Family Violence: Causes, Effects, and Societal Implications

This essay explores the multifaceted issue of family violence, also known as domestic abuse or intimate partner violence, examining its causes, effects, and potential solutions. The essay identifies various factors contributing to domestic violence, including the abuser's need for control, stemming from jealousy, low self-esteem, or societal beliefs. Socioeconomic backgrounds, exposure to violence during childhood, and substance abuse are also discussed as significant contributors. The effects of family violence on victims are analyzed, highlighting the impact on mental and physical health, including stress, anxiety, depression, and physical injuries. The essay further delves into the impact on children, who may develop behavioral and psychosomatic disorders. The importance of community involvement, public awareness, and the availability of counseling, legal, and medical advice is emphasized. The essay concludes by advocating for intervention strategies that address the needs of both victims and children, and promote a society-wide approach to combat family violence.

Family Violence
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Family Violence
Domestic violence can have many names like domestic abuse or intimate partner violence.
The main reason is when one partner feels the need of expressing dominance over the other
partner. There is a need of control in the partner. The control can be due to many reasons like
jealousy, low self-esteem and the socioeconomic background. There can be also strong
traditional beliefs that it is the right of the man to control women (Black et al, 2011). Others
can have personality disorders. In the socio-economic background, it is possible that the child
has learned this while growing up and considers it as a normal household practice. Interaction
of any situation is something the abuser learns while growing up. They might find it a way of
solving household conflicts. Boys who see and learn growing up that woman are not to be
valued and see domestic violence in their family are also likely to do the same when to grow
up. The abuser learns violent behaviour from the family community and society; there
influence teaches all this while growing up (Ramsay et al, 2009). The people who conduct the
act of violence are also subjected to violence or abuse at some point in time in their life.
Some may admit that they have seen their family indulged in domestic violence and some
might have been abused as a child. They have all reasons to believe that violence is a justified
act. They have connived with the idea that women are not equal to men. It is what they saw at
their home. In many societies, a male child is much more desirable than a female child. This
leads the male child to believe that he is superior to a female child from childhood. They
don’t respect the women. As they have seen this from childhood. They witness the way
society treats a female child and the advantages they get to born as a male child. They
considered domestic violence against females to be there right (Campbell).
Alcohol and drugs are also major contributors towards domestic violence. Under the
influence of alcohol, a person is not able to control his anger or rage. He does understand
much about the situation. If he has witnessed domestic violence before then he is likely to do

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the same at his home. The person who is into drugs does not value his own life or others
life. He is also likely to cause harm not only on the domestic level bit also at a social level
(Tomita, 2012).
Age group also plays an important role. As per a study, teenage is most victimising in
domestic violence. The age group from 13-19 years are the most venerable. Although the
incidents among girls are higher than boys, they can fell prey to domestic violence due to a
strained relationship between their parents (Straus et al, 1990). It can be from both the parents
and either of the parents.
Socio-economic status also comes in play. Most commonly it is reported that in low socio-
economic groups domestic violence is found more. The wealthier women are less subjected
to domestic violence. Women who are independent, earning are less likely to be subjected to
domestic violence (Barnett et al, 2005). People often indulged in domestic violence have a
criminal history also. They have their records with local jails . They mostly have been
imprisoned and have been in jail for some duration. They have been frequently involved in
antisocial activities.
People who don’t have an income or have a very low income are often depressed, angry and
intolerant. They tend to vent their frustration out on their partner in form of domestic
violence. Also, people who are divorced or separated indulge in domestic violence. In this
case, people become lonely they might have dependents on them. Loneliness also becomes a
reason for depression and frustration (Levinson, 1989). Also nowadays in the case of early
marriage, the couple is not financially stable. They jump into the decision of marriage. They
do not think of the future. This causes many hurdles in settling down in life. The couple
might not get financially settled the way they wish to. Early marriage also causes early
pregnancy so the burden on the family rises further. Hence domestic violence becomes more

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common. A person who is suffering from the psychosomatic disorder is also likely to do
domestic violence. In this, the underlying disease could be depression. This does not allow
the person to be generally happy, the person will always be sad and gloomy or he may have
bipolar disorder. In which the mood swings are very extreme (Straus and Gelles, 1986). The
person is not able to control his anger. Sometimes he will be very depressed and sometimes
very angry. Depending on this he might follow the path of domestic violence. Domestic
violence is most importantly on female partner and the children.
Domestic violence can cause serious effect on the mind, body and spirit. Chronic exposure to
domestic violence can have a serious impact on the mental health. There can be stress and
fear resulting domestic violence. Domestic violence affects a person’s thoughts and
behaviour. It can lead to mental disability if someone is tortured for long. It can cause
increased level of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Also, depression symptoms are
commonly observed. Posttraumatic stress disorder is generally due to after a mental trauma.
In these, people show symptoms like nightmares, anxiety about that particular event. They
show a lack cope with it for some time (Black et al, 2011). It can get better if the environment
and situation get better but if the act of violence continue then things might go worse.
Depression is the most common feeling observed in domestic violence. It is a feeling of
sadness and hopelessness. The person loses interest in everything. There is a loss of energy,
happiness and things the person used to enjoy earlier. In depression cases, people may have
suicidal thoughts.
Domestic violence also causes physical injury. Initially, people try to cover these injuries to
avoid being questioned by others. Someone might be afraid to speak about it public. As they
think that there will be at a greater risk of being abused. Domestic violence affects a person’s
overall health. There are common physical effects of domestic violence which can be

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noticed , they are fatigue. The victim can have a chronic state of fatigue and tiredness. There
can be severe muscle tension due to physical injuries. Due to the chronic fear and trauma
symptoms like chronic shaking develops (Ramsay et al, 2009). There is also a severe
alteration in eating and sleeping patterns. The stress suppresses the hunger response. Due to
stress and anxiety, the sleep patterns are also changed.
Domestic violence directly impacts children. They grow up in an environment that is
unpredictable. For them, the environment is always dominated by fear. This causes
significant emotional and psychological trauma. Instead of growing up in an emotionally
secure, caring and happy environment these children grow in a state of the environment
which is unprintable. The environment is always constantly subjected to fear, grief and
sadness. Generally, in this situation the children see their father abusing mother . They see
their mother being threatened and tortured. They mostly overhear the conflict noises and later
on they find their mother injured as the act of traumatisation. These children are most likely
to develop the behavioural disorder and psychosomatic disorders. There upbringing is
significantly affected (Campbell, 2007). They don’t turn out to be very good performers in
their schools as they always see violence in their family. The environment which promotes
proper education is never present. These children end up being less educated and may end up
in a miserable future. Also, there can be situations where father manipulates the children to
abuse the mother. These children learn all these from their childhood and most likely to
practice it once get married or have a relationship. There are chances that children might get
caught in the middle of the assault. This can be due to their wish to stop the assault or may by
accident. In this case, children have chances of getting hurt. Also, these children do not
develop a proper social behaviour (Tomita, 2012). As they are not able to focus on studies or
do their education in a proper manner they can deviate towards crime at a young age and end
up in jails A proper guidance from parents are very much necessary at every stage of

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childhood. But in the case of guidance is generally missing and children are prone to choose
the negative pathways.
Domestic violence not only has an effect on our family but also on the entire community.
They are associated with severe mental disorders. This requires extensive medical attention to
deal with. It is very unfortunate that violence against women is a major health concern. It
contributes to many deaths worldwide. It can cause physical and mental impairment for the
lifetime. The long-term effect on a child of domestic violence can be destructive behaviour,
anger and difficulty in trusting people. In domestic violence, the victim has to quit the jobs in
many situations due to absenteeism or result of violence (Barnett et al, 2005). There can be
many reasons for which the victims have frequent absenteeism. One of them can be injuries
other may be due to frequent inference by the law or some proceeding at the court.
Continuity of employment becomes very difficult with this situation. Victims may avoid
coming to work to avoid domestic violence.
There are many ways in which we can approach domestic violence. Firstly community
approach is required. There has to be increased public attention. In this case, we need to
identify the victim and evaluate the options as per the circumstances. The first requirement is
the treatment of the victim for various physical and mental traumas. Once the victim is
identified then treatment is required at every level. Mental trauma might take many years to
heal. The non-profit organisations can directly involve. They can deal with women on case to
case basis. The people surrounding the victim need to be aware. In crises situation, quick
response is required to prevent irreversible damages (Levinson, 1989). They should be
education about the 24 hours hotline numbers in case of emergency. These numbers
encourage the women to fight against violence and raise a voice against it. She can be
rescued immediately in a crises situation. There is also a requirement for counselling, legal
and medical advice. Counselling improves the chances of the individual to cope with the

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situation also these individuals become socially isolated. Counselling will help them to come
back to the society and increase their self-esteem and confidence. Also, victims need legal
advice, knowledge and information. As in these cases, many time separations are required.
Legal help will guide them through this. Also, they need support in establishing their
independence, housing and jobs. A well-developed network is required to ensure the
maximum participation of women so that more and more women can come out of domestic
violence. There is a need for a campaign, public presentations so that awareness regarding
domestic violence can be spread (Wallace and Roberson, 2015). The victims should not feel
left alone. They should be aware of the options of coming out of domestic violence and
improve their life. In many cases, children are also involved. In this, it is required only to
rescue the women but also rehabilitation of the women. The care of the children is also
necessary. They have either witnessed domestic violence or have been involved in it. In both
the case, they have physical and mental trauma. Counselling will help them coping and learn
about safety (Finkenauer et al, 2015). Also they can also approach the emergency numbers
when in a crisis. The non-profit organisation can provide children counselling and motivation
for a bright future and women to seek employment.
Nurses can help them cope with the situation. This can be done by empathy and
understandings. Nurses have a very key role in this. They can encourage the victim to
disclose about the domestic abuse and ask for support. Keeping quite will lead to further
worsen the situation. The victims need to come out and seek help. If they keep the violence to
themselves the acts might increase in severity. It might give more courage to the individual
who is doing the act of cruelty. In severe situations in few cases, they need to be referred to
shelter. In this situation, it becomes important where if the victim is allowed to live in the
same house with the abuser then it might be a danger to her life. Women often face many
practical problems in leaving their homes nurses can help them in their social setting. Also,

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the victim required a lot of emotional support and time (Archer, 2013). Proper counselling
can help in achieving the lost self-esteem back. In many cases, there is some mental illness.
This kind of illness can be taken care of by proper emotional support and counselling. The
females with depression need special attention in the emotional aspect so that they can
recover well. Cancelling and emotional support can help the victims to regain their
confidence and way of life. Nurses need to understand that their own attitude affects the
feeling of the victim. The government does consider the victims of domestic violence fall
under the health care system. Nurses can identify abuse and take a holistic approach towards
it. There are many barriers because of which women do not ask for help. They feel very shy
or awkward to disclose the problem. It is the duty of the nurse to have an empathetic
approach towards them so that they can look forward in life (Chiang, 2014). Give them new
hope. Help them in establishing their own identity also do the routine counselling. In these
victims, routine counselling is very important as it help them to disclose their feeling and
concerns to a professional who can understand them. Nurses need to be a very patient
listener. At times listing to someone is all that it takes. Nurses need to listen to their grief,
concerns and tortured moments so that they can move on forward in life. Nurses need to
ensure that the victim is able to access the services they need to achieve independence.

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