Domestic abuse and child abuse have widespread social and emotional costs. Family violence affects all segments of the family. The impact of violence on childrens’ lives appears to be far more substantial than the impact on adults lives(Family, Pg. 1). In most cases of family violence the family has conformed to a pattern in which the line of family violence started generations ago. This pattern must be broken before more children growup and live in a family that resorts to violence.
But their are also children who live in loving families who do not resort to violence and as these children mature they start resorting to violence to help solve and deal with their problems. Studies show that physical punishment could cause aggression in children, but other studies show that even abusive parental violence does not always lead to an increase in children’s aggression. Only by recognizing and addressing the multifactorial roots of violence in our society can we move closer to living in peace.
Violence within families often reflects behaviours learned by children from their parents. A theory is that violent behaviour is passed down from generation to generation through families (Cole & Flanagin, Pg. 2). The majority of Americans are subjected to corporal punishment at one point or another during their lifetime(Kandel, Pg. 4). Surveys suggested that almost all American parents used physical punishment at one point or another and the punishment was regared as an appropriate child rearing technique.
Another survey also suggested that some psychologists belive physical punishment to be an effective and useful socialization tool(Kandel, Pg. 2). Aggression is commonly conceived as existing on a continuum, ranging from very severe parental aggression to much milder and normal parental aggression, such as use of corporal or physical punishment(Kandel, Pg. 1). A common concern is that parental use of physical punishment will lead to aggressive behaviour in children.
There are three types of relationships between parents and their children, the first is a positive, linear one: some researchers have contended that any parental aggression may be positive and casually related to the development of antisocial aggression, the second group suggested that lack of physical unishment may contribute casually to the development of aggression and in the third group there was either too little or too much physical punishment that may increase the probability of aggressive behaviour in children(Kandel, Pg. 2). ” Children learn to be civilized by watching adults behave in civilized ways.
But it is not enough for us to demonstate behaviours that are merely socially acceptable. We must also demonstrate how to be caring, compassionate, and kind to our own children, to our friends children, to children who are at risk of becoming violent or of becoming victims, ect. in other words, to all children. Birckmayer, Pg. 2) ” Most child homicides are perpetrated by their caregivers , ” What are the long-term effects of knowing that one’s own home is the most dangerous place to be? (Cole & Flanagin, Pg. 2)” There is no single explanation for violent behaviour.
Significant contributors to violence are poverty, racism, unemployment, illegal drugs, inadequate parenting practices, and adult models of violent behaviour in real life and in the media. Violence on TV can help cause aggresive behaviour but, one must be reminded that not every person who watches violence on TV becomes violent(Birckmayer, Pg. 1). Our ociety needs to understand why this is so. Research suggests that violence arises from the interactions among individuals’ psychosocial development, their neurological and hormonal differences, and social process(Birckmayer, Pg. ).
The actions each of us takes to reduce violence are matters of individual conscience, skills, resources and opportunities. The escalation of violence in our society worries many people. What are the factors or buffers that keep many children and adults from behaving violently under the exactly the same circumstances that provoke others to violence? Finding explanations for violence can help s regain a sense of control, giving us a psychological distance and thereby reducing fears of our own safety (Birckmayer, Pg. 1).
Why is abuse increasing and what impact will it have on family and community Boys commit about 85% of all youth homicides and in most cases about 90% conform to a pattern in which the line from bad parenting and bad environment to murder is usually clear. The boys committing these acts of homicide start their lives with abuse, neglect and emotional deprivation at home. These children have the added effects of racism, poverty, the drug and gang cultures, and its not suprising that in a iolent society like ours, damaged children become deadly teens. ‘ But what about the other 10% of kids who kill: the boys who have loving parents and are not poor.
What about boys like Dylan Klebold or Eric Harris, or Kip Kinkle of Springfield, Ore. , who killed his parents and two classmates in 1998. Are their parents to blame when these kids become killers? (Garbarino, Pg. 35)” James Garbarino has learned as a researcher and an expert witness in youth homicide cases the answer is usually no when it come to blame being placed on loving parents.
Most children are like dandelions; they thrive if given half a chance. Some are more like orchids. They do fine while young enough to be nurtured by loving parents, but wilt as adolescents sujected to peer competition, bullying and rejection, particularly in big high schools. (Garbarino, ”In adolescence children respond to the influences of peers and the larger culture in the neighborhood and the nation(Garbarino, Pg. 35). In the U. S. the youth homicide rate is about 10 times higher than in Canada(Garbarino, Pg. 35).
The culture of adolescence today contains elements that are so nasty that t becomes difficult for parents and professionals to distingutsh between what in a teenager’s talk, dress and taste in music, films and video games indicates psychological trouble and what is simply a sign of the times. Most kids who subscribe to the trench-coated Goth lifestyle, or have multiple body piercings, or listen to Marilyn Manson, or play the video game Doom are normal kids caught in a toxic culture. But, ”Intelligent kids with good social skills can be quite skillful at hiding who they really are from their parents.”
Teens and children may hide things from their parents to avoid punishment, to escape being identified as crazy, or to protect the parents they love from being disappointed or worried about them. Dylan Klebold successfully hid his inner turmoil from his loving parents. How many parents are capable of thinking the worst of their son? That he harbors murderous fantasies, or that he could actually go as far as acting them out? ”Even if parents know their child as an individual, they may not understand what he is capable of when in the company of another boy.
Though it appears from public accounts that Eric Harris as more prone to violence that Dylan Klebold, neither kid was likely to go on this rampage alone (Garbarino, Pg. 35)” James Garbarino thinks many people are too ready to blame good parents for how their children cope with a violent coarse society. Even loving attentive parents can lose children who are tempermentally vunerable, if they develop a secret life, get caught up in the darkside of culture and form dangerous peer alliances. And that’s scary for any parent to acknowledge.
In order to interrupt and prevent further violence, the health care system can and should intervene. The fact is that most abused and neglected children never come to attention of authorities(Hopper, Pg. 1). Most interventions focus on treating the victims of domestic violence, rather than treating the batterer, this is due to the social acceptance of the victimization of women. There is occasionally over diagnosis of the victims of abuse because of poor understanding of emotional and psychological effects of the cycle of violence, the is belief that violence is innate therefore untreatable(Nicolette & Nuovo, Pg 1).
The programs specifically designed for batterers are increasing in number. Several states in the U. S. ave now instituted certification standards for batterer-treatment programs, designed to help the batterer break the cycle of violence, but never excuse their abusive behaviour(Nicolette & Nuovo, Pg 1). Effective programs use a group approach, last at least 24 weeks, provide a psycho-education approach rather than one involving psycho therapy, avoid couples’ counseling and have consistent procedures for assessing danger and protecting victims(Nicolette & Nuovo, Pg 1).
The batterer may benefit from direct interaction with a physician discussing the physical and psychological risks a batterer faces outside th obvious risk to the bused partner and the long term risks to any children involved in the cycle of violence(Nicolette & Nuovo, Pg 2). The batterer should also be alert to any of the less obvious repercussions, potential loss of freedom from incarceration and the financial costs to the family if legal fees and court costs are entailed.
Twelve national experts suggested that society should treat violence as a public healht issue, reach kids as early as possible and train them to get along with people in nonviolent ways, teach conflict resolution to everyone, an corporal punisment, promote responsible childrens television programming, invest money and programs in communities at risk for violence and find the few habitual, violent offenders who are responsible for most of the violence and separate them from the general public(Birckmayer, Pg. ) In many homes across the country the aspect of family violence exists. It is a problem that has been lingering since the beginning of time and will continue to linger until people realise that violence does not solve anything it just makes problems worse. It has a very negative impact on everyone involve in the iolent situation especially children.
For families that have violence existing on a continum all that is occuring is that they are teaching their children that violence is the proper of dealing with problems, and most likely these families are producing children who when they have a family of their own will resort to violence as away of dealing with their problems. There are many circumstances and factors why people resort to violence but, only by recognizing and addressing the multifactorial roots of violence in our society can we move closer to living in peace.
