Abuse and Violence

• This chapter discusses domestic abuse (intimate partner

abuse, child abuse/neglect, and elder abuse) and rape.
• Many survivors of abuse suffer long – term emotional
trauma, including disorders associated with abuse and
violence: posttraumatic stress disorder and dissociative
disorders and depression.
 Family Violence
• Spouse battering
• Neglect and physical
• Emotional
• Sexual abuse of children
• Elder abuse
• Marital rape
• In violent families, the home, which is normally a safe
haven of love and protection, may be the most
dangerous place for victims.
 Characteristics of Violent
Families
• Social Isolation
– Members of these these families keep to themselves
and usually do not invite others into the home or tell
them what is happening.
– Often, abusers threaten victims with even greater
harm if they reveal the secret.
– So children keep the secret out of fear, which
prevents others from “interfering with private family
business.”
• Abuse of Power and Control
– The abuser always holds a position of pwer of control
over the victim.
– Abuser exerts physical power, economic and social
control.
– He/she is the only one who make decisions, spends
money, or spends time outside the home with other
people.
– The abuser belittles and blames the victim, often by
using threats and emotional manipulation.
• Alcohol and other drug abuse
– Substance abuse, esp. alcoholism has been associated
with family violence.
– Alcohol does not cause the person to be abusive; rather,
an abusive person also is likely to use alcohol or other
drugs.
– Although alcohol may not cause the abuse, many
researchers believe that alcohol may diminish inhibitions
and make violent behavior more intense or frequent.
– Alcohol is also cited as a factor in acquaintance rape or
date rape.
• Intergenerational transmission
process
– Shows that patterns of violence are perpetuated from
one generation to the next through role modeling and
social learning.
– Learned pattern of behavior.
– Not all persons exposed to family violence, however,
become abusive or violent as adults.
 INTIMATE PARTNER
VIOLENCE
• Is the mistreatment or misuse of one person by another
in the context of an emotionally intimate relationship.
• The relationship may be spousal, between partners,
boyfriend, girlfriend, or an estranged relationship.
• The abuse can be emotional or psychological, physical,
sexual or a combination.
• Psychological abuse (emotional abuse)
– Name calling
– Belttling
– Screaming
– Yelling
– Destroying property
– Making threats as well as subtler form
• Physical Abuse
– Shoving or pushing
– Severe battering
– Choking
• SEXUAL ABUSE
– Biting nipples
– Pulling hair
– Slapping
– Hitting
– Rape
• An abusive husband often believes his wife belong to
him (like property).
• Becomes increasingly violent and abusive if she shows
any signs of independence.
• Typically, the abuser has strong feelings of inadequacy
and low self – esteem as well as poor problem solving
and social skills.
• He is emotionally immature, needy, irrationally jealous
and possessive.
• The violent behavior often is rewarding and boosts his
self – esteem.
• Dependency is the trait most commonly found in abused
wives who stay with their husbands.
• They cite personal and financial dependency as to why it
is extremely difficult to leave.
• She defines herself as a person by her ability to remain
loyal to her marriage and “make it work.”
• Some women internalize the critism that they are to
blame
 CHILD ABUSE
• Or maltreatment generally is defined as intentional
injury of a child.
• It can include physical abuse or injuries, neglect or
failure to prevent harm, failure to provide adequate
physical or emotional care or supervision,
abandonment; sexual assault or intrusion, and overt
torture or maiming.
• Fathers, stepfathers, uncles, older siblings and live – in
partners of the child’s mother often perpetrate abuse on
girls.
• Adults with a history of childhood sexual abuse are at
greatser risk for depression, suicide attempts, marital
problems, marriage to an alcoholic, smoking, alcohol
abuse, chronic pain, and medically unexplained
symptoms.
 TYPES OF CHILD ABUSE
• SEXUAL ABUSE
– Sexual acts performed by an adult on a child younger than
18 years.
– Include incest, rape, and sodomy performed directly on the
person or with an object, oral – genital contact, acts of
molestations.
– Also involves exploitation
• Neglect
– is malicious or ignorantwithholoding of physical, emotional,
or educational necessities for the child’s well – being.
 - Includes refusal to seek health care or delay doing
so, abandonment, inadequate supervision, reckless
disregard for the child’s safety; punitive, exploitive, or
abusive emotional treatment.
• Psychological abuse
– Constant family discord such as fighting, yelling and
chaos.
– Emotional deprivation or withholding of affection,
nurturing, and normal experiences that engender
acceptance, love security, and self – worth.
• Emotional abuse
– Often accompanies other types of abuse e.g. physical
or sexual abuse.
 ELDER ABUSE
• Is a maltreatment of older adults by family members or
others in a caregiver role.
• May include physical, and sexual abuse, financial
exploitation and denial of adequate medical treatment.
• Most victims are 75 y/o women.
• Rape is any act of non-consensual sexual penetration. It
doesn’t matter if the victim was raped by force or only
under duress, the crime is still rape. An individual may be
charged with the crime of rape or other specific types of
rape such as statutory rape, date rape, gang rape,
incestual rape, prison rape or marital rape. A person who
rapes (a rapist), can be either a male or a female. A rape
victim can also be a male or a female.
• Rape can include vaginal intercourse, anal intercourse,
oral sex or penetration with any object or body part. Any
degree of penetration is sufficient to constitute rape,
ejaculation is not required. Moreover, in many
jurisdictions each penetration is a new rape and could
result in consecutive sentences.
• Consent, or lack thereof, is one of the main elements of
the crime of rape. Statutory rape is committed even
when a minor under the age of consent willingly engages
in a sexual act with the adult, because the minor is
unable to legally consent. An intellectually disabled
person is also legally incapable of consenting to sex. In
the context of other types of rape, whether or not there
was consent to sexual penetration will be derived by the
facts particular to each case.
Consent is the most common defense to rape
charges. Both the actions and the statements of the victim
will be assessed for consent. However, it is important to
know that a victim does not necessarily consent to sexual
penetration just because he or she did nothing to stop it.
Even if an individual at first consents to the sexual act, he
or she may withdraw consent at any time.
Further, there must be consent to every sexual act – just
because an individual consented in the past, doesn’t mean
he or she cannot withdraw this consent to future acts.
Finally, it is important to remember that the defense of
consent is unavailable in situations in which the rape victim
is unable to consent legally, as in a statutory rape.
Many rapes happen when there are drugs and alcohol
involved. Whether a victim was heavily under the influence
of drugs or alcohol can also have an effect in whether or
not the victim consented to the sexual penetration. Date
rape drugs, drugs that are used by some individuals to
sedate a victim in order to have sex with them, are odorless
and tasteless, usually mixed with alcohol, and can render a
person unable to prevent a sexual assault.
Date rape drugs can also cause a person to fall
unconscious. However, just because the individual did
nothing to stop the sexual act does not mean that they
consented to it. Further, sexual penetration with someone
who is unconscious or asleep is virtually always deemed a
rape, as there is no way for the individual to give their
consent to the act.
 Interventions For
Intimate Partner Violence
• Given the alarmingly high prevalence of IPV (World Health
Organization, 2013) and the serious physical, psychological,
and interpersonal impact experienced by victims of such
abuse (e.g., Dutton, 2006; Golding, 1999) and by children
witnessing a parent being assaulted (Carter, Weithorn, &
Behrman, 1999), counteracting and reducing this phenomena
with epidemic proportions represents a crucial challenge for
the World Health Organization (WHO) and all the ministries of
health, non-governmental organizations, and national
agencies worldwide.
• In Europe and the United States psychologists have
contributed to the research, clinical evaluation, intervention
and prevention of domestic violence. Each country has unique
factors that determine the services and resources available to
abused women, to children exposed to domestic violence and
to abused partners. However, what ultimately determines the
vulnerability and the safety of women are factors such as
gender interaction, political structure, religious claims,
attitudes towards violence in general and violence against
women, as well as state sponsored violence, for example civil
conflicts and wars, and migrations from and between
countries.
 Treatment
• This program provides individual, family or group
treatment to assist children/families in recovering from
child abuse, neglect or domestic violence exposure.
Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-
CBT) is an evidenced based practice commonly used
with CA/FV treatment clients. The Healthy Families
Group program provides multifamily counseling for
children ages 4-17 and their mothers who have
experienced Family Violence in the home. The group
program alternates between seeing children and
mothers in separate groups to address issues in an age-
appropriate manner,
with bringing families together each month to
share their common experiences and recognize
their strengths and accomplishments. The
children’s groups address coping with reactions to
trauma and disruptions or violence at home.
Children are able to share the story of what
they’ve experienced and learn that other children
have dealt with similar issues, reducing their
sense of isolation and shame. The mother’s group
focuses on recovering from the physical and
emotional abuse of family violence, supporting
each group member in her individual growth and
empowerment. Groups designed to prevent Youth
Violence are also available.