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Domestic Violence: The Overlooked Effects

Rebeca Camacho
Professor Brenda Gallardo
University of Texas at El Paso

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Abstract
Domestic violence has proven to be not only physically, but emotionally and
psychologically damaging as well. While it is quite often overlooked, the psychological
and emotional trauma left behind from an abusive relationship can be more damaging and
destructive than a scar from physical damage. What many fail to consider is how a person
might be affected by these traumatic events which in turn affects the way we handle these
situations, perhaps being unable to help someone that we know is suffering, or not really
understanding how we can help. This paper explores the psychological and emotional
effects of domestic violence and how we as a society handle and view this topic. This
paper is meant to inform and raise awareness for domestic violence and to give people an
understanding of how they can help anyone facing domestic abuse.

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Introduction
While most everyone knows that domestic violence leaves some sort of physical
impact on a person (bruises, black eyes, cuts, etc.), many tend to overlook any other
impact domestic violence might have on a victim of abuse. We as a society just see it as
this person just got hit, therefore they should leave that person, when in reality its not
that simple. There are many other factors that could be keeping them from leaving the
relationship, and a number of other damaging impacts the person could be undergoing
after the abuse has subsided; other factors that we as a society tend to overlook or push
aside because they dont seem as important or dangerous as physical abuse when it is in
fact equally or even more damaging.
Causes of the Prevalence of Domestic Violence in Society
As we all know, domestic violence is a rather taboo topic that only comes up now
and againusually in a Tyler Perry show or a dramatic telenovelabut other than that,
no one ever really takes the time to talk about it. We as a society tend to tiptoe around the
topic, once in a while pressing the idea that victims of abuse need some sort of help and
in some cases many dont even think about that. For instance, in Framing the Victim:
Domestic Violence Media and Social Problems, a book written by Nancy Berns (2004),
she tells her audience about a pastor that gave a sermon discussing the death of a child
caused by his mothers boyfriend beating him after he wet his pants; however instead of
addressing how violent our society has become, he asked, [w]hat was that mother
thinking having that man around her children? (p.2). That is just one example of how we
as a society address the topic of violence and abuse. We do not address the entire picture.
We instead place blame on one individual and victimize the other, and in some cases even

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blame the victim, thus, causing domestic violence to prevail instead of doing what we can
to stop the situation.
Participants in the Prevalence of Domestic Violence
Stop for a second and consider how the media presents a story involving domestic
abuse. What does the story tend to focus on? If you said the victim and how they handled
their situation, then youre right. The media covers these stories with the intent of only
exploiting the victims side, causing us to lose sight of the abuse and hear anything about
the abusers. Because of this we [do] little to develop public understanding of the social
context of violence andimpede social changes that could prevent violence (Nancy B.
2004, p.3). And its not that we dont have people addressing this issue, we do; but, due to
entertainment purposes the media tends to leave them out: causing domestic violence to
prevail, because we never address or handle it in a way that we should.
However, we cannot only blame the media for making domestic violence so
prevalent in our society. Research has proven that domestic violence has been linked to
childhood abuse as well. According to a study done by P.H. Smith, J. W. White, and L.J.
Holland (2002), it was found that 32% of women experienced physical dating violence
from age 14 through their college years and women at greater risk for collegiate
physical victimization were those who had experienced victimization in both childhood
(any type) and adolescence. In an interview with Fox News, Nerina Garcia-Arcement, a
licensed clinical psychologist and clinical assistant professor at the NYU School of
Medicine states:
Many women who are in abusive relationships grew up in households where they
witnessed abuseThis normalizes it. Confuses love and violence. This is a

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pattern that is familiar. For other women (who) don't grow up in abusive
households, the typical cycle of abuse prepares them. Their self-esteem gets
eroded until the abuse makes sense. (2013.)
This means that domestic violence and abuse run in a cycle, affecting women long after
their first encounter with abuse. Like a pattern they are almost psychologically trapped
into thinking that the abuse is normal and okay or that they deserve it in order to be
loved.
Effects of Domestic Violence
An abuser does not just start hitting their victim from the start of their
relationship; they gradually build it up through emotional abuse. This usually starts with
the abuser telling a victim that they are worthless without them, or that nobody else will
ever love them, sometimes even going as far as demeaning them and calling them stupid.
This isolates the victim and slowly leads them to have emotional issues with trust making
it harder for them to reach out to anyone for help, and because they are being isolated and
told that no one else cares for them it just adds to the difficulty of escaping this sort of
relationship.
Theres more than just physical effects from domestic violence; effects that cause
people to stray from reaching out for help, that lead them to fall into more abusive
relationships, that cause them to enter an abusive relationshipemotional and
psychological effects that have a far more permanent effect than a black eye. These
effects can range anywhere from PTSD to trust issues, sometimes even medical issues
such as an eating disorder brought on from depression, just to name a few.

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But, this isnt the only thing holding them from leavingan abuser also tends to
come back to a victim with apologies and affection to make it seem like they still care.
They manipulate them and make them feel important and cared for, messing with their
psychological health and causing them to fall into a depression and sometimes anxiety
about when the next violent outburst will occur. These things tend to lead to
contemplate[ing] suicide or carry[ing] out suicidal impulses[even] poor self esteem
which can lead tobody issueswhich can in turn result in eating disorders (K.
Patricelli, 2005.).
A victims experiences could also lead to PTSD; anything could bring them to
develop thisemotional abuse, manipulation, physical abuse, etc.and even worse,
anything can trigger a memory causing a mental breakdown in a victim. This can lead to
various other problems in a persons life such as, sexual disorders where sex may be
experienced as particularly undesirable, or physically, or emotionally painful (K.
Patricelli, 2005.) because they might have been through traumatic experiences, such as,
rape when in their relationship.
However, this isnt the most daunting effect left behind from an abusive
relationship. In a study done by Michigan State University, it was found that domestic
violence has an effect on how mothers raise their children and perceive their infants
during pregnancy. According to the study, results found:
The representations of women who experienced violence were characterized by:
less flexibility or openness to change, less coherence, less caregiving sensitivity,
less acceptance of the child, greater perceived infant difficulty, less joy, more

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anger, more anxiety, more depressive affect, and less feelings of self-efficacy as a
caregiver. (Huth-Bocks, et al., 2004.)
Meaning that women in abusive relationships tended to be more unsatisfied with their
relationships and proved to have poorer parenting skills than those that werent abused.
But thats not all: women that were pregnant with the child of their abuser gave their
perceptions of what they thought their childs personality would be likeone saying her
child would be [b]ad, like his father. Really bad (laughs). What its gonna be, I dont
know, but I sense its gonna be bad, (Huth-Bocks, et al., 2004.), showing that abuse even
has an effect on the perception a mother has on her unborn child.
Why One Should Be Informed on this Topic
Everyone should be informed on how we handle the topic of domestic violence
and how it affects people, because you never know who in your life could be undergoing
abuse. The warning signs arent always as obvious as a black eye or a bruise, so its never
really easy to tell who around you could be undergoing abuse, therefore its always good
to be informed about these sort of topics. Its also good to be informed because studies
have shown that when victims are in trusting environments with friends and family that
their psychological health is in a better state (Levendosky, A.A. & Graham-Bermann,
S.A. Journal of Family Violence, 2001.), meaning that if someone in your daily life or
that you associate with is in an abusive relationship, you can be that person they can trust,
especially since most victims will feel like they have no one they can go to.
Another reason we should stay informed on such a topic is, because the only way
we can stop domestic violence from prevailing is if we as a society work to make a
change in how we talk about it or how we portray it in the media. If we stop placing so

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much focus on the victim and start addressing the abuser and the actual violence or even
start focusing on how we talk about domestic violence, we can make a change. We dont
realize just how strong a hold the media has on what we learn, hear, or see, until we do
further research on the topics ourselves, which isnt good because we only get a small
picture of everything thats really going on, and it can only be changed if we as a society
come together to fix that problem.
Lastly, its important to stay informed on the topic of domestic violence, so that
we could get victims the help they need. There are many sites and abuse centers that are
there to help people get out of abusive situations. If one is informed about where the
closest abuse centers are to them, it makes it that much easier for people to know where
they can go to either help themselves or someone else that is being abused. Sites like,
helpguide.org, give tips and different ways of how a person can escape abuse safely when
they feel that leaving would be too dangerous and even give direct links for help lines or
shelters that could be in the area.
Conclusion
Domestic violence is a prevalent thing in our society that most people arent
informed properly about, which is something we need to change. Its not only abusers and
victims that participate in the prevalence of society, but the media and childhood
experiences have an affect on its prevalence. There are not only physical effects of
domestic abuse, but emotional and psychological effects that we as a society need to start
addressing as well. But overall, its most important that we remain informed about such a
topic in case we are ever in a situation of abuse or so that we could help anyone we know
that might be in a situation like this.

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Resources
1. Fox News. (2012). Domestic violence and mental health: How are they intertwined?
Retrieved from: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/06/19/domestic-violenceand-mental-health-how-are-intertwined.html
2. Huth-Bocks, A. C., Levendosky, A. A., Theran, S. A. & Bogat, G. A. (2004), The
impact of domestic violence on mothers' prenatal representations of their infants.
Infant Ment. Health J., 25: 7998. doi:10.1002/imhj.10094
3. Help Guide. Trusted guide to metal, emotional, and social health. Retrieved From:
http://www.helpguide.org/articles/abuse/help-for-abused-and-battered-women.htm
4. Katherine, P. (2005). Effects of abuse. Retrieved From:
https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/effects-of-abuse/
5. Levendosky, A.A. & Graham-Bermann, S.A. Journal of Family Violence (2001) 16:
171. doi:10.1023/A:1011111003373
6. Nancy, B. (2004). Framing the victim: Domestic violence media and social problems.
New Brunswick (USA) & London (U.K.): Aldine Transaction.
7. Paige Hall Smith, Jacquelyn W. White, & Lindsay J. Holland. (2003). A longitudinal
perspective on dating violence among adolescent and college-age women.
American Journal of Public Health: Vol. 93, No. 7, pp. 1104-1109.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.93.7.1104