How Many Kids Are at Risk of Domestic Violence - Term Paper Example

Qualitative analysis has shown that children experiencing domestic violence grow up to become abusers in their adulthood and hence carry on the cycle of violence to the successive generations. However, little has been done to prove this theory empirically. This task has been attempted in this paper with the help of a regression model and its consequent analysis. The study has used U.S. data to verify the hypothesis and has concluded positively on the relationship between childhood exposure to domestic violence and adult abusiveness.

  Millions of children in the United States are subjected to violence at home, school, and in their localities. Even though there are few known statistics on the occurrence and pervasiveness of children’s exposure to violence, research indicates that the effect of exposure to violent behavior on children’s development is quite extensive. Domestic violence has always been a persistent social problem which has affected every section of the population. Although system responses have mostly concentrated on adult victims of abuse, presently an increasing attention has been paid on the children witnessing domestic violence.

Each day, the security and well-being of kids across the country are exposed to child mistreatment and neglect. Most of these children live in homes that have an acute incidence of domestic violence. Children who reside with domestic violence face a number of risks, such as the possibility of exposure to distressing events, the possibility of neglect, the threat of being openly abused, and the threat of losing one of their parents or both. All of these risks often lead to adverse outcomes on the children and evidently have an effect on them.

Children who are brought up in violent homes think that violence is a useful tool to have power over others. It is highly probable for children experiencing domestic violence to turn into offensive associates or sufferers of maltreatment during adulthood. The children who have been victimized to domestic aggression often tend towards violence on being adults. Over the past years, there has been an increasing awareness of the co- existence of domestic violence and child mistreatment. Studies inform that there are something like 750,000 to 2.

3 million victims of household aggression each year (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2009). Most of these victims are abused a number of times and hence, the total number of incidents of domestic violence become even greater. Children who experience domestic violence and are maltreated by abuse show signs of greater emotional and psychological troubles than children who just only witness domestic violence.