Developing Resilience for Victims of Family Violence
Developing Resilience for Victims of Family Violence
Victims of family violence may not ever be able to recover from receiving the attention and treatment they desperately require. Moreover, the extent to which victims of family violence are affected varies. Such depends on factors such as their ages and whether they received treatment at the right time. One of the most common categories of family violence that results in domestic abuse of children is child maltreatment. Children who have experienced child abuse or have been in a situation where they are forced to see their parents engage in domestic abuse tend to suffer harmful consequences or are put at risk of harm. Therefore, it is critical to have child maltreatment victims get the treatment they need to develop resilience as early as possible. Therefore, this mini-lecture intends to explore various features and methods for child maltreatment victims to build resilience. Furthermore, it will expound on their usefulness, application, and dependability for the long-term good of a victim.
Growing up, I have borne witness children undergo various forms of maltreatment. For instance, one family from the other side of the neighborhood had a father who was an alcoholic, and the mother worked at the local hotel as a maid. They had two children, six and eight years old, with whom the father barely had a relationship, and whenever he came home drunk, he would abuse them physically and verbally. Although it was not a matter of public record, I could tell the two boys were going through a difficult time as young as I was. They could isolate themselves at school or appear excited about their mother and sad when talking about their father. The boys generally looked pale and afraid all the time. They did not seem to care so much about their education. From this personal experience, I have later learned that these boys were being abused directly by their father and through their parents’ occasional fights.
Their behavior back at school, their social isolation, and their difficulty studying were the impacts of the abuse. One thing that made the father continue abusing the mother and the children was their resilience. It was a mistake for them not to report the family violence, but their choice to persevere the abuse resulted from their ability to overcome those difficult moments. The children never performed exemplary besides having the potential because they had mixed results all the time. Later on, in their adulthood, they were no longer a complete family. The mother and children had separated from the father, a lifelong consequence of the family violence. Besides their being resilient, one of the worst consequences of family violence and child maltreatment was their destroyed relationship with the father and mental health effects that could affect their fatherhood later in life. Therefore, this experience has critically shaped my perspective about family violence issues and how they can be harmful in the long term. Working with fathers or families such as those experiencing difficult times at home is fundamental for the well-being of children’s future. Such means finding solutions to the root cause of the problem by applying resiliency characteristics in family violence.
Resilience meant having the ability and toughness to recover from difficult situations (Cafcass Cymru, 2019). To be understood as being resilient, their skills, community support, positive relationships, and cultural connections play a significant role. According to Cafcass Cymru (2019), an Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) survey was carried out about exposure to such experiences and how such affected the respondent’s mental and physical health. Of the 2500 ACE adult respondents, 20 percent reported verbal abuse, 18 percent mental illness, 17 percent domestic violence, 16 percent physical abuse, 7 percent sexual abuse, and 25 percent parental separation (Cafcass Cymru, 2019). People who have reported neglect, for instance, physical and emotional neglect in the same survey, have also reported multiple child maltreatment issues. Furthermore, Cafcass Cymru (2019) writes that for every 100 adults, there are 50 who report ACE incidences which range from one to multiple in every case scenario.
Therefore, considering such crucial statistics of adults who remember going through ACEs, it is essential to understand what and how they could go through those experiences. Furthermore, in as much as we advocate for zero tolerance for child abuse, there are still cases that require special attention such that victims should be able to vigorously and successfully recover from an ACE. Therefore, since resilience in children can relatively be determined by environment and genetics over a particular period, it has to be reviewed and studied concerning such changes (Mrazek & Mrazek, 1987). Some characteristics and skills can advance a child’s resiliency in the event of an ACE including, dissociation effect and cognitive restructuring (Mrazek & Mrazek, 1987). Moreover, there is the idealization of an aggressor’s competence, seeking information, forming and utilizing relationships for survival purposes, optimism and hope, and rapid responsiveness to danger, among others (Mrazek & Mrazek, 1987). In addition to these skills and personal resiliency characteristics, a child maltreatment victim can undergo generic life circumstances that necessitate their being resilient. They include experiencing social welfare services and having access to good health care and education (Mrazek & Mrazek, 1987). These generic circumstances foster resilience and are not due to the specific nature of a stressor.
Furthermore, there can also be abuse-protective factors in a victim’s environment in developing resilience against child maltreatment effects. They include quickly and thoroughly acknowledging the offender regarding their abuse, permanence of legal actions that might affect child custody cases, or timelines factors (Mrazek & Mrazek, 1987). Therefore, given the experiences of past child maltreatment victims, the above characteristics added to various protective factors can be crucial in identifying a basis for resiliency. Nevertheless, as far as developing resiliency is concerned, there are also cautionary measures that victims might experience with these characteristics, which should be considered. They can at times become maladaptive when used for a long time or if they are not re-considered or discarded where the child maltreatment stressor does not exist anymore (Mrazek & Mrazek, 1987).
Therefore, with these resilience features, it is possible to analyze every child’s situation in a unique manner and also by considering other sets of circumstances. Resilience is essential in this process because it helps balance protective factors and harm hence supporting offset the strengths against any experience of adversity (Cafcass Cymru, 2019). By using the above characteristics and protective factors, children can become resilient and maintain an everyday life over a certain period. Nevertheless, a child needs first to experience an emphasized phase-based treatment that is critical in stabilizing them, helps them process through a traumatic experience, supports their cognitive processing, and consolidates learning (Lawson 2015). The treatment gives leeway to emphasizing other vital protective factors that also comprise features of resiliency. With features such as supportive family and community networks and a suitable attachment between a child and a parent, a child should be taking their first steps towards resiliency (Afifi & MacMillan, 2011). Therefore, the above features of resiliency are critical in developing a universal and targeted approach to reducing cases of child maltreatment due to family violence.
Family-level characteristics are fundamental because they exacerbate a good environment because of the supportive relationship experienced (Afifi & MacMillan, 2011). Therefore, with factors that support the development of resiliency in child maltreatment victims, it can be easier to help reduce some of the consequences of child maltreatment. It can help reduce issues with poor academic performance, physical health problems, and even suicidal behavior, which can be familiar to some extent (Afifi & MacMillan, 2011). Nevertheless, Afifi & MacMillan (2011) also state that child maltreatment may not at times comprise of such consequences, which may lead to confusion that some children are resilient compared to others. Such means that more studies are needed to strategically identify, from an individual level, how to handle every case with the attention it deserves with consideration of various characteristics.
By understanding the development and adoption of resilience characteristics, one can gauge the level of vulnerability in every child, especially during the treatment process hence being able to develop tailor-made recovery processes fit for such a child (Cafcass Cymru, 2019). Additionally, with these resiliency characteristics, it is possible to study and set up strategies that encourage self-discipline among children since indiscipline consists of one of the factors leading to child maltreatment (Lawson, 2015). Some children are mistakenly assumed to be resilient even after experiencing corporal punishment over time, but it might result in undesirable consequences later in their lives. Encouraging methods that lead to resiliency would help prevent relationships with children from breaking down, promote the healthy development of children, and helps children grow up with the feeling of self-respect and love around them.
The described resiliency characteristics and protective factors can specifically apply to children from all backgrounds because child maltreatment is universal besides occurring in various forms and levels from family to family. Resiliency characteristics can also use among adult victims of child maltreatment. That way, they will strengthen their resiliency and avoid subjecting their children to the same or worse treatment. For instance, in the case of couples fighting, they can avoid subjecting their children to psychological abuse by understanding the danger it has on the children and seeking information on how to better manage the situation for their sake and that of the children. Also, in the case of child custody battles, the parents, through developed resiliency, can expedite the process by seeking information on how to amicably look after their children without necessarily putting them under too much stress. Through resiliency characteristics, parents can understand that the most important thing is for their children to be safe and free from any form of abuse. Therefore, understanding how these resiliency characteristics relate to child maltreatment victims of various ages can help prevent future maltreatment and develop a generation of children and parents opposed to child maltreatment.
This lecture is essential in studying family violence because, in every adversity, there are survivors who can persevere and come out through the other end stronger. Most are the times that children are the most affected by issues of family violence. The fact that they may go through such and still use that environment as a stepping stone to come out stronger is even more critical. Being able to experience high levels of adversity through child maltreatment as a child and coming out stronger illustrates resiliency. Understanding resiliency characteristics are an integral part of this study because it helps understand critical concepts of child maltreatment recovery. That is, child maltreatment victims, who end up disclosing their adversity in adulthood, can sway off any self-inflicted adverse actions or health implications associated with maltreatment during their childhood.
Moreover, marriage and family therapy students need to understand resiliency in victims of child maltreatment. When they become adults, the resilience may not have been enough to guard them against resulting consequences at an adult age. Therefore, an MFT can be very fundamental in helping such a person not suffer the values at that stage later in life. An MFT can help foster resiliency to parents who experienced child maltreatment such that they can avoid exposing or putting their children through the same without knowing the harm it can cause. Such is because not all children can be resilient the same way over time to changing circumstances. They can also help in directing resilient adult victims through processes in which they can help their children become more resilient through, for instance, through disciplining methods that are not abusive but might appear so to the children.
References
Afifi, T. O., & MacMillan, H. L. (2011). Resilience following child maltreatment: A review of protective factors. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 56(5), 266-272. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674371105600505
Cafcass Cymru. (2019). Impact On Children Of Experiencing Domestic Abuse. https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2019-08/cafcass-cymru-impact-on%20children-experiencing-domestic-abuse.pdf
Lawson, D. M. (2015). Family violence: Explanations and evidence-based clinical practice. John Wiley & Sons.
Mrazek, P. J., & Mrazek, D. A. (1987). Resilience in child maltreatment victims: A conceptual exploration. Child Abuse & Neglect, 11(3), 357-366. https://doi.org/10.1016/0145-2134(87)90009-3