Mental health can often be a focus for those experiencing domestic violence. It is known that by witnessing such a traumatic event, children may experience learning difficulties and other developmental delays later in life. In addition to these factors, there are several physical consequences of trauma exposure, such as hypertension, sleep problems, or anxiety disorders later in life (Phillips and Todd, 2007). These problems may even continue into adulthood, where they could lead to substance abuse and addiction if left unchecked, forming an intergenerational cycle.
As such, Ethnic Media Services held a briefing where experts will draw on insights from the fields of sociology, psychology and public health to offer insight into how exposure to violence can affect adults who grew up in homes where domestic violence was present. They hope their presentations can help both professionals working with children and those new to the field better understand these repercussions.
The topics have been chosen because they are all important issues for human development and each addresses a different facet of this issue: witnessing or experiencing gun violence; understanding the generational cycle; types of mental illnesses - such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - and implications for treatment providers working with child patients.
Shikha Hamilton Brady United's National Director of Advocacy and Mobilization to End Gun Violence, said that in the United States, women are "more likely to be killed by intimate partners than any other type of violence." The presence of a firearm in these situations makes them much more deadly and increases the likelihood that someone will be killed or injured.
Accidental shootings of children increased exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new coronavirus caused chaos in communities and homes, so it is not surprising that accidental shooting deaths also increased. It is unclear what caused this dramatic change, but experts are certain of one thing: more research is needed on the possible effects of COVID-19 on human behavior and cognition before anything can be guaranteed about a future epidemic.
LaTonya Wood, Ph.D., director of Clinical Training for the psychotherapy program at Pepperdine, noted that it is "a common misconception that the effects of domestic violence on children are limited to emotional trauma." In reality, Hamilton says, it can have lifelong detrimental consequences for their physical and mental health. For example, they may engage in violent behavior as a defense mechanism in the face of conflict or aggression caused by others.
Wood infers that "academic success is a major concern for children in violent homes" because when children are exposed to violence, they may be more likely to get into trouble in school and have more difficulty concentrating on their work, which can lead them down the wrong path. Conversely, there are also some studies that show that conflict in the home may actually improve cognitive functioning because it creates a "learning-by-doing" environment, the effect depending on how long the child has lived in those conditions and whether or not he or she was born into that situation.
Leiana Kinnicutt, director of the Children and Youth Program at Futures Without Violence, pointed out that, to help children exposed to domestic violence, interventions must address both the direct effects of exposure - helping them cope with stressors - and the indirect effects - attitudes toward parents. A multisystemic approach is important because it focuses on the multiple social influences that increase or decrease risk among children.
"This is a serious issue, but there is one thing we can be sure of: guns in these situations make violence much more likely to end in death," he concluded.
