The emotional, psychological effects on adolescent children who have witnessed domestic abuse
Kevin Day
Pierce College
April 20,2014

Introduction and population of interest Adolescents who witness domestic violence between their caretakers present emotional, behavioral and psychological issues. Oftentimes, these families are involved in the child welfare system, due to the negative violence and discord in the households, which places children at risk. This population is of great interest, as that studies have shown adolescents who witness domestic violence are vulnerable and do not have the capacity to understand nor cope with the trauma. According to Osofsky (2003), adolescents experience intense stresses that include fear of death and fear of loss of their parent. The negative effects result from children having to integrate the experience of violence and child welfare involvement, while living in a stressful environment. As a future clinician, I would like to utilize different therapy methods and specific strategies in treating these individuals.
Integrated review of literature Children who have been involved in the child welfare system have experienced or witnessed some form of abuse or neglect, which causes them to have behaviour, emotional and psychological issues. Some of their behaviors, which are moderate to severe include: hitting, pushing, kicking and threatening others. Moylan, Herrenkohl, Sousa, Tajima, Herrenkohl, & Russo (2009) suggest many children who witness domestic violence have also directly experienced child abuse and experience a wide range of adverse behavioral and psychosocial outcomes. In the overview of literature the authors gives a culmination of families types, cultural styles, and the issues these children have in treatment. These adolescents who have been exposed to domestic violence are products from poverty stricken households, single parent households, caretakers who are unemployed and caretakers who have been abuse victims themselves as children. Additional demographic characteristics of family types are multiple housing transitions and limited social/family support. Culturally, these children come to view violence as an acceptable manner, perhaps the only way to resolve conflicts and come to learn to rationalize the use of violence, as that they know of nothing else. Osofsky (2003), states it is not just that children are exposed, but culturally, they learn that violence may be an acceptable way for individuals to act toward one another. Professionally speaking, as a child protective services social worker, children who are involved in an investigation, reports it is the norm when mom and dad fight. It has been proven these children have an increased level in aggression in school with their peers and present depressive symptoms. These adolescents who have witnessed domestic violence are referred to individual counseling and when appropriate family counseling, to receive treatment for their emotional and behavioral issues. The authors expounded that these adolescents present barriers/issues during treatment. During therapy these children often described engaging in multiple coping responses when they witnessed violence. The most frequent behavior, by adolescents in the child welfare system, is to withdraw from any type of helping interaction with a professional (DeBoard-Lucas & Grych, 2011). Other issues these children reflect in treatment are sadness, fear and resignation, as that it is a coping response. The authors summarized that this population is reluctant to acknowledge feeling afraid in front of a helping professional, interviewer or clinician. Furthermore, results indicate these adolescents do not engage successfully in the therapeutic process, because they feel a threat for their personal safety (Samuelson & Cashman, 2008). There are productive and effective approaches when working with this population. One salient approach is identifying the specific thoughts and feelings that children have when the violence is occurring and the clinician helps them identify coping responses that will help to regulate their affect without putting themselves in danger. According to DeBoard-Lucas & Grych (2011) states their study support the value of assessing children’s experiences of family violence from their own perspective. I agree with this method, because it gives the clinician a clear view of the child’s view of how/why the violence is occurring in their family and they are able to communicate this to their therapist. In the overview of articles, different authors discussed this approach was useful, because clinicians were able to test specific theoretical constructs and the overlap between the thoughts, feelings, and behavior freely reported by the adolescents. Based on the adolescents’ behaviors and feelings, the clinicians are able to determine the type of therapy or specific strategies to use on the victim children.
Specific Strategies There are therapy methods, tools and techniques to utilize when working with adolescents who have been exposed to domestic violence. Circular questioning, reframing and directives are interventions/techniques used by family therapists to achieve a comprehension of the family’s interactions, their values, and belief systems. These approaches are used in trauma centered therapy sessions with the child and family members to focus on one particular individual’s thoughts and feelings. According to English, Marshall, & Stewart (2003) children report feelings of anger, sadness, and periods of aggressions with others during clinical sessions. In addition there are evidence based therapy methods to use on adolescents who have experienced trauma such as: Attachment Based Family Therapy and Decision Dialogue for Relational Traumas. The Attachment Based Family Therapy is a good therapy technique to use on adolescents who are depressed. It also is a good method, because it engages the caretakers by initiating dialogue about prior trauma or mistrust in the family unit. Maughan & Cicchetti (2002) states ABFT is an effective technique for adolescents who are stressed, depressed, experiencing family trauma and it helps the victim reduce anxiety. Adolescents who are involved in child welfare have reported to the social worker, when they witness angry exchanges between others, particularly their parents, this is highly stressful for them, therefore ABFT is an good approach to utilize with the family. The Decision Dialogue for Relational Traumas is an effective strategy to utilize with adolescents who have experienced traumatic events. This method could be used when counseling children who have been exposed to violence. The Decision Dialogue links the individual session with the adolescent and other family members. “A family therapist working with a child who has experienced relational trauma faces the challenge of helping the child privately process this experience while at the same time fostering safe and positive attachments with non-threatening family caregivers” (Sheinberg & True, 2008, p. 173). The Decision Dialogue is an appropriate technique for children witnessing family violence because it provides opportunity for effective therapeutic change within the family unit. Domestic violence is seen as family relational trauma and the child who is exposed to this event, their sense of emotional/physical safety has been ruptured and/or comprised by the behaviors of the adult caregivers. Another specific strategy in working with adolescents exposed to domestic violence would be the clinician to develop an interactive group session for this population. This population presents behaviors such as: destructiveness, disobedience, and anxiousness. A group session with adolescents who have been involved in child welfare through assessments with these issues, the clinician would focus on improvement of self-esteem, establishment of trust, and the enhancement of personal safety (Lee, Kolomer, & Thomsen, 2012). The group sessions would specifically engage the client by emphasizing personal safety, emotional expression, communication with their caretakers, and conflict resolutions. As a future clinician, there are expectations of possible resistance for treatment. Techniques to utilize in overcoming these barriers would include, having the child express their concern of resistance in the form of verbal, written, or picture form.
Conclusion

References:
DeBoard-Lucas, R.L., & Grych, J.H. (2011). Children’s perceptions of intimate partner violence: Causes, consequences, and coping. Journal of Family Violence, 26(5), 343-354.
English, D.J., Marshall, D.B., & Stewart, A.J. (2003). Effects of family violence on child behavior and health during early childhood. Journal of Family Violence, 18(1), 43-57.
Lee, J., Kolomer, S., & Thomsen, D. (2012). Evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention for children exposed to domestic violence: A preliminary program evaluation. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 29(5), 357-372.
Maughan, A., & Cicchetti, D. (2002). Impact of child maltreatment and interadult violence on children’s emotion regulation abilities and socioemotional adjustment. Child Development, 73(5), 1525-1542.
Moylan, C.A., Herrenkohl, T.I., Sousa, C., Tajima, E.A., Herrenkohl, R.C., & Russo, M.J. (2010). The effects of child abuse and exposure to domestic violence on adolescent internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Journal of Family Violence, 25(1), 53-63.
Osofsky, J.D. (2003). Prevalence of children’s exposure to domestic violence and child maltreatment: Implications for prevention and intervention. Clinical Child & Family Psychology Review, 6(3), 161-170.