Family Theories - Research Paper Example

?Running head: Domestic Violence Domestic Violence Institute’s This paper studies the problem of domestic violence in families that have small children. Its main focus is on the emotional effects on the small children when witnessing acts of violence by certain members of their family on others. While the children do not suffer directly from it, the indirect abuse and its consequences on them has been elucidated upon. The problems that arise from domestic violence on the society have been discussed, as well as the solutions that can be adopted. Domestic Violence Introduction Mother Teresa said, “What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”  Families that experience domestic violence are a serious threat to the world today. The children of these families are affected not only emotionally, but sometimes physically as well. It is an increasing epidemic all over the world. This paper will identify the problem and the effects and consequences of it, not only on the children but on all members of the family. This is because if any one family member faces a problem or is going through a struggle, the rest of the family goes through the same journey, even if it is reluctantly. Family bonds are tied strongly; they cannot be broken with ease. Psychologically, we are attached to our families even after we have broken up with them. The academic research on domestic violence, and its effects on children, is not too old. As a result of this, we only have limited researches on this problem as compared to its existence, which is as old as they come. Families have faced this challenge for a long time. Domestic abuse and violence is an old concept but the effect on the children in that family has been noticed and studied only recently. That is why this writer has chosen ‘Domestic Violence in families with Small Children” as the topic of his research. Domestic violence does not limit to physical/sexual abuse by a man on a woman or child. It is anything that a member of the family practices to gain control or assert his/her power over other members of the family. Usually, mothers or elder siblings take the brunt of this abuse to protect the younger children. Physically, the children are saved from abuse, but mentally, they suffer greatly. Not only are they traumatized for an extended period of their life (as will become apparent in the literature review), they face life with the same fear and are known to instil it into their children. It is a vicious cycle that must be broken. Literature Review According to Hague, children in households where their mothers are abused suffer greatly from distress, mental abuse and are prone to exhibiting adverse reactions in social situations. Even if the children are not being abused, many academics and intellectuals term this as indirect abuse (Mullender & Hague, 2002). “It is only recently that researches have focused on the children being affected by families suffering from domestic violence” (Fantuzzo, 1999). Not much literature had been written on children suffering in families with domestic violence, especially on a national basis. However, the need for such researches has been felt and is now being carried out by academics and governments increasingly. Nonetheless, quantifying the intangible effects of domestic violence on children is proving to be hard as the methodologies are, as yet, still weak. The article, in the year 1999, focused on finding worthy methodologies. Then in 2000, the department of paediatrics of the University of Arizona carried out a research. According to their findings, domestic violence in a child's home was more frequent “if the mother had experienced physical abuse during childhood (65 %,) than if she had not (48 %)”, (Bowen, 2000). These statistics can be explained by Levendosky’s findings on the parenting in battered women a year later (USA). They found the women were depressed, had low self esteem, and felt powerless to do anything. In addition to this, “an increasing number of studies now document the devastating effects on children of growing up in a family with domestic violence”. Not only do the children suffer from low self-esteem just like the mothers, their social and emotional adjustment is usually retarded (Levendosky, 2001). More recently, child abuse, family violence and a combination of both have been found to increase a child’s risk for internalizing and externalizing outcomes in adolescence (Moylan, Herrenkohl, Sousa, Tajima, & Herrenkohl, 2010). In fact, the effect on their emotional advancement and capacity is quite drastic. “A sample of children aged 6–12, of whom 20 had witnessed domestic violence and 15 had not, was examined for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and witness status was found to be a significant predictor of PTSD” (Kilpatrick, 2010). Another study proved the externalities that result from domestic violence in families with children. Carrel carried out an experiment by matching children's school records to domestic violence cases. The result was that children from troubled families had lower reading and math test scores compared to their classmates and the misbehaviours by them was higher in comparison (Carrell & Hoekstra, 2010). Amongst immigrant children in USA, the effects were further aggravated. Julia Perilla’s work examined “the relationship among Latino children’s level of cognitive development (age), country of origin and psychological adjustment as well as styles of coping with domestic violence” (Allaire, Macias, & and Perilla, 2012).  In comparison to children born in the USA, Latino children in families suffering from domestic violence showed a greater stunted growth in emotional development and growth. In England, observations of parents and children that had been affected by domestic violence were studied. Guilt and shame in both, the perpetrators and survivors, was found to have hindered the reporting of such crimes. In fact, ineffectiveness of professionals in such cases reinforced this behaviour. Ergo, this article concluded suggesting work on the effectiveness of professionals (Stanley, Miller, & and Foster, 2012). Cops, after all, play an important role in domestic violence and can be understood to be professionals just as therapists are. According to this article, the police officers were reluctant in speaking with the affected. The study suggested training as the step to overcome this barrier to communication (Richardson-Foster, Stanley, Miller, & and Thompson, 2012). Bentovim et al share the same opinions, adding to it by saying that the job of professionals in cases of domestic violence is to assist the whole family on their road to recovery (Bentovim & all, 2009). Recovery here, being the key word. Problem Statement Leo Tolstoy, in his book Anna Karenina wrote, “All families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”. There are a number of problems that are associated with this issue, some of which have been mentioned already. Nonetheless, for the sake of addressing them, this writer will talk about them again. First and foremost of course is the problem of indirect abuse that children in these families suffer. Even if they are physically protected, these children are mentally traumatized, usually for life. Their emotional growth is underdeveloped. They experience social difficulties, have a low self-esteem, are consistently in an invariant state of depression and are prone to be afraid. Their family members not only deal with the violence directed at them but also with the violence directed at children. On occasions where they fail to protect the children, feelings of tremendous guilt can overpower them. As for the children, seeing members of their family subjected to verbal or physical abuse makes them feel guilty. It is somewhat like survivor’s guilt, where the child feels it wrong that s/he has been spared while their mother/brother/sister hasn’t. Communicating with children that are part of these families has proven hard. Cops are usually the first responders in cases where children are involved (Richardson-Foster, Stanley, Miller, & and Thompson, 2012). But they too appear reluctant in trying to engage these children, not only because they do not know how to, but because they fear saying one wrong thing could traumatize these children even further. Perhaps the biggest problem faced by countries like USA, UK, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc is that these cases are most times not reported. The mother, father, (in the case of the older son being abusive) or elder children believe that things could turn around and that reporting would bring public shame and humiliation. Moreover, as mentioned above, ties to the family are strong. Love makes them want to give another chance (almost every time) to the abusers in the family. And many times, the perpetrator is successful in asserting his power over the rest of the family members, ensuring the abuse is never reported. Lack of methodologies to quantify the indirect abuse that the entire family goes through is also another problem. Although, the effects on children’s social behaviour can be quantified as was proven by the case mentioned in the literature review by Carrell, (Carrell & Hoekstra, 2010). Theoretical Framework The family systems theory is known as family therapy on a more common basis. This is because it is works with not only children and their parents, but with all the close-knit relationships that exist within a family. There are therapy sessions in which the two members suffering in and/or from the relationship are present. If the professional believes that it will be productive, then other members of the family can also be called into these, or in separate sessions. Rodgers and White explain the Family development theory in the words of its modern founder, “It has uniquely pioneered the efforts to describe and explain the processes of change in families. Family time - the sequence of stages precipitated internally by the demands of family members and externally by the larger society - is the most significant focal point of the family development perspective.” (Rodgers, 1993). There are two components to this theory, the life cycle stage, and the development task. By focusing on all the changes that the family experiences in distinct and different stages of life, and learning to accept them, the members learn to take responsibilities that arise at these stages, i.e. the development task. In human ecological theory, families learn to interact with their environment to form an ecosystem. Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson of the department of Family Sciences in the University of Kentucky explains that in this theory, families must carry out these three: a) Biological sustenance b) Economic maintenance, and c) Psychosocial and nurturance functions By interacting with the environment, they help themselves since everyone is dependent on the environment. There are natural, biological, and social laws which guide families’ behaviors and by learning to live with them, they learn to live with each other and themselves. Application of Each Theory to Problem Now this writer will address the problems identified under the subheading, Problem Statement, taking into account the three theories stated above. Problems of emotional growth, proneness to be afraid, low self-esteem, depression etc in later stages of life of the children from families which had experienced domestic violence can all be helped with both, the family systems theory or family development theory. Both theories focus on helping their subject develop/grow/advance in their emotional and social capabilities Feelings of guilt in children or elders of family due to the violence happening within their family are also dealt with these two theories. The problem of communication between the victim children and first responders is not solved by any of the theories mentioned in Theoretical Framework. The first responders must be trained specifically to deal with such children so that neither they nor the children hesitate in communicating. This should help, to some degree, with the problem of case reporting as well. Cases of domestic violence are usually not reported because of: fear of public humiliation and shame, familial love for the perpetrator, and fear of the power and violence of the perpetrator. In this case, human ecological theory may prove more beneficial than the other two theories. If awareness of this theory and steps are made common to the masses, and/or are made part of the curriculum, not only the problem of case reporting can be dealt with but also the problem of domestic violence. It has been said by all the great saints that power of nature and the environment has a divinity to it; it is pure. By becoming part of, and understanding one’s own, dependency on the environment; whether natural, biological or social, one learns not only to understand the correct ways in which relationships should be carried and handles, but one understands his/her own responsibility in life; whether it be in their family life or social life. Further Studies When researching this topic, what struck this writer the most was that while the lack of reporting of domestic violence cases, and the emotional effects on children were greatly elucidated, there was little written academically about the reasons behind mothers letting the children suffer, even if it is emotionally. The reasons why wives endure domestic violence have been made explicate countless of times, and in repeated cases the mothers have been known to be so utterly broken that they could not protect their children from the emotional trauma. The reasons behind the children not speaking up to the professionals or telling anyone else, even when they were very young, has also been explained. It is after all, inherent in children to love their families unconditionally. Moreover, if it is the only life they have witnessed, they become used to it, learning to accept it as part of their routine. However, the mothers who have not been, for lack of better words, utterly broken, still fail most times to report cases of abuse. Natural sciences, Psychology and Human Behavioural Sciences, all teach the same thing; that maternal instinct overpowers all other instincts. Why then do mothers not try to put a stop to the indirect abuse their children suffer? Obviously they see the social and emotional troubles the small children face. Most small children are usually incapable of hiding their emotions greatly. With the advancement and spread in media and globalization, women in developed countries are acutely aware of ways in which domestic abuse can be stooped. They still choose to ignore the help. Is it perhaps that they love their spouse or elder children (or whoever is the perpetrator) more? Or do they think that because their children are young, the indirect abuse does not count? Conclusion There is an obvious need for more research on this topic. Many aspects that arise from domestic violence in families with small children remain untouched. And while there are many solutions now available for members of such families to pursue, there is little that the children can do to safeguard themselves. They must depend on their parents and/or elder siblings. This leaves no choice but to uproot the problem, so that it never harms the children or other members of the family again. However, little has been done to prevent issues of domestic violence from arising in the first place compared to what has been done to solve the problem in this day and age. While the problem that is occurring IS being addressed, the main focus has been on how to stop it, not to eradicate it from the society completely. Small children form the future generations of this world. They are pure in their thoughts and heart, bear no malice for others, and love unconditionally. However, they are dependent on others. In exposing them to the violence in their families, parents/guardians ensure that the children grow up to be either, traumatized and socially underdeveloped, or to follow their examples. They may become the abusers when they grow up, or end up in abusive relationships. Awareness and prevention campaigns must be carried out on a wide scale as well as more research into this issue. References Allaire, T., Macias, R., & and Perilla, J. (2012, July 31). Effects of Country of Origin and Cognitive Development on Psychological Adjustment and Family Cohesion of Latino Youth Witnesses of Domestic Violence. Retrieved March 17, 2013, from Georgia State University - Digital Archive: http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/honors_theses/11/ Bentovim, A., & all, e. (2009). Safeguarding Children Living with Trauma and Family Violence. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Bowen, K. (2000, January). Child Abuse and Domestic Violence in Families of Children Seen for Suspected Sexual Abuse. Retrieved March 17, 2013, from Sage Journals: http://cpj.sagepub.com/content/39/1/33.short Carrell, S. E., & Hoekstra, M. L. (2010). Externalities in the Classroom: How Children Exposed to Domestic Violence Affect Everyone's Kids. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics (Vol 2, Num 1) , 211-228. Fantuzzo, J. W. (1999). Prevalence and Effects of Child Exosure to Domestic Violence. Retrieved March 17, 2013, from MyJSTOR: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1602779?uid=3738832&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21101779783483 Kilpatrick, L. a. (2010). Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Child Witnesses to Domestic Violence. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry , 639-644. Levendosky, A. A.-B. (2001). Parenting in Battered Women: The Effects of Domestic Violence on Women and Their Children. Journal of Family Violence, Vol. 16, No. 2 , 171-192. Moylan, C. A., Herrenkohl, T. I., Sousa, C., Tajima, E. A., & Herrenkohl, R. C. (2010). The Effects of Child Abuse and Exposure to Domestic Violence on Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems. Journal of Family Violence (Volume 25, Issue 1) , 53-63. Mullender, A., Hague, G., & all, e. (2002). Children's Perspectives on Domestic Violence. London: Sage Publications. Richardson-Foster, H., Stanley, N., Miller, P., & and Thompson, G. (2012). Police Intervention in Domestic Violence Incidents where Children are Present: Police and Children's Perspectives. Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy (Vol 22, Issue 2) , 220-234. Rodgers, R. H. (1993). Family Development Theory. Sourcebook of Family Theories and Methods , 225-257. Stanley, N., Miller, P., & and Foster, H. R. (2012). Engaging with Children's and Parents' Perspectives on Domestic Violence. Child and Family Socila Work: Special Issue , 192-201. Read More