DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Domestic Violence



Domestic Violence

Introduction

Children who observe aggression amid adults in their homes have turned out to be extra observable in the limelight of public notice. The reason of this text is to supplement an acceptance of the existing literature on the effects of observing adult family aggression on the communal and objective growth of children. Out of 84 studies reporting on children's observing of domestic aggression initially recognized, 31 studies gathered principle of thorough investigations, with 18 of them contrasting children who observe mature domestic aggression to other groups of children, 12 others using manifold weakening events to contrast topics beside a range of aggression disclosure or by demographic distinctiveness, and one study applying qualitative research methods. (Edleson, p 134-154) The findings of these 31 studies can be divided into three major themes: (1) the childhood problems associated with witnessing domestic violence; (2) the moderating factors present in a child's life that appear to increase or decrease these problems; and (3) an evaluation of the research methods used in the studies reviewed.

Domestic Violence in UK and Policies regarding It

For many years domestic violence was a hidden matter. It is only recently that it has been debated publicly and the seriousness of it recognized. The police may now receive up to 1,300 calls a day , and a recent campaign has been launched publicizing the help that is available for women. It has been problematic to define it and even the term 'domestic violence' has given rise to debates, as some believe it belittles the violence to only being 'domestic.' The Law Commission has pointed out that 'domestic violence' can take many forms:

"…physical abuse to include any form of physical, sexual or psychological molestation or harassment which has a serious detrimental effect upon the heath and well-being of the victim..." It has now been recognized that the 'victim' can include men and children, where the perpetrator is their wife/mother. In this dissertation the focus is on the courts' changing attitudes where the victim is the mother and child. Women tend to leave a violent home environment when the violence begins to spill over onto the children. Dobash and Dobash believe that women will rarely tolerate violence if it begins to affect the children. However, the problem women face, once they have decided to leave, is that they may find that the court issues a contact order. Contact orders require that the person with whom the child is living allow the child to visit or stay with the person named in that order. Thus a mother who leaves a violent husband may have to allow their child to maintain contact with the father, so a 'clean-break' from the father cannot be established, and although it would seem beneficial to some for a child to maintain contact with the father, in some cases research shows otherwise.

Legislation against Domestic Violence

Right up until the 1970s, the courts were rarely interested in the quality of care the father could offer, their concern was to protect ...