Confessions of a battered soul : a case study

This study used qualitative case study design. The participant was selected through purposive or judgmental sampling who was a 20-year old female, had several experiences of domestic abuse, particularly physical and emotional abuse, inflicted upon her by her father, living with her family in Calamba City, Laguna and was in fourth year of Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Sto. Tomas, Batangas. Data was gathered through interview and analyzed using Colaizzi’s method. The study concluded that, children need to be loved, cared for, nurtured, and protected to enable them to grow and develop normally. Parents are expected to be the primary source of such need because it is their foremost responsibility to provide a supportive and secure environment for their children. However, there are some parents who create an environment that is not conducive for their children’s development. Many abusive parents themselves have been victims of a violent home lives. Parents who were brought up with harsh punishment by their own families may continue the abusive tradition to their children. It is a fact that stressors in one’s life may affect the behavior and relationship to others. Unavoidable circumstances build tension or may contribute to aggressive behavior and to physical abuse towards children. Childhood experiences can create a tremendous impact in a parent-child relationship. What could be harmonious relationship has turned into indifference, antipathy and resentment. The silent treatment or avoidance can be used to demonstrate a clear-cut meaning that the child no longer recognizes him/her as parent. Domestic violence is a learned behavior thus, one who witnessed and experienced aggressiveness at home can adopt it and affect the relationship or interaction with other people. An abused child may speak about the experiences as if it was some sort of a ghastly part of life but the child may also see this as an opportunity to build a strong personality by allowing the past to mold and perceive life as a series of challenges that needs to be surpassed