Impact of Domestic Violence on Mental Health: Socio-Economic and Psychological Factors

This article discusses the impact of domestic violence on mental health, including the socio-economic and psychological factors that contribute to it. It also provides statistics on the prevalence of domestic violence and mental health issues in Australia and worldwide.

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
Introduction:
The World Health Organization has defined mental health as the status of well-being in
which individual identify their potentiality to cope up with stressful condition of life, work
accurately and contribute to the wider community in an effective manner (who.int, 2018). With
mental health and well-being an individual could live meaningful life in order to achieve their
personal goal. However, there are many factors that affect the ability of individual to maintain
mental health and well-being. Domestic violence has been identified as one of the potential
factors that affects the mental health and well-being of individual to an extent (Johnson, 2016).
Domestic violence is considered as the violence in the domestic settings. Domestic violence may
include violence against parents, children and other family members. It includes sexual, verbal,
physical and mental abuse. Women have been found to be most vulnerable group to domestic
violence. Statistics has indicated that 35% women in the world suffer from domestic violence
(Pallitto et al., 2013). In United States 33% cases of domestic violence has been reported
(ncadv.org, 2018). In Australia the prevalence is 54% (aihw.gov.au, 2018). Thus, it has become
the global issue. Such domestic violence has been found to contribute to the development of
stress, depression and anxiety, thus, leads to the consequence of mental illness (Berns, 2017).
The purpose of the assignment is to identify the factors contributing to the domestic violence and
their effect on mental health. In this regards the paper will provide description of some socio-
economic factors and psychological factors that contribute to the event of domestic violence thus
leads to mental disorder.
Socio-economic factors:
Socio-economic factors have been identified to contribute to the development of
domestic violence in an effective manner. Three major factors that are responsible for the event

2MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
of domestic violence are poverty, education and substance abuse (Kulkarni et al., 2013). The
following paper will provide brief discussion regarding the effect of the three major factors on
domestic violence and mental health.
Impact of income:
Prevalence of domestic violence has been found to be high in low income families. It has
been found that lack of access to household, employment and resources impact negatively on the
individual thus, they could involve in the event of domestic violence. Due to financial crisis, in
some cases women try to work in order to earn money to support the family, however, some
family members restrict them from working, in such cases conflict occurs within the families that
could lead to the incident of domestic violence (Cattaneo & Goodman, 2015). It has been found
that 51% cases of domestic violence is associated with low income (Pallitto et al., 2013). In
Australia, due to lack of employment and income, aboriginal people face domestic violence and
it has been reported that 38% cases of domestic violence has been caused due to unemployment
and poverty in the aboriginal population (aihw.gov.au, 2018). Thus, it can be said that, poverty
contributes effectively as a socio-economic factor to the consequence of domestic violence, thus
affect the mental health and well-being of individual.
Impact of education:
Low literacy rate is another effective contributor to the events of domestic violence.
Uneducated men or women are less productive economically. Thus, they pose an inferior status
in the family. Hence, it becomes easy to exploit such people (Brockhoff, Krieger & Meierrieks,
2015). On the other hand lack of education leads to the consequence of unemployment and low
income, which is responsible most of the cases of domestic violence (Berns, 2017). Furthermore,

3MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
a society with low literacy is associated with high level of social discrimination. Such
discrimination play an important role in the event of domestic violence. Even domestic violence
related to dowry is a consequence of low literacy (Brockhoff, Krieger & Meierrieks, 2015). It has
been found that 45.8% incident of domestic violence is due to lack of literacy (Pallitto et al.,
2013). In Australia, lack of education impacts effectively on the lifestyle of aboriginals. The rate
of education is high in the non-indigenous people than the indigenous people, thus rate of
domestic violence is also low in the non-indigenous population (abs.gov.au, 2018). Thus,
education is important for both the convict and the victim to reduce the incident of domestic
violence.
Impact of substance abuse:
Study has indicated that there are adequate evidence that has indicated the relationship
between domestic violence and substance. It has been found that 61% of abusers or convict of
domestic violence are associated with abuse of one or more substance such as alcohol, drugs and
others (Whiteford, et al., 2013). Substance abuse increases the risk of violence as it affect the
ability of individual for decision making. The characteristics of inherent personality may trigger
the event of intimate partner violence (Van der Kolk, 2017). The generational cycle is related
with substance abuse and domestic violence. An individual that experience the event of
substance abuse and violence in the family from childhood may adapt the same in the later life
(Whiteford, et al., 2013). 3.1 million Australians have been reported to use drugs and half of the
Australian are associated with alcohol abuse (aihw.gov.au, 2018). With such prevalence it has
been found that the incidence of mental health issue is also high in the population. Not only the
victims but also the abusers are suffered from different mental health issue such as psychological
distress and substance abuse disorder (Whiteford, et al., 2013). 57.2% cases of psychological

4MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
distress is due to substance abuse in Australia (aihw.gov.au, 2018). Thus, it can be said the factor
has strong impact on domestic violence and mental well-being as well.
Psychological factors:
Beside socio-economic factors, some psychological factors also play a vital role in the
incident of domestic violence. It has been found that stress, mental disorder and thought process
are the major factors that lead to the events of domestic violence (Reina, Lohman & Maldonado,
2014). The following paper will provide information regarding the contribution of such factors in
the consequence of domestic violence.
Impact of stress:
Stress is a crucial factor that contributes effectively to the incident of domestic violence.
It has been found that stress could be raised from financial crisis, family conflict or critical
situation in life could create violence in the domestic settings (Van der Kolk, 2017). When a
person fails to cope up with stress, he or she might be involved in some action related to
violence. In some cases people fail to manage some situation such as failure in workplace,
relationship or other field. In such conditions people reflect their stress on other person such as
wife, children, parents or other family members (Cissner, Labriola & Rempel, 2013). Such
situation could influence the event of domestic violence. In Australia stress disorder has found in
35% people and it has been reported by the Australian Psychological Society that certain level of
stress is associated with domestic violence (psychology.org.au, 2018). Thus, it can be said that,
stress is a potential factor that is related with the case of domestic violence.
Impact of mental illness:

5MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
As mentioned before mental health issue has become one of the biggest concerns in the
health and social care system across the world. One of the main reasons is its contribution to the
consequence of domestic violence (Van der Kolk, 2017). In case of several mental disorders
people lack the ability of making decision, for example, personality disorder, depression or
anxiety disorder and others. In such cases people fail to control their thoughts and due to
excessive aggressiveness they could involve in the event of domestic violence (Cissner, Labriola
& Rempel, 2013). According to the health statistics, 42% people in Australia are suffering from
severe mental health issue and most of the patients have been found to be involved in the act of
violence (psychology.org.au, 2018). Thus, it is important to provide adequate treatment to such
people in order to reduce the prevalence of domestic violence in the population.
Impact of thought process of individual:
There are some differences between the thought processes of individual. Thought process
play an important role in developing personal perception regarding a matter. Due to different
consequence thought process may be affected, in such cases negative thoughts may be created
regarding a matter. Negative thoughts may include jealousy, hate, doubt or domination regarding
a person. Such negative thoughts may influence the incident of domestic violence (Cissner,
Labriola & Rempel, 2013). In some severe cases such negative thoughts may lead to death as
well. Both the abuser and the victim get affected by such thought process (Van der Kolk, 2017).
The Australian psychological society has indicated that such thought disorder is most common in
the people aged between 18 to 25 years, however, other age group is also vulnerable
(psychology.org.au, 2018). Such factor contributes in the development of both the domestic
violence and mental health issue.
Critical thinking:

6MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
There are adequate evidences that have indicated event of domestic violence leads to
significant physical harm. In addition, the impression of domestic violence on mental health of
individual has been identified by many studies (Van der Kolk, 2017). People become depressed
and anxious due to such physical, mental or sexual abuse. Study has indicated the association of
post-traumatic stress disorder with domestic violence. In some cases, physical, sexual or mental
abuse in early life could affect the mental health of the children and trigger symptoms of mental
illness in later life (Johnson, 2016). In some severe cases the incident affect the thought process
of the victims thus, may induces the thoughts of suicide as well (Berns, 2017). Thus, introducing
adequate prevention measure is required in order to diminish the effect of such factors and
impact of domestic violence on the psychological condition of the victims and the convict as
well (Reina, Lohman & Maldonado, 2014).
Conclusion:
From the above discussion it can be said that, mental well-being is the ability of maintain
the critical situation in life and live meaningful life in order to achieve their personal goal.
However, there are many factors that affect the mental health of individual to an extent.
Domestic violence is one of such factors that lead to the consequence of mental health issue. It
has been found that some socio-economic factors and play an important role in the occurrence of
domestic violence, for example, poverty, education and substance abuse. In addition there are
some psychological factors as well, such as, stress, thought process and mental disorder. Such
factors lead to the increase in mental distress, depression anxiety and other severe mental health
issue. Thus, it is important to introduce adequate interventions in order to resolve the issue of
domestic violence and improve the mental health status of individual in Australia and worldwide.

7MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
References:
abs.gov.au (2018). Education - Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved from
http://www.abs.gov.au/Education
aihw.gov.au (2018). Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia, 2018, Summary -
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Retrieved from
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/domestic-violence/family-domestic-sexual-violence-in-
australia-2018/contents/summary
aihw.gov.au (2018). Illicit use of drugs Overview - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-statistics/behaviours-risk-factors/illicit-
use-of-drugs/overview
Berns, N. S. (2017). Framing the victim: Domestic violence, media, and social problems.
Routledge.
Brockhoff, S., Krieger, T., & Meierrieks, D. (2015). Great expectations and hard times: The
(nontrivial) impact of education on domestic terrorism. Journal of Conflict
Resolution, 59(7), 1186-1215.
Cattaneo, L. B., & Goodman, L. A. (2015). What is empowerment anyway? A model for
domestic violence practice, research, and evaluation. Psychology of Violence, 5(1), 84.
Cissner, A. B., Labriola, M., & Rempel, M. (2013). Testing the Effects of New York's Domestic
Violence Courts: A Statewide Impact Evaluation. New York: Center for Court
Innovation.

8MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
Johnson, M. P. (2016). Confl ict and Control: Symmetry and Asymmetry in Domestic Violence.
In Couples in conflict (pp. 125-134). Routledge.
Kulkarni, S., Bell, H., Hartman, J. L., & Herman-Smith, R. L. (2013). Exploring individual and
organizational factors contributing to compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress,
and burnout in domestic violence service providers. Journal of the Society for Social
Work and Research, 4(2), 114-130.
ncadv.org (2018). NCADV | National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Retrieved from
https://ncadv.org/statistics
Pallitto, C. C., García‐Moreno, C., Jansen, H. A., Heise, L., Ellsberg, M., & Watts, C. (2013).
Intimate partner violence, abortion, and unintended pregnancy: Results from the WHO
Multi‐country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence. International Journal
of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 120(1), 3-9.
psychology.org.au (2018). Home | APS. Retrieved from https://www.psychology.org.au/
Reina, A. S., Lohman, B. J., & Maldonado, M. M. (2014). “He said they’d deport me” factors
influencing domestic violence help-seeking practices among Latina immigrants. Journal
of Interpersonal Violence, 29(4), 593-615.
Van der Kolk, B. A. (2017). Developmental Trauma Disorder: Toward a rational diagnosis for
children with complex trauma histories. Psychiatric annals, 35(5), 401-408.
Whiteford, H. A., Degenhardt, L., Rehm, J., Baxter, A. J., Ferrari, A. J., Erskine, H. E., ... &
Burstein, R. (2013). Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use

9MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
disorders: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The
Lancet, 382(9904), 1575-1586.
who.int (2018). WHO | Mental health: a state of well-being. Retrieved from
http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/mental_health/en/