In my first Blog Post I wrote about children witnessing
domestic violence in their homes. The research I used discussed there being
various outcomes for children in homes where violence is being observed, one
outcome being the child having issues with affect regulation.Due to the
inconsistency and under or overexposure of certain emotions, the child is not
able to predict their caregivers response. In my second blog post, I covered
the topic of children being involved in the violent acts towards the other caregiver.I
learned that using children is a strategic act done by the abusing parent to
gain control over the other parent. By doing this the abusing parent is
requiring the child to change their role in the family and become seen as of
higher standing than their parent being abused. After doing this research, I
wanted to know how the parent-child relationship evolves once the abusing parent
is removed. I also made a plan to look into research on how as a community we
can help prevent or intervene in homes children are witnessing, involved, and or being used in domestically violent relationship among caregivers.
For this post I will be covering how as a community we can help with education and prevention strategies. In the article
Preventing violence in Relationships: Psychological Science Addressing Complex
Social issues, Wolfe informed the reader on the importance of educating the
community on the effects of being exposed to domestic violence. Wolfe (2015)
began the article discussing a case about a 15 year old that had lived in a
home where domestic violence was occurring, who then attempted to murder his stepfather
in response. In that case, law enforcement had made many contacts at their
residence, yet did not take action; the teen ended up deciding to put a stop to
the violence he was being exposed to himself. At School, he had shown behavior issues
and appeared to be depressed, got involved in drug and alcohol, yet no one
intervened before he was at the point where the violence was too much and he
had no skills on how to cope with it.
Prevention methods taken with the teen population as stated
by Wolfe (2005) need to do more than telling
child not to engage in violent acts or to encourage other to do the same. Wolfe
says that we need to take things a step further and equip the teens with coping
strategies and also teaching them about healthy relationships. By telling the teens
not to hit one another does nothing, because we then are neglecting to provide
them with an others ways to channel
their emotions. We also are failing
these children because we should trying to learn the amount of violence the child
has been exposed to and also if the violence has impacted the child’s life in
any way. Although he did not cover this, Validation is also important, because by doing so we are acknowledging to the adolescent that we care, and that it is normal to be angry,sad, or want to hurt the person that has hurt someone you love, BUT there are other ways to deal with what has happened to you or someone you care about.
Responding a healthy way is important, but what is a teen to do when they don't know other ways to respond to violence?This article states that due to “statistics on violence,
substance use, and high risk sexual behavior among adolescents” this population
needs prevention and intervention to be addressed in a holistic way. Adolescents
being exposed to violence would benefit from being “[assistance] in navigating during
transitional periods” which is why it is imperative they are equipped with ways
they are to cope with the outcomes of violent exposure in their homes (Wolfe, p.
46, 2015). Although many adolescents may be opposed to being helped through transitional periods such their mother's new boyfriend hitting her, many of them are willing to be helped and supported through that time in their life. I am concerned for the children being around violence in their home regardless of their age, because I understand that each age group, gender, and ethnic group will respond to violence differently. We all interpret violence differently and subsequently respond to it naturally. Due to my line of work, I have seen many teens get involved and being harmed or try harming the abusing parent and landing themselves with juvenile offenses that very well could have been avoided. I hope with education, support and involvement with teens, we can help them cope with violence in a health and non-destructive way. By doing this I believe the outcomes of adolescents responding violently, having high risk sexual behavior and using controlled substances will decrease.
What I enjoyed most about this article was that it focused a lot on the social issues. In the scenario from this article of the 15 year old child that lived in a chaotic home, the violence affected him and it went unnoticed. The article reports this child had been showing a decline in school performance, motivation, interest and in return started engaging in self destructing behaviors (early drug and alcohol use). The teachers assumed being distant and uninterested had become part of his personality and given his age, I understand how one many draw that conclusion. What the school had not realized is that engaging in the drugs and alcohol and his behaviors problems were the methods he chose to deal with what was going on around him. Adolescents in my experience don't tend to reach out to people and say I am because of X I am dealing with Y and then ask for assistance. As agents for change, our duty is to take action once we recognize negative family conditions, in an effort to respond before it is too late.
Understanding the cause of violence in homes
- Relationships define the context and support of violence.
- Violence does not affect everyone the same {Women, Children and minority groups are more at risk}.
- Violence in relationships is part of societal and cultural norms that have gone unchallenged over many generations.
Below is a Domestic Violence Prevention Video Titled "Its Ends Where it begins"
With this all being said, do you know what you should do? My call to action is that we as helping professionals"...empower youth to identify the critical issues they face and the solutions that are most meaningful to the reality of their lives and circumstances". -David A Wolfe
Click here for Information on National Hotlines for Domestic Violence & Resources
Works Cited
Wolfe, D. A. (2006). Preventing violence in relationships: Psychological science addressing complex social issues. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 47(1), 44-50. doi:10.1037/h0087043
