Effect of Domestic Violence During Pregnancy - Research Paper Example

 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND PREGNACY Domestic violence or IPV Intimate Partner Violence is the abusive behavior in the family or a relationship in which one partner or family member gains power to intimidate another. Domestic violence during pregnancy is mainly expressed emotional and physical. In most occasions, men are the ones that perpetrateviolence in the family. There are many factors associate with men perpetrating domestic violence such as, being victim of domestic violence during childhood or observed domestic violence, alcohol, emotional disorders and lack of problem solving techniques. Domestic violence finds the way to deteriorate the physical and mental health of women during pregnancy and after the child is born. Some culture stress that women should accept the abuse against them just to keep their family together. Domestic violence and some cultures have strong negative effects in the life of pregnant women and their child, thus, it should not be accepted. Emotional is one of the contributing factors for domestic violence. Emotional abuse is not so easy to see with the eyes, but the emotional abuse can be sometimes be just as bad or worse than physical abuse.Many abusive men have a habit of ignoring their partner's feelings; often abusive men ridicule their wives in their beliefs and their appearance or their "ignorance" about certain aspects of daily life. The constantly screaming is used to intimidate and cause fear in women. These abusive men exercise dominance over the woman and they do not care humiliating and refusing to share with their wives ​​in public, claiming that women are "uneducated and undeserving". Abusive men express emotional abuse threatening gestures or body language to intimidate and get women to do what they want and when they want. Emotional abuse is most commonly developed verbally during pregnancy. Verbal abuseis any type of yelling, name-calling, blaming, and shaming (Domestic Violence, 2013).When men are the breadwinners they have an expectation of things that should be done before they get home from work. In most occasions, husbands provoke violence by calling for treatments that are beyond what their wives can provide. For example, in the story “The Day It Happened” Rosario Morales the author says, “When he arrived he expected a good dinner to be on the table at the right temperature and exactly five minutes after he walked in the door. He yelled if she didn’t get it right and sometimes even if she did” (Morales, 1992 p.561). Unfortunately, the occasional yelling make women not only to feel guilty, but also to feel worthless (Exploring Women’s Experiences of Domestic Violence: Injury, Impact and Infant Feeding, 2012). One consequence of emotional abuse against women during pregnancy is that when verbally mistreated the pregnant women lose the attitude of feeding their child (Exploring Women’s Experiences of Domestic Violence: Injury, Impact and Infant Feeding, 2012). Physical abuse is the cause of intentional pain to the body of someone. There are many examples of physical abuse such as, scratching, punching, biting, strangling or kicking. There is evidence that pregnancy may, for some women, be a period in their lives in which domestic violence being or escalates and these narratives reveal the violence within a specific period of time, during pregnancy. This violence has a causative effect on two lives, the mother and the fetus (Exploring Women’s Experiences of Domestic Violence: Injury, Impact and Infant Feeding, 2012). Women participate in a study in which they explained how physical abused affected their life. One of them says, ‘I have lost two children previously at 3 months, but he was violent to me when I lost those as well. But now my cervix doesn’t shut properly because I went through so much violence, so, that’s why my cervix doesn’t shut so I had to have the stitch in and everything (Exploring Women’s Experiences of Domestic Violence: Injury, Impact and Infant Feeding, 2012). .Intimate partner violence during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of miscarriage, low birth weight babies, and fetal injury or even death. In the literature “The Day It Happened” by Rosario Morales shows how Josie was concerned and scares of Ramon hurting the little baby growing inside of her. There are many factors that may attribute men to perpetrate domestic violence such as, direct victims of abuse in childhood, or have seen, this hypothesis intergenerational transmission of family violence is based on that manifestations of violence in its various forms (child abuse, marital violence ...) are repeated from one generation to the next. This fact is related to the social learning theory of Bandura where abusers come from families and have learned through modeling, that violence works acceptable way to resolve everyday conflicts. There are also studies linking alcohol and domestic abuse, and the use of drugs and violence.Abusers are most likely to present symptoms of emotional disorder such as, depressive and anxiety, as well as major problems in controlling anger (Morales, 1992 p.561). On the other hand "jealousy”plays an important role in domestic violence of married couples. In the literature “The Day it Happened” by Rosario Morales, shows how Ramon fill with jealous accuses his wife Josie of being a tramp just because other men where admiring her beauty. Josie didn’t do anything to provoke Ramon. The lack of skills (both communication and coping with stressful situations ...) to solve problems is a risk factor in studies of marital violence.However, none of these aspects can be considered as a necessary and sufficient to explain the behavior of perpetrators. Domestic violence has a negative effect on the health of women during pregnancy. According to the research carried out by (Exploring Women’s Experiences of Domestic Violence: Injury, Impact and Infant Feeding (2012), most of the miscarriages in the society are a result of domestic violence. According to it, the pressure produce by anargument or a fight leads not only to a pregnant woman feeling insecure, but also provoke reactions within her body leading to a miscarriage. This is also evidenced in the article (Domestic Violence, 2013), that present on how domestic violence led to death of a pregnant woman.Domestic violence also leads to pregnant women developing mental problems. This is evidenced by the assessment that was carried by the aid of the Edinburg Depression Scale and the Davidson Trauma Scale. According to these scales, pregnant women suffer from mental problems such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder when subjected to stressing conditions (Rose et al., 2010). Additionally, these scales also associate depression with fatal problems such as “self-isolation, self-doubt, and lack of emotional and physical energy” (Rose et al., 2010 p.109). Unfortunately, development of a mental problem leads to a pregnant woman developing hate towards her husband. This is evidenced in the story “The Day It Happened.” In that story, too much intimidation from Ramon made Josie develop depressed mood that prevented her from seeking assistance from anyone. Additionally, it made her regret marrying Ramon. Culture plays a big role in how women accept domestic violence or fight against it. Some culture stress that women do have to bear anything to maintain the family together.In the Hispanics culture women have to sacrifice themselves to make the family and people around happy. When women fall in love they think it is for life and put all their effort to make it work. In some Hispanic culture separation means typically a failure for the women because she has tried to give the best of them in that relationship. Many women have been raised to think that a child should have a father,it does not matter if is the worst father. Women are still imposes that "conventional” family should be preserved at all costs which is the best structure for the proper development of children (Rose et al., 2010). So many women are willing to sacrifice, as long as their children have this type of "home". Abused women don’t realize how much pain would save them and their children if they start a new life away from the abusive partner. On the other hand, American culture stressed that abused women should seek help and abandon the abusive partner. Domestic violence in the American culture leads to separation of family members. The reason as to why there are many single mothers in the American society. For example, in the literature “The Day It Happened” by Rosario Morales shows how Josie advised by her neighbors took the decision to abandon her husband Ramon. She realized that she needed to move on with her life and provide a safe environment for her and her child. In conclusion, domestic violence is an act of practicing abusive behaviors in a family. It can also be observed as a relationship base in intimidation from one partner who believes to have got the power over others. Domestic violence has many effects on pregnant women. It leads not only to loss of self-esteem, but also pregnant mother’s safety. It also affects the growth and development of children. In addition to causing miscarriages, it also affects with the feeding of the infants. Domestic violence also leads to the development of mental problems such as depression and PTSD in expectant mothers. Abuse, whether physical or emotional, should never be accepted. Unfortunately, some women are abused by their partners. Pregnancy does not grant women a pass from being abused. Work Cited Domestic Violence.(2013). CQ Press. Exploring Women’s Experiences of Domestic Violence: Injury, Impact and Infant Feeding. (2012). British Journal of Midwifery. Faiz, N., Gul, S., &Zeb, L. (2013).Frequency of Different Types of Domestic Violence in Antenatal Patients.J Postgrad Med Inst. Rose, L. et al. (2010). Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Pregnant Women’s Mental Health: Mental Distress and Mental Strength. Issues in Mental Health Nursing This is also evidenced by the character of Josie; when she didn’t assist to the church after getting into episodes of violence with her husband. Read More