Physical Abuse versusVerbal Abuse - Research Paper Example

Physical Abuse versusVerbal Abuse Arguably, both physical and verbal abuse takes place in different settings and both have negative long-term effects particularly on the victim. The concept abuse refers to anything that hurts an individual either physically, emotionally or even mentally. Generally, physical abuse involves violence such as grabbing a person, pushing or hitting leaving the victim in state of fear and reduced self-esteem. On the contrary, the use of negative words is the most commonly known feature of verbal abuse as many verbal abusers use strategies like name-calling or shaming to take down their target. Just like physical violence or abuse, verbal abuse leaves the victim with low self-esteem from the fear that they will be attacked again. Physical abuse is the most common form of abuse that many people are aware of in the society this is because the society determines abuse as being physical in nature, but other forms of abuse such as verbal, economical, and sexual abuses are given little attention. Notably, verbal abuse and its effects has been a topic of discussion particularly in relation to other forms of abuses such as physical abuse; as a result, this paper seeks to discuss the differences and similarities between physical abuse and verbal abuse. Physical abuse can be defined as the use of physical force against an individual in a manner that injures that individual (Hayes 66). Notably, physical abuse includes aggressive actions such as hitting, punching, and stabbing among others. Some of the forms of physical abuse that are common include parental, patient, and spouse abuse among others (Payne 67). On the other hand, verbal abuse usually takes place when a person uses language to cause harm to another person. Some of the examples of verbal abuse include recalling an individual’s past mistakes or shaming, yelling, name-calling, insulting, and belittling among others (Hayes 66). Verbal abuse does not leave an individual with physical bruises but it result in deep and lasting mental scars and it leaves the victim feel frustrated, humiliated, and fearful. Indeed, verbal abuse including name-calling, belittling as well as insulting has a long-lasting impact on self-esteem since such harsh words keep ringing in the victim’s mind repeatedly. Undeniably, verbal abuse also affects the victim very badly just like other forms of abuse including physical abuse and according to Hayes verbal abuse can be more damaging compared to physical abuse (66). In fact, verbal abuse is worse than physical abuse, and in most cases people tend to focus more on the physical abuse because its impacts are easily identifiable as opposed to verbal abuse, which cannot be identified easily. Verbal abuse negatively affects the victim’s imaginations, emotions, and psyche. In most cases, verbal abuse is not considered as serious as other forms of violence; however, its impacts can be devastating. The words that people say about an individual can really affect the way a person sees and feels about himself or herself. Unlike in physical abuse where the victim’s body is assaulted and hurt, self-image and self-esteem of the victim are significantly affected by verbal abuse. Therefore, verbal abuse is worse than physical abuse because of the many reasons, first, the damage is internal and only the victim who experiences the adverse effects is able to say boldly how a person is affected by verbal abuse. Moreover, the physical scars caused by physical abuse may fade with time but mental scars may last forever. Mental pain is worse than the physical pain because the latter usually has an end as opposed to the former, which keeps repeating in the victim’s mind repeatedly for a long time. In addition, verbal abuse hurts more since the negative words addressed to individuals can stay in their mind, and they keep on remembering them even if they would like to move on. The wounds caused by physical abuse heal but the verbal abuse wounds continue to grow and resurfaces. In short, verbal abuse is worse than physical abuse because it usually takes time to heal from mental or emotional scars of verbal abuse as compared to the physical scars. Nevertheless, physical abuse is just the same as verbal abuse, since they have the same long-term effects only that they differ in the manner in which they are carried out. Any form of abuse is negative and so there is none, which is worse than the other is; there is nothing positive about any form of abuse (Hicks 9). Both are just the same because they both damage an individual, since physical abuse leaves the victim with physical scars whereas verbal abuse leaves mental scars. Even though both physical and verbal abuse hurt the same, scars in the soul usually takes more time to heal. On the contrary, verbal abuse is not worse that physical abuse because it is extremely difficult to abuse an individual verbally and kill them but with physical abuse, death can occur. In conclusion, there are various forms of abuse experienced by societal members include physical and verbal abuse, the most common being physical abuse because the society understands abuse as the use of physical force to harm the other by stabbing, hitting, or punching. On the other hand, verbal abuse refers to the use of words to attack an individual, it aims at taking away the individual’s self-worth, and it includes name-calling, shaming, and belittling among others. Both physical and verbal abuses have damaging effects on the victims. For instance, physical abuse leaves the victim with physical scars but verbal abuses leaves the victim with mental scars. Many believe that verbal abuse is worse than physical abuse because it is very hard to heal mental scar, and the negative words can never be taken back. It has a long-lasting impact on the victim’s self-esteem. This implies that it difficult for the victim of verbal abuse to recover fully quickly. In contrast, physical scars heal fast and they can be easily forgotten with time. However, others argue that they are both the same because they both negatively affect an individual. Works Cited Hayes, Lisa. How to Escape from Relationship Hell. Lisa Hayes, 2008. Hicks, John. Living in the V. Lulu.com, 2006. Payne, Brian K. Crime and Elder Abuse: An Integrated Perspective. Springfield, Ill: Charles C Thomas, 2005. Print. Read More