Causes and Consequences of Family Violence

Causes and Consequences of Family Violence

Lil Lady Luck

BSHS 407

February 24, 2012

Dr. Hearts and Spades

Causes and Consequences of Family Violence

        In this paper I will discuss the following topics: the basic definition of family violence, describing what indicators a counselor should be aware of when assessing a child and his/her family, exploring  the long-term effects violence has on the family, determining what triggers could be associated in family violence and identifying the implications associated with abuse and neglect.

        Family violence consists of a family member demonstrates abusive behavior to obtain control or to harm another member of a family. The person who exhibits this type of violence could be a person that is involved in a sexual relationship. This type of violence contains various types of emotional and physical abuse, including negligence that is intentionally displayed by family members or sexual partners.

        There are many indicators a counselor should be aware of when assessing a child and his/her family. According to Wallace and Roberson (2014), all professionals should be aware of the indications of physical child abuse. Many times, less serious injuries precede more life-threatening injuries. Certain specific types of physical injuries are strongly associated with physical abuse. The type of injury, psychological and behavioral symptoms, and unexplained injuries, are the more commonplace indicators of physical child abuse that may be observed by a caretaker, teacher, or other professional.

        One indicator of abuse is the place and type of bodily injuries a child endures may lead a professional to believe that there is physical child abuse. Although; the biological parents, the legal guardian, or even the child being abused will oppose any fault of hurting the child or may deny that the child is suffering from any bodily injuries. In spite of the fact, any professional should have a protocol to follow up with the family’s environment. Another indicator is the psychological and behavioral symptoms. Many abused kids are ashamed of being abused or even scared that whoever is inflicting the abuse on them may be taken away so they mask their bruises, whips, etc. It is up to the counselor or professional to recognize these indicators. A counselor must be very careful when these indicators are displayed because children that are not physically abused ca also display these same symptoms. It should raise a red flag and the professional should want to pay closer attention to the child and even begin to inquire more about the possibility of child abuse. Unexplained injuries or a strange explanation of injuries are another indicator of physical abuse. Even though children are that are not abused sometimes incur the same injures as those that are, it is up to professional to always keep in mind the possibility of child abuse, while carefully listening to the explanation of the injury. If the injury does not go along with the explanation than there is a great possibility of child abuse. When the parent is oblivious to how the child got hurt is in total denial of the injury of the child being hurt is an indicator of child abuse. This is called an unexplained injury and it is common for abusive parents to use this tactic when a child is being abused. An impossible explanation of an injury to a child is the biggest red flag and indicator of child abuse. When a parent/legal guardian comes up with an explanation of the child’s injuries that obviously does not fit the injuries or sounds like complete nonsense is the ultimate indicator of child abuse.