Domestic Violence and Its Impact on Children

Domestic violence (DV) is an ongoing phenomenon, detrimentally affecting society. Often, women suffer as direct victims of DV, but children who witness DV also experience adverse effects in these settings. For a single day in 2018, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services reported, “19,673 children found safe-refuge in domestic violence emergency shelters or transitional housing programs, with another 5,888 children receiving non-residential services with their abused parent”. Research studies in the fields of Human Services, Sociology and Psychology have not fully explored this element of the family relationship. In my review, so far, I have learned that the few studies on this topic conclude child witnesses of DV suffer the same adverse consequences as those abused, normalize the DV witnessed, and will perpetuate the family dynamics they have observed. Future work on this topic should use narrative analysis from victims to better understand their patterns of thinking about this experience, and how support groups and services may help people break out of the cycle of violence.https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/urs_2019/1007/thumbnail.jp