Introduction to Sociology 1301
Emily Rojo
Safe Assignment
Abstract
Domestic violence is widespread in society. It affects many people who’ve suffered with it and many people who are doing it. Children go through trauma that complicates their way of thinking and their way of growing up into the world. To summarize, my introduction consists of data from studies I have researched and facts I have found of the rates of Domestic Violence. Women are most targeted, and males are most reported as an abuser in the relationship. Not only does the abuse happen in relationships but it can also happen in families and any sort of bond people have with another. Children are at risk of repeating the cycle by having witnessed/experienced the abuse. For the second part, I explain my experiment with children of ages eight that include two boys and two girls. All kids come from distinctive families and of different race. I then explain my actions and think through on what I could have done differently in the future.
In this world, cruel things happen to the most undeserving people. Domestic violence is a serious case in society today, yet we somehow get to think it’s not or that it’s okay to violently abuse someone. The definition of domestic violence according to Wikipedia, is violent/aggressive behavior in a household, within a relationship typically between partners. But domestic violence isn’t just physical abuse, it can also be verbal, emotional, economic, sexual, and religious. If damage is taken too far, the abuser could be sent to jail as consequence. It occurs in same sex relationships as well and it doesn’t regard race, gender, ethnicity, religion, etc. Domestic violence can happen to anyone. Although we may not know of it, domestic violence occurs a lot in a marriage and it’s sometimes ignored or not handled very well. Not only does domestic violence effect the people experiencing it, it also effects friends, and family of those certain people. When a child grows up with violence it affects him in many ways. For example, he is taught with the illusion that violence is okay and will grow up to be violent himself to others. He will think that domestic violence is a normal way of life because his loved ones have made an example of that to him. Children of abusers become abusers themselves. They grow up into society, violently and learn what they see as they go. Domestic violence also affects a woman who’s used to that kind of mistreatment, so when she’s looking for another relationship all she’ll be looking for is the abuse and violence again. The same goes for a man, and when the male is the abuser, he’ll continue to abuse into further relationships because he grew into that kind of violence as a child.
In the United States, unfortunately 24 people per year are victims of domestic violence which is more than 12 million women and men over the course of the year (CDC, 2010). There’s an estimate of 3 in 10 women who suffer from domestic violence and an estimate of 1 in 10 men do too. Approximately 16.9% of women experience physical abuse whereas 8.0% of men experience it (CDC, 2010). Yes, females abuse, but most reported abusers are male.
Participants
The people I used for this section were 2 five-year old boys and 2 five-year old girls. One boy was from a wealthy family and the other from a middle-class family. The same goes for the girls. One boy/girl was Hispanic and the other White. One of the girls was raised in an unsettling household, and one boy was raised in a violent home.
Research Design
I asked them to sit down and watch a movie. After the movie ended, I carefully observed them and noticed their behavior changing to a more aggressive state with each other. I later then asked them to play tag with each other. As I observed them more, I noticed how every time one of the girls” tagged “one of the boys, they got aggressive and pushed them accusing them of cheating or that it wasn’t fair. The girls would cry or sometimes they wouldn’t react at all, they’d just take it.
Measures
To collect my data, I sat them down in a chair and independently asked them basic questions, ones they could understand. I asked them things like “Why did you hit her” “Why didn’t you hit back.” After I gathered their answers, I wrote it down in my journal to keep data.
Procedure
The participants were recruited by me asking the children’s guardians for permission to be in this study. The families were friends of mine, so I knew how thing went down. One of the boys was taken away from their families due to domestic violence. I asked them to watch a movie that was violent and had some domestic violence between families. Then I later had them play tag and questioned them after their game ended.
Results
As I predicted, the children learned by what they saw in playing the game. They were taught with a specific behavior and adapted to it and behaved the same way. The phrase ‘monkey see, monkey do’ applies because it’s true that children mimic what they see not knowing if it’s right or wrong. Of course, if they aren’t taught ‘right’ they will. The young boy who was raised in a violent household behaved the same way. Both boys had a result of acting in a violent way when playing the game and both girls reacted in a calm way.
Discussion
My hypothesis was that children who grow up with the idea that domestic violence/abuse is okay, then they will grow up to live with that idea their whole life. A child that grows up with domestic violence in their house, will grow up to become an abuser as well. My results proved my hypothesis was correct. Children who grow living with domestic violence also experience trauma which can affect their brain and their way of living. I found the results in my study because the children’s families weren’t behaving like family. Now I know parents raise their children their own way, and that there’s no right way to raise them, but if they could see that their arguing and fighting affects their children, then they’d understand why they grew up to be just like them. Psychologically speaking, these children suffering from domestic violence are at elevated risk of PTSD and at elevated risk to commit crimes against other people. Children don’t know and haven’t experienced the world enough to know right from wrong. Parents are an example to children. With domestic violence, a child feels neglected and they feel as if they have no one supporting them or caring for them as a parent should. Often, when given that love and affection children reject that type of feeling because they’ve not had a sense of it or are just too afraid. As they grow, if they’ve had/have PTSD it’ll be difficult for them to grow sufficiently meaning mentally/emotionally. The abuser does not know that their doing is wrong. They’ve grown up with an idea and never got educated or taught right from that idea. In my future study, I’d gather more children of various ages and of different races to mix up the results. I’d also ask children from different economical families and of various parts of the world. Not only would I ask them to watch movies and a game, I’d read them a short book about domestic violence and ask them what it means for them and if it’s right or wrong for them. I would take more time observing their actions and behavior with a set of questions to help. In the past there’s been studies that show women being the target for domestic violence, but it has now merged onto children in the present. In the future perhaps, I’d do a research article targeting the main reason why people’s first instinct is to abuse rather than to talk about what’s bothering them or their problems. There’s a lot of research going into domestic violence and it’s affects. The greatest affect is the children going into society with a mindset that domestic violence is okay, when in fact it’s not. In conclusion, children who grow up with domestic violence are affected greatly in their everyday lives and when they grow up, they are at substantial risk of repeating the cycle of abuse. While domestic violence is widespread in society, there are some ways we as humans need to change or make better, so our children do not grow up to be abusers and so that we do not hurt the people we love and care about.
References
https://cdv.org/2014/02/10-startling-domestic-violence-statistics-for-children/https://www.safehorizon.org/get-informed/domestic-violence-statistics-facts/#statistics-and-facts/https://www.thehotline.org/resources/statistics/http://www.wtamu.edu/webres/File/Academics/College%20of%20Education%20and%20Social%20Sciences/Department%20of%20Political%20Science%20and%20Criminal%20Justice/PBJ/2009/1n1/1n1_04Peace.pdfhttp://www.domesticviolenceroundtable.org/effect-on-children.htmlhttps://phdessay.com/a-case-study-on-domestic-violence-against-women/
