Unsafe Haven; Domestic violence and children
By Sana Chaudhry
4 April 2016
It begins with shouting. Voices boom like thunder, reverberating off of the walls and ceilings. The closed doors and shuttered windows of the house diligently perform their duties and conceal the truth from the outside world. An argument over monthly finances spirals out of control in a blink of an eye. His pent up frustration and individual shortcomings are channeled into brute force as he destroys all objects in his path. She, terrified for her safety, pleads for him to stop, but is rewarded with a broken nose or a black eye, depending on his mood that day. Meanwhile, a young audience cowers behind the curtains, rooted to the spot by fear, unable to move.According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, this is the situation of 35 percent of all women, who will at some point or time in their lives experience intimate partner violence. Intimate partner violence – also known as domestic violence – includes emotional, sexual and physical abuse as well as threats of abuse. Examination of the literature on the basic human rights of every individual reveals that domestic violence is a violation of the right to life (article 2); the right to be free from torture or inhuman or degrading treatment (article 3); the right to respect for private and family life (article 8); and the prohibition of discrimination (article 14). According to the Journal of Pakistan Medical Association, it is the most pervasive yet least recognized human rights abuse in the world.
There was once a time where it could have been said that the effects of domestic violence on women are well-documented and comparatively little is known on the effect it has on the mental and physical health of the children. While concern about battered spouses has been growing for nearly three decades, discussions about their children did not appear in research literature until the 1980s. Now, however, extensive research has enabled us to better understand the far reaching effects of domestic violence on children.
A brain scan study by South Korean psychiatrist, Choi Ji-wook, from the Catholic University of Korea Daejeon St. Mary’s Hospital, claims that children who were exposed to violence within the home showed weaker connections in two areas of the brain – the hippocampus and the amygdala. The two components of the brain are responsible for the processing of emotional reactions, fear and the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory. This change in the brain’s anatomy leaves these children susceptible to an array of mental disorders, including depression and addiction.
In most cases, the child tends to sympathize with the parent who is the victim of abuse. They feel responsible for the actions of the aggressor, thinking that somehow they triggered the violence. But there are some cases where the child becomes conditioned to dislike the victim, who is the mother in 95 percent of the cases. They start of feel as though their parent has somehow warranted this kind of behavior, thus affecting the way they interact with other humans later in life
After the child starts to witness violent behavior within the confines of their home, they begin to live their lives in a constant state of fear, worrying not only for their safety, but also that of their siblings. As a result, they start to wet the bed as the fear starts to penetrate deep within their subconscious mind. Psychologically speaking, children may also lose the ability to concentrate on tasks and as a result may withdraw, leaving them vulnerable to random acts of aggression and insomnia. However, it is to be noted that these are only short term effects. Once the child is removed from the toxic environment, they no longer show these symptoms.
But continued acts of violence within the home lead to lasting behavioral problems, which can be classified as long term effects. Children who grow up in these homes learn that violence is the only effective way to resolve conflicts and problems. This leads to them replicating these acts later in life. Statistics show that one of three abused children becomes an adult abuser or victim, indicating that once a cycle of abuse is started, it becomes increasingly difficult to stop it. It is a classic case of the victims becoming the perpetrators and perpetuating the same mentality.
Researchers have used the social learning theory by Albert Bandura to explain this phenomenon. In his studies, Bandura agreed with the behaviorist learning theories of classical conditioning and operant conditioning. However, he also added two observations, one of which stated that behavior is learned from the environment through observational learning. Essentially what this means is, what a child sees, is what he or she will imitate. This was tested through the famous ‘Bobo-doll’ experiment. One third of the test subjects, which were between the ages of three to six, were shown somebody aggressive hitting the doll, one third were shown somebody who just played the doll in a subdued manner and one third were used as a control sample. The results revealed that the children who witnessed aggressive behavior towards the doll imitated that behavior.
According to the Express Tribune, 53% of teenage girls in Pakistan and India believe that a husband is justified in beating his wife. Compared to other countries around the world, Pakistan has little to zero shelters that can house and protect victims of domestic abuse. Furthermore, it is seen as a private, family matter, not open to discussion or intervention. Millions suffer from this trauma and yet have to silence their screams. Then how do we provide them relief?
