Domestic Violence Report

Words: 1191
Pages: 5

Domestic violence affects millions of men, women and children each year. According to our course commentary, domestic violence is defined “ abusive situations occurring within or resulting from a domestic or familial partnership and will encompass physical, sexual, verbal, and emotional abuse towards and among children, parents, and partners of various orientations” (Week 1). Examples of domestic violence include child abuse, intimate partner abuse, and abuse of the elderly (De Benedictis, 2014). Domestic violence can be physical, psychological, and or sexual. In the United States, every minute on average 20 people are physically abused by an intimate partner every minute (Black, 2010). Domestic violence often follows a pattern alternating …show more content…
For instance, children are also directly and indirectly affected by the domestic violence crimes that they witness. Children are often used to threaten or control their mothers or fathers in a domestic violence situation. They are often physically or sexually harmed by the abuser as a way to coerce the other partner into doing something. Violence against children in its different forms has a negative impact on children’s physical, psychological and sexual health. For example, children can develop anxiety, depression, poor school performance and other negative health outcomes (WHO, 2017). Children can also develop negative social and health issues after experiencing or witnessing the abuse. Take for example, Jacob and Katie, Angela’s children in case study number one. Jacob, Angel's first born son, directly experiences domestic violence when Sam tells Jacob in front of the team and the main coach that he is a terrible player and drags his team down (Bacig). Sam continually inflicts psychological abuse upon Jacob. At home Sam even jokes about Jacob's poor performance and says he'd be embarrassed to continue coaching. Sam’s psychological abuse of Jacob affects him negatively. Jacob grows anxious and is often angry with Angela if things are not the way Sam wants them when he comes home. Since he is embarrassed to be around his teammates, Jacob quits the …show more content…
It affects the individual, their family, and the community around them. Likewise, the community and society contributes to domestic violence by not taking it seriously enough and by treating it as expected, normal, or deserved (De Benedictis, 2014). In order to better understand domestic violence, the individual, the family and domestic unit, the immediate social network, and the larger environmental network must be examined. We must further evaluate each of these components in relation to the legal, medical, and social service resources available to each (Week 1). As a society, I feel that we can become more aware of and sensitive to the needs of domestic violence victims by keeping an open mind and trying to “walk in the victims shoes.” I have also realized that domestic violence is an intimate abuse of power and each case of domestic violence is unique and cannot be