Dissertation Proposal 3000 words: “Children Witnessing Domestic Violence”

DISSERTATION PROPOSAL

   

TITLE: THE EFFECTS OF CHILDREN WITNESSING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

 

 

Abstract

 

McAllister groves (1999) feels domestic violence has negative repercussions for children’s social, emotional, and academic functioning. Professionals have attempted to support children in reducing the impacts of domestic violence. But there have been difficulties gaining access to the target population as this remains a family secret in many households. This situation can be improved by promoting open discussions regarding children’s experiences with domestic violence, and helping them deal with the emotions and consequences that follow. The first challenge is to identify the population, which will be children from age two to 18. It will then be important to select the intervention necessary, and which service is relevant.

 

This research project investigated statistics gained from various child protection agencies, choosing 30 children who are currently in care where domestic violence has been a factor. The statistics gained will be from a set of questionnaire distributed to the agencies with pre determined questions designed to answer the research questions identified. The use of quantitative analysis will be demonstrated. Stratified random sampling will be used to select the participants which will be divided based on age, upbringing, gender and ethnicity.

 

Rationale

 

Research on children who witness domestic violence is less extensive compared to research on children who are the direct victims of abuse and neglect (Osofsky, 2003). The cost to children and to society of children’ exposure to domestic violence is huge. The advantage is that their is a wave of recognition in the UK of the importance of reaching out to these hidden victims of domestic violence McAllister Groves (1999)

 

The long term effects are damaging to children and also sometimes when they grow up as adults. They can become abusers or victims themselves. Children tend to copy the behaviours of their parents. (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2004). People are beginning to recognise that even in unreported cases schools can identify the signs of someone being abused.

 

Furthermore, the rationale for this area of study is to support research in three different ways. First to examine the literature as evidence that there is a link between domestic violence and abuse, in that the child witnessing such violence is indirectly being abused. Secondly, the fact that the prevalence of children witnessing domestic violence is alarming, and this will be evident by statistics provided. Thirdly, a difficult area has been the ability to assess, the child affected by witnessing violence, in order to ascertain the degree to which the child has been harmed thereby placing the right support and care package to help the child overcome his and her negative experiences. This is vital because different people are affected by different levels of domestic violence. Therefore the key thrust of this research will be to examine these different levels of effects, and support research in greater understanding of hidden levels of abuse.

 

There is also a problem with unreported underlying cases. The evidence that the number of unreported cases is much higher than the reported one can be deduced from the fact that the domestic violence had continued for a while without having been reported, until it was eventually brought to light. This could be any number of specified periods from months to years. Perhaps the longer then the more the effects on the child. Also this will depend on the impact of the violence. By then the child might have suffered untold damage to well being and development.

 

Research Question

Whenever we discuss research methods we always come back to the question what is it we want to investigate, why do we want to investigate it? And how will we investigate the area. The four research questions to be answered are as follows:

 

  1. Is there evidence that links children witnessing domestic violence and abuse? The evidence can be deduced from the literature review.

 

  1. How many children witnessing domestic violence has been affected by it? Again to be evidenced from the literature review. This will form the basis for the topic to be researched. What will then be researched is the frequency of the abuse and the seriousness in affecting the child’s well being and development.

 

  1. How long has the domestic violence continued before it was reported? And how much of this was witnessed by the child? The first witness is when approximately the emotional abuse begins. This will include disputes, abuses and shouting, as well as the actual violence, depending on how much of this has been reported either by the child or another party.

 

Literature Review

 

The review of literature will assist me to gather more information on the area which I feel there is still some gaps in knowledge. The review will enable me to discover what aspects of the topic lacks information and what is currently known, and the methods already used to investigate child abuse in relation to witnessing domestic violence. This notion is supported in Hancock (1998) who also discussed the necessity for a balanced review of different viewpoints and findings, and judging the merits of the books used. Apart from the literature the various legal obligations and national policies introduced will be part of the literature review as the standards already expected in the area of domestic violence and child abuse.

 

The literature review will also analyse some theoretical models and concepts in order to draw out a wider understanding of the subject area, and evaluating how writers had already researched the topic. In exploring the best framework and models for explaining these questions, Dawes and Donald (2000) said most researchers, practitioners and advocates prefer the ecological and transactional framework. Ecological means that developmental, environmental and social influences are grouped into a set of systems with the child in the middle. While the transactional framework states that at each developmental stage the child brings his or her past experience and current level of psychosocial functioning to bear on the interpretation of the situation.

 

Edleson (1999) states that when a child witnesses domestic violence this will include physical, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse of one parent or adult against the other, which is seen or heard by the child in the home. It also includes taking a child hostage to force a parent home, using a child as an emotional weapon against the victim and interrogating and threatening a child to get information about the victim’ activities (Edleson, 1999). There are also a number of statistical data which can prove quite revealing. In relationships where there is domestic violence children witness 75 per cent of the abusive incidences (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2004). This comes to a total of at least 750,000 children in the UK per year (Department of Health, 2002). There is also a link with the severity of the domestic violence and the proximity of the witnessing child which could be by observing or by hearing. In this respect Abrahams (1994) states that in 75 per cent to 95 per cent of incidences of domestic violence children are in the same or in the next room. Also, nearly 75 per cent of children on the at risk register live in households where domestic violence occur (Department of Health, 2002).

 

Margolin and Gordis (2000) has evidence linking children’s indirect exposure to violence to a wide range of psychological , emotional, behavioural social and academic problems. Also, children who are separated from their parents as a result of domestic violence and abuse see the violence as a direct personal threat (Edleson, 1999). A range of emotional problems which has been identified include aggressive behaviours, intense fear, fear of loss of a parent, rage, feelings of guilt, and a sense of responsibility for the violence, divided loyalty to the parents, fear of repercussion. This research will examine the works of Brill, Fiorentino and Grant (2001) as they demonstrate that the impacts of domestic violence on children are devastating. Graham-Bermann (2002) says even children of 2 years old can witness post dramatic stress disorder such as sleep disturbances, flashbacks, aggression, hyperactivity, separation, anxiety and emotional detachment. Furthermore, some older children may show resilience to what is happening around them (Kitzman, et al, 2003). Yet other older children can end up older children playing truant or using alcohol or drugs, have problems with school, behave younger than they really are, withdraw from other people or self harm (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2004). These differences in child behaviour are also explored further by Jaffe et al (1990).

 

In terms of people reacting in different ways to domestic violence the research will evaluate different ways that this affects children. For instance, a study carried out by Saunders (1995) said children may feel angry against their parents for not protecting them enough and blame them for the violence. Detrimental effects of exposure to violence can include delayed language development, visual and learning deficits, emotional disturbances, failure to thrive, short term disruptions in psychosocial functioning, lapses in states of trauma, and post traumatic state disorder.(National Library of Medicine, 2002). Cohen and Walthall (2003) said that young children have not developed the skills to deal with feelings and stress compared to adults. Moreover, the incident may remain traumatic for the child long after the experience has occurred. Research will demonstrate that the effects of witnessing domestic violence in childhood can extend into adulthood. (McAlister Groves, 1999).  Hester et al, (2007) supports this view when they state that children who live with domestic violence are at increased risks of behavioural problems, and emotional trauma, and mental health difficulties in adulthood.

 

In terms of the literature review regarding the effects of violence on children the central focus of research is understanding the scope of the effects of children’s exposure to violence and the mediating factors that influence child development. Some of the mediating factors include the severity of the violence, the age of onset, the proximity, frequency, duration and timing of the violence (Schwartz and Gorman 2003). A means of identification will occur when children who come to the attention of professionals for psychological, learning or developmental problems may be responding to domestic violence exposure.  It should be noted that because the abuse is hidden it takes longer to detect, as oppose to if the child was a victim of violence (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programme, 2004)

 

The impact of the exposure varies from children to children, depending on the child’s temperament, level of risks, protective factors in the child’s environment and the quality and availability of community resources. Brown and Bzostek (2003) did a study showing that there are disparities between overall levels of violence experienced by different groups of children in terms of exposure; types of violence encountered vary by age, gender and socio-economic status. For instance, at a younger age children who are at younger developmental stages are not able to distinguish between direct and indirect experiences, and the child is left to deal with the aftermath of the violent event (Edleson, 1999).

 

How the participants were selected for the study

 

The participants in the study are children between the ages of 2 and 18. Information regarding them will be collected from professionals and managers of child care centres, child protection agencies including Women Aid. A letter will be sent to these agencies regarding the type of information needed from children. The participants selected will be from a cross section of age groups, gender, ethnicity and social grouping. Therefore, the participants will be representative of the population of children. The sample size to be used will be aimed at 30 children.

 

In terms of sampling, the information can be gained from so many different ways. Age, upbringing, gender and ethnicity can be subdivided as pie charts to ascertain whether any consistencies emerge from similar groups.  It should be noted that character and the seriousness of the abuse should be taken into consideration when analysing the results. Upbringing can be loosely defined in terms of type of housing and area a person lives, and occupation of the parents. The study will not define social class and its effects on children’s upbringing but will merely accept that from the literature perused, there are differences in upbringing and the effects of children who witness domestic violence.

 

Stratified random sampling will therefore be used, because children may be affected differently based on gender, age, upbringing and ethnicity. Crookes and Davies (1998) states that the stratified random sampling will enable the sample to be divided into homogenous subsets. The purpose will enable government and child protection agencies to identify those children mostly affected by domestic violence, and also to make comparisons.

 

Ethical Considerations 

 

Consent  was  sought  verbally  from  the  participants  to  ascertain  whether  the  participants  agreed  to  take  part  in  the  research  study  or  not  as  recommended  by  (GSCC, 2002). The  need  for  research  subjects  to  have  a  choice  about  whether  or  not  to  participate  in  a  research  study  is  a fundamental  obligation  in  relation  to  respect  for  autonomy  (Beauchamp  and  Childress, 1998). I  will inform  the  participants  that  the children had  a  choice to  refuse; that  they  can  withdrawn  from  the  research  study  at  any  particular  stage  and  that  they  can  refuse  or  withdraw  without  fear  of  any  form  of  retribution  or  punishment. The agencies are being selected based on consent of the children or their attorney to release information on how abuse had affected them care. As stated earlier letters will be written to the various agencies to gain permission through them to send out the questionnaires. I will also follow this up with phone calls.

 

Procedures for conducting the research and instruments used

 

The type of data required is quantitative, and the type of research design to be used to address the problem will be the questionnaire survey – which is also the method for collecting the data and will use mostly closed questions. The advantages of using this approach are that it is a simple, quick and easy method of collecting data. The data can be gauged from a large sample, respondents can remain anonymous and it would not be difficult to test for reliability and validity (Hancock, 1998).   I  used  a  structured  questionnaire  to enable the  participants  to  cover  areas  I intend to use for the research see  (appendix  A). The data can then be analysed quantitatively for patterns and trends as the subject matter is already predetermined. I will aim to collect 30 questionnaires as representatives of the chosen population.

 

Data Analysis

    

Data analysis will involve the collecting and collating of the questionnaires distributed by the researcher. Silverman D (1993)  describes  data  analysis  as  a  painstaking  process  requiring  long  hours  of  careful  work  going  over  notes  organising  the  data  looking  for  patterns, checking  emerging  patterns  against  the  data and cross  validating  sources  and  findings. I  will carry out a content  analysis  of the data, and this will involve  a  systematic  way  of  identifying  all  the  main  concepts  which  arise  in  the  interviews  and  then  categorise  and  develop  these  in  common  themes. Content analysis is used where the themes are already predetermined. The data‘s contents are analysed and the findings reported. Elements of the categories are described and organised, using the various categories such as age, gender and social upbringing. The categories are used to describe the information that is emerging from the data. However, Bryman (2004) states that the limitation of content analysis is that it does not necessarily provide insight into the underlying reasons for relationships and trends in the data. This view is also backed up by Krippendorf (2004) who stated that further research on this topic will need to take place using a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis.

 

Validity and reliability  

The data collected should be validated and widely known. A test is valid when it measures what it is supposed to.  The test is valid depending on its purpose, and is reliable if it yields consistent results. There should be criterion validity where the measure is consistent with what is already known (Patten and Mildred, 2002). This research will hope to demonstrate that it can be consistently replicated by others, and successfully answers the research questions.

 

 

Limitation of the study

     

While the  research  study  can be  generalised  because  it  is  a  quantitative study, there is no opportunity for me to interact with the respondents to gain further information, and enable the respondent to express themselves better. However, this study will stimulate further research in the area which might require a qualitative design.

 

Conclusions and Findings

(To be deduced once the research is completed)

 

Recommendations

(To be deduced once the research is completed)

 

 

 

References

 

Abrahams, C. (1994) The Hidden Victims: Children and Domestic Violence, NCH Action for Children, London,

 

Beauchamp, T. L. & Childress, J. F.  (1998)  Principles of   Biomedical ethics.  4th Edition, Oxford University press, Oxford

 

Brill, C, Fiorentino, N., and Grant, J (2001) Co-victimisation and inner city youth: A review. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health 3(4):229-239

 

Brown, B and Bzostek, S (2003) Violence in the lives of children, Cross Currents 1

[online] Available from:

<http//www.childternedatabank.org> [accessed 22 December 2003]

 

Bryman, A. (2004) Social Research Methods 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford

 

Cohen, E and Walthall, B (2003) Silent Realities: Supporting young children and their families who experience violence, The National Child Welfare Resource Centre for Family Centred Practice, Washington DC

 

Crookies, P., Davies, S. (1998)  Essential  skills  for  reading  and  applying  research  in  nursing  and  health  care: research  into  practice Harcourt  Publishers, London

 

Clifford, C.  (1997)  Nursing and Health Care Research: A skills-based introduction.

2nd edition. Prentice Hall Nursing series, London.

 

Dawes, A and Donald, D (2000) Improving Children’s chances: Developmental Theory and effective interventions in community contexts. In Addressing Childhood Adversity, edited by D. Donald, A.Dawes and J. Louw. Cape Town South Africa, David Philip, 1-25

 

Department of Health (2002) Women’s Mental Health: Into the Mainstream – Strategic Development of Mental Health Care for Women, HMSO, London

 

Edleson, J (1999) Children witnessing of adult domestic violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 14(8): 839-870

 

Graham-Bermann, S (2002) Child Abuse in the context of domestic violence. In The APSAC Handbook on Child Maltreatment (2nd Ed) edited by John e Myers and Lucy Berliner. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, p119-129.

 

 

General  Social  Care  Council  (2002)  The  Code  of   Practice  for  Social  care  workers  and  employers GSCC, London

 

Hancock, B (1998) Trent focus for Research and Development: An Introduction to the Research Process, Trent Focus, Trent

 

Jaffe, P, Wolfe, D and Wilson, S (1990) Children of Battered Women, Sage, California

 

Kiztmann, K., Gaylord N., Holt, A., and Kenny, E (2003) Child Witnesses to Domestic violence: A meta-analytic Review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 71(2): 339-352

 

Krippendorf, K. (2004) Content Analysis: An Introduction to its Methodology, Sage Publications, California

 

Margolin, G and Gordis, E (2000) The effects of Family and Community violence on children. Annual Review of Psychology 51: 445-479

 

McAlister Groves, B (1999) Mental Health Services for Children who witness domestic violence, the future of children, Domestic Violence and Children, Vol  9, No 3 Winter 1999

 

National Library of Medicine (2002) Medical Encyclopaedia, Traumatic Event, National Institute of Health, Washington DC

 

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2004) Safe Start: Promising Approaches for Children Exposed to Violence, US Department of Justice, Washington DC

 

Osofsky, J (2003) Prevalence of children’s exposure to domestic violence and child maltreatment: Implications for prevention and intervention. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 6(3): 161-170

 

Patten, L. (2002) Understanding Research Methods: An Overview of the essentials, 3rd Edition, Pyrczak Publishing, Los Angeles

 

 

Royal college of Psychiatrists (2004) Mental Health and Growing Up Factsheet 17. Domestic Violence: Its effects on children, London, Royal College of Psychiatrists, London.

 

 

Shwartz, D and Gorman, A (2003) Community Violence: exposure and children’s academic functioning, Journal of Educational Psychology 95 (1) 163 – 173

 

Silverman, D. (1993) Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for analysing talk text and interaction. Sage, London

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix  A

 

FORM  (No. 1)

 

A  QUESTIONNAIRE TO GATHER INFORMATION ON LINKS BETWEEN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND CHILD ABUSE.

 

 

NAME (can be anonymous)………………………………………………………………………..

 

 

 

DATE OF BIRTH…………………………………………………..

 

GENDER   male …………….Female………………….(Tick)

 

PARENTAL ADDRESS ………………………………………………………………………….

 

……………………………………………………………..POST CODE……………………………

 

TYPE OF HOUSE

Terraced…….Semi detached………..Detached

Parent ownership………rented………….council/housing Association owned……..

Joint Ownership………..

 

MOTHER’S OCCUPATION & SALARY………………………………………………..

 

 

FATHER’S OCCUPATION & SALARY…………………………………………………….

 

 

 

 

SCHOOL NAME AND ADDRESS…………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………POST CODE……………………………….

 

ETHNIC ORIGIN (tick one)

 

White British……white Irish…….white other (specify)…………………………………..

Black British………Black Caribbean……..Black African……………

Black other (specify)…………………………………………

Indian…….Pakistani……..Bangladeshi…………Sri Lankan………

Indian other (specify)……………………………………………………………..

Chinese…..Japanese……….Hong Kong……….Vietnamese……………

Asian other (Please specify)……………………………………….

Others (please specify)……………………………………………………

 

TYPE OF VIOLENCE CHILD WITNESSED?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

SEVERITY OF VIOLENCE (PHYSICL INJURY OF VICTIM) Please tick

 

MINOR………..MODERATE…………..SEVERE………. DEATH…………….

 

TYPE OF WEAPON USED………………………………………………………….

 

HOW WEAPON WAS USED………………………………………………………….

 

HOW MANY INCIDENCES KNOWN………………………………………….

 

AVERAGE DURATION OF KNOWN INCIDENT (IN MINUTES)…………………………

 

WHETHER CHILD FELT THREATENED OF BEING INJURED

YES……………..   NO………………

 

CHILD’ RELATIONSHIP TO PERSONS (please tick)

 

MOTHER…….FATHER……..SISTER……..BROTHER……..SPECIFY

OTHER RELATIVE……………..SPECIFY OTHER…………….

 

AVERAGE FREQUENCY OF INCIDENT WITNESSED (please tick)

 

(DAILY……WEEKLY………. MONTHLY…………., OTHER………

 

HOW OLD WAS THE CHILD AT THE FIRST EXPOSURE…………

 

AND AGE AT THE LAST EXPOSURE………………….

 

CHILD’S PROXIMITY TO THE VIOLENCE (APPROXIMATE LINEAR DISTANCE)

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

DOES THE CHILD DISPLAY ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY……… DEPRESSION……… AGGRESSION…..

SCHOOL FAILURE…….ANTISOCIAL OR DELINQUENT BEHAVIOUR…….

POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER……… AND ANY OTHER…………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

WAS ANY INTERVENTION RECEIVED IF SO DESCRIBE INTERVENTION

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

 

END OF QUESTIONNAIRE