon parental support then older children. This makes them more vulnerable to witnessing adult conflict and how they will be able to deal with it. Children are in a constant state of learning. When they see the violence they believe it to be
Mary Deveney
American Public University
5/27/2018
What happens when a child is exposed to violence in their home? Children need to feel safe in their homes. It should be a place free of violence and parents that love and protect them. Sadly in many homes this is not the case. It is estimated that 3.3 million children witness physical and verbal spousal abuse each year. These assaults include a variety of behaviors from insults and hitting to fatal assaults involving weapons (Osofsky, 2003). Seeing this sort of violence can have a powerful impact of children for the rest of their lives. The sights and sounds will be remembers of what they saw for years to come. discriminate. It can be found in all …show more content…
Even though some of these children may not be direct victims they have some of the same behavioral and psychological problems as children who themselves were physically abused. Children in homes with violence between adults have higher rates of externalizing behaviors along with possible clinical disorders (Fleckman, J.M. , Drury, S.S., Taylor, C.A., Theall, K.P., 2016). Researchers have found a correlation between violence exposure and negative psychological functioning, including eternalizing behavior problems, like aggressive and disruptive behaviors and internalizing problems including symptoms of post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression (David, K.B., LeBlanc., Self-Brown, S., …show more content…
D., 1999). In a study by Ybarra(2007) found that violence exposed preschoolers had significantly lower scores on a test of intelligence than non-exposed. Another researcher Jourilest(2008) found a negative correlation between domestic violence exposure and explicit memory functioning in preschoolers (David, K.B., LeBlanc., Self-Brown, S., 2015). Preschoolers are in a crucial developmental stage. They have less mature cognitive skills and greater dependence upon parental support then older children. This makes them more vulnerable to witnessing adult conflict and how they will be able to deal with it. Children are in a constant state of learning. When they see the violence they believe it to be