Category: Abuse

Introduction

Being a survivor of child abuse I know it’s a problem, it’s affected my in so many ways, I am still suffering from it today. However, I am curious to know how child abuse effect society. One of the reasons I am so interested in this topic is because I am going into Criminal Psychology, and a huge part of that job if examining and determining why a criminal does what they do. Ted Bundy is one of America’s most famous serial killers, through the years of him being in prison he was examined by a psychologist. It had come out at some point that Bundy was abuse as a child, and some people believe that is why he become a rapist and a murder. That is why this topic is interesting to me. I am curious to see if child abuse really does affect a person like that and if so how it shapes that person, and how child abuse affects its victims as they go out into the world.

A. Not all abused children become serial killers or criminals for that matter. However, there are a lot of connection between childhood abuse and criminal activity that can’t be dismissed as a coincidence. According to Davies (2018) “traumatic experience that happen during childhood can have a negative impact in that child’s adult life. It can significantly shape individual’s personality and life choices.” Which is why a lot of research has been done in the connections between childhood abuse and criminal behaviors. “The extent of childhood abuse reported among serial killers have raised a huge controversial question. Are serial killers born or made?” (Davies, 2018 p.1)

Childhood abuse has been linked to criminal behaviors

According to Criminologist Raine (2008) “both biological and social factors contribute to the making of a murder.” Through reading Dr. Raine’s research I believe a little differently than he does, he states that genetics play into a person’s criminal behavior. His exact words are “genetics and the environment work together to encourage violent behaviors. For example, those who have enzyme monoamine- oxidase – A gene are more susceptible to violent behavior if they were exposed to an abusive upbringing.”

I don’t know much about genetics, so I am going to naturally disagree with him. However, I do believe that a person’s upbringing and environment can shape a person and introduce a child to criminal behaviors. For example, one of the articles I read talked about early childhood exposure to an abusive environment can produce psychopathic behaviors in its victims.

I had mentioned Ted Bundy in my introduction, as a child Bundy was born when his mother was 22 years old. She originally left Ted at an orphanage. She was ashamed, and I believe that feeling followed her for a many years even after Ted was old enough to realize. Bundy had claimed that he had a great childhood however, there was evidence that he was exposed to his grandfather’s abusive behaviors towards his grandmother, Bundy also found out that his dad was listed as a different man on his birth certificate. A lot of psychology reports find that Bundy had an issue with that.

A lot of serial killers have been linked to have had childhood abuse. Merrywether’s (2017 p. 3 and 7) article talks about 15 serial killers that experienced childhood abuse. Ted Bundy isn’t on her list that she discusses, and I didn’t recognize any of the other on her list expect number 15 Aileen Wuornos. However, Richard Ramirez also known as “The Night Stalker” from El Paso, TX was found guilty on 13 counts of murder in the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles, he had a rather disturbing childhood where he was brutally beaten by his father. Ottis Toole and Henry Lee Lucas, famous serial killer duo who were suspected of murdering hundreds were both victims of physical and psychological abuse. They were also forced to dress up like young girls and were then beaten.”

Another article I read show a study that was done were out of a group of 2,750 children 53% were reported to have suffered from physical abuse and 28% suffered emotional abuse. That proves that child abuse is an issue in our society just by that study because, of how high the number percentage is, the five serial killers would have been in those number and those are just five I mentioned. In Merryweather’s article she talks about 15. That number is a big number and all the 15 she talks about were exposed to childhood abuse, including Ted Bundy, that’s 16. Child abuse is named as a health priority in our society according to the American Pediatrics Association.

There are so many types of child abuse, when I originally started my research I thought I was a victim of physical, emotional, and verbal. However, after reading through a lot of my sources I found that I am a victim of a lot more than just those three.

Many of the serial killers I have mention in my paper so far have been exposed to physical, emotional, and psychological abuse. I believe it is these three plus sexual abuses that has the most effect and most damaging outcomes in a child’s life. In the following I have definitions of each of the main points and then things that come with each type of child abuse. I have watched a lot of crime shows and have gotten in to the justice system.

Types of Child Abuse

1. Emotional Abuse. Emotional abuse is any kind of abuse that is emotional rather than physical in nature.
2. Verbal Abuse

   a. Verbal abuse is when a person forcefully criticizes, insults, or denounces someone else.

   b. Curse words

   c. Hurtful terms (“it’s all your fault”)

3. Physical Abuse

   a. Physical abuse is an act where one person uses their body to inflict intentional harm or injury upon another person.

   b. Punching

   c. Hitting (on anywhere on the body with closed fists)

   d. Kicking

   e. Biting

   f. Pushing

4. Medical Abuse

   a. Failure to act causes unreasonable suffering, misery, or harm.

   b. Refusal to take child to doctor (broken bones or other serious injuries)

   c. Refusal to acknowledge child’s sicknesses (sinus infections, strep, pink eye, ear infections, anything serious -contagious or life threatening.)

   d. Refusal to give medications to child when doctor ordered it

5. Sexual Abuse

   a. Sexual abuse is a molestation, undesired sexual behaviors by one person upon another.

   i. Touching body parts (unwanted)

   ii. Penetration(unwanted)

   iii. Unwanted pornographic pictures

   iv. Forceful sex (rape)

6. Psychological Abuse

   a. Form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another person to behavior that may result in psychological trauma that include the following.

   i. Anxiety

   ii. Chronic depression

   iii. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

According to Davies (2018) sources research Abbie Marone and Ex- FBI profiler Joe Navarro released their study that found different types of child abuse that can be used to profile a serial killer. These types and categories are all tied together, it is crazy to read about these and see that they are all intertwined with each other.

Conclusion

In conclusion from the research I’ve done, I would have to say that child abuse plays a big part in crime in our society, at least it does in mine. In my first discussion for this class I talked about how I had a friend whose dad was abusive towards her mother. One night while her and her younger brother where in the house her father began an argument. My friend was able to get out of the house and call 911 there was a stand off and in the end her father shot her mother, and her mother passed away on her way to the hospital. That was only one of the abusive incidents that were broadcasted. However, the point I am trying to make is that no one knew, I believe that if people had known that her mother would still be alive today. I also knew a few people in elementary school who ended up moving because of an abusive situation, another friend in high school moved right after our graduation because of the same thing. And being a survivor myself and the eldest out of six including me, abusive behaviors are still going on. Although my parents are now divorced it is a nasty situation, and is still has abuse on my mothers side, and my fathers side.

Through watching those shows and news reports and reading news reports I have seen that those four are extremely damaging. However, there are those that don’t let what happened to them define them, and they go one to do great things. For example, “Crime Watch Daily’s” Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her house at the age of 14. She was then held captive for 9 months, and in those nine months she was rape repeatedly, drugged, and forced to endure religious rituals. However, she has gone on to do great things, she is now an accomplished activist and author. She has also launched the “Elizabeth Smart Foundation” which is pairing up with law enforcement to have self-defense classes to eliminate crimes against child. Like the one she was forced to endure. I don’t believe that those who are abuse have criminal behaviors or are going to turn out “bad”. So, to recall that question that was asked in the first article I read “Are serial killers born or made?” I believe that they are made, I don’t believe that you are born evil or born with evil tendencies. I believe when you are born you have the possibility to do so many good or bad things or both. Elizabeth Smart shows that you can do great things with horrible pasts, it things like the Elizabeth Smart Foundation that is going to make this world a better place. That is why I believe that something needs to be done about child abuse, not only have I lived through it and know how hard and horrible it is, but I know the effect and I am so glad that I am able to say I want to do good things.

References

1. Davies, N., Raine, A., Merryweather, C., Marone, A., Navarro, J., & Aamodt, M. G. (2019, January 28). From Abused Child to Serial Killer: Investigating Nature vs Nurture in Methods of Murder. Retrieved from https://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/home/topics/violence-and-aggression/from-abused-child-to-serial-killer-investigating-nature-vs-nurture-in-methods-of-murder/
2. Ted Bundy. (2019, January 28). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/people/ted-bundy-9231165
3. Elizabeth Smart. (2019, January 22). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-smart-17176406
4. Merryweather, C. (2017, June 20). 15 Serial Killers Who Had The Childhood From Hell. Retrieved from https://www.thetalko.com/15-serial-killers-who-had-the-childhood-from-hell/
5. Raine, A. (2008, April). The biological crime: Implications for society and the criminal justice system. Retrieved February 18, 2019, from http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0101-81082008000100003&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en
6. Serial killers: Relation between childhood maltreatment and sexual relations with the victims. (2017, June 30). Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092493381730901X

Picture this, you’re 16 and in an extremely abusive relationship. It was mentally, physically, verbally, and sexually abusive. You finally manage to get out but it doesn’t end. You’re stalked and threatened constantly so you go and do something about it. You show the police everything and give them proof but they do nothing. He gets a stern “talking to” and that’s it. He got “talked to” by one of his best friends who was a police officer in his town. Nothing got taken seriously for this case and it was brushed over. Domestic violence and abuse do not get taken as seriously as they should, especially in younger relationships.

Abuse can be recognized as many things besides just physical. It’s not always just violence violent. The types of abuse can be verbal, physical, emotional, sexual, and mental. It can be things such as insults like name-calling or talking down on another, interfering with their social and family lives, possessiveness, jealousy, creating restrictions and rules within the relationship, withholding intimacy. It can also be anything physical such as hitting or pushing, and threats of harm against the partner or themselves. Knowing all types of abuse helps to understand the true issue at hand. (Family.findlaw.com)

The main cause of abuse in relationships is the need for control. One partner, in most cases the male, needs to be in control and have the authority in the relationship. There is a very strong belief that they should take priority above everything else in their partner’s life, they should have the power in the relationship and over the partner, and all around that it’s an okay way to be and they can get away with it. More big contributors to abuse are women are seen as objects through the media, dominance is becoming glorified, men are viewed to be the head of households including the decisions. Many abusers also do not have negative repercussions because they blame it on drugs, alcohol, being provoked, or mental issues. (Stoprelationshipabuse.org)

One of the big arguing points as to why abusers should not get very harsh punishments is things such as mental illnesses, anger problems, stress, genetic factors, provocation, or things such as drugs or alcohol. They tend to use all of these things as excuses to try to justify their actions and their behavior. By doing this they’re avoiding the problem and not holding themselves accountable for their actions. These types of things are often used in the abuser’s defense, but the abuse is not caused by any of the problems previously listed. There are people who experience one of these factors or else they suffer from one or more and they do not act out in abusive ways because of it. (Stoprelationshipviolence.org)

Another factor as to why the abusers shouldn’t have such harsh punishments, or any at all, is because their partner had the opportunity to leave, many times. There are many reasons why people stay in abusive relationships. One of the biggest reasons is the feeling of being stuck or trapped. They feel stuck because they don’t know what will happen if they do actually leave. The abuser will often threaten to hurt their partner or themselves. They may also not have anywhere else to go and maybe financially unstable. Another big reason is they often begin to believe that this abusive behavior is normal. After dealing with it for so long and not knowing what a normal, healthy relationship is, it becomes harder to determine what is and what is not healthy. This is especially hard for victims that grew up in a situation where abuse was common. A few other reasons are the love they have for the person, having a family with them and not wanting to break up the family, religious or cultural reasons, disabilities where they are dependent on their partner, or language barriers that they could have if they are immigrants. (Thehotline.org) In a study conducted on bjs.gov, they looked into people who were victims of abusive relationships and found that only 47% were reported. That means that every year, more than half of domestic violence cases go unreported. (bjs.gov)

There are many misconceptions about domestic violence and abuse. One of the biggest beliefs is that it is uncommon. Domestic violence is often one of those things where you think of it as “out of sight, out of mind”, and if it isn’t happening to you it probably isn’t happening somewhere else to someone else. But in fact, as stated by an article published on the Cosmopolitan website, “One in four women, and 1 in 7 men, will experience relationship violence in their lives. From 2003-2012, domestic violence accounted for nearly a quarter of all violent victimizations.” More misconceptions are that you can’t love someone who abuses you, the violence only happens as basically a last resort or when someone is at their wits end, domestic violence is only physical, if you’re abused you should obviously leave the relationship, it isn’t something that you should call the police over, and both partners in the relationship hold responsibility in situations dealing with violent situations. A few other misconceptions include women and men are abused an equal amount, but also men are never abused and women never are abusive, it only happens to poor uneducated women, and drugs and alcohol are a cause for abuse (cosmopolitan.com)

Women make up the majority of people who are abused but it does happen to men too. In fact, according to statistics on NCADV.org, “1 in 7 men have been victims of severe physical violence (e.g. beating, burning, strangling) by an intimate partner in their lifetime.”, and “1 in 4 men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner. This includes a range of behaviors (e.g. slapping, shoving, pushing) and in some cases might not be considered ‘domestic violence.’.” (National Statistics, NCADV.org) Within these abusive relationships, men and women can play either part of being the abuser or the one who is abused.

The impact of domestic violence does not stop at the ones involved. There is actually a large economic impact that is the result of it. When you total it up the number of days missed every year from the effects of abuse, you get eight million paid days that are missed. Between 21-60% of victims of domestic violence lose their jobs from reasons related to abuse and in the years from 2003 to 2008, 142 women were murdered by their abusive partner in the workplace. (NCADV.org) Intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion every year and $4.1 billion of that is in direct medical and mental visits stemming from reasons of the abuse. As health care visits, the average number of visits per patient is 21.1 for physical therapy, 5.7 nights in the hospital, 4.4 dental visits, 3.2 with a physician, 3.1 outpatient visits, 1.9 in the emergency room, and 1.1 visits with a paramedic. (Domesticsheltars.org)

Victims of abuse suffer from a large physical and mental impact. There is a link with physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health effects with intimate art near violence. The list of other things linked with this is huge and not limited to unintended pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth, neurological disorders, disabilities, post-traumatic stress disorder, cardiovascular diseases, and in some cases, even cancer. Victims of domestic violence are at a much higher risk of developing addictions to things like alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. (NCADV.org)

The effects of an abusive relationship can be very damaging to teenagers. They are developing emotionally and an unhealthy relationship can have many negative consequences. Youth.gov compiled research that was done on the correlations with dating violence and behaviors teens in them have. They are said to not do well academically or skip school because they feel unsafe, engage in nonsafe behaviors such as drugs, alcohol, smoking, or eating disorders, become depressed or attempt suicide, question sexuality, and go into unhealthy abusive relationships as an adult. The victims can also find it exceptionally hard to become intimate with a partner, become a productive member of a society, a good set of principles to guide behavior, and have an appropriate identity as an adult. (Youth.gov)

As for helping a friend who is an abusive relationship, the best way to go about it is with sensitivity and respect but to also go about it in a very cautious manner because it can be potentially dangerous for the both of you. Without doing this, they could not listen to the advice you give them and possibly result in them distancing themselves from your friendship. While helping a friend you need to be nonjudgmental as you possibly can and try to remember that a majority of the time they can’t just leave. Everybody is going to react to support and suggestions differently but the last thing you want to do is make them feel ashamed of what they are putting themselves through. Firmly telling them what to do and bossing them around can lead to them feeling even more controlled because it’s pushing them to do something that they aren’t ready to do yet. Instead, you can ask what you can do and offer help. Suggest resources and making a plan if they were to ever leave. Offer support instead of trying to rescue them. (Psycologytoday.com)

In a survey conducted on survey monkey, out of 100 people, 58 said that if they knew a close friend was in an abusive relationship they would step in to help and report the abuse. 36 out of that 100 said they would consider it, and 6 said that it was not their place to step in. Out of those same 100 people, 37 said that if they knew an acquaintance was in an abusive relationship, they were very likely to step in. 50 had said that they would consider it, and 13 said that it was not their place. In this same survey, it was found that 52 out of the 100 knew that 1 in 3 women are victims of abuse, 40 knew it happened but didn’t know that it was that common, and 8 had no idea. As for men, 20 knew that 1 in 4 men have been victims of abuse, 40 knew it happened but not that frequently, and 40 had no idea it happened to men. The last question asked about being a victim or knowing a victim, out of the 100 surveyed, 14 have been victims but don’t know anyone else that was, 43 knew of someone who was a victim, 30 were victims and also knew someone else who was a victim, and 13 were not and didn’t know anyone who was.

Finally getting help is hard enough as it is, but now under President Trump’s administration, the Department of Justice has changed the definition of domestic violence. This happened quietly and is not widely known. In 2018, as defined on snopes.com by the website of the Department of Justice’s Office of Violence Against Women, “A pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone.”. In 2019, the new definition reads, “The term “domestic violence” includes felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction receiving grant monies, or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction.” (Alex Kasprak, snopes.com) This means that domestic violence is now defined only as physical violence and people suffering from any other form cannot get the same help that they used to be able to. It doesn’t matter how horrible the situation is if it isn’t considered a felony or misdemeanor. This can really cause harm to people and scare them away from reporting what is happening to them and getting out of the unsafe situation.

Domestic violence is something that happens way more than we would like to admit that it does. The best way to combat this ever-growing issue is to have more prevention programs and spread awareness. We need to make the beginning signs known so that you know what to look for while in a relationship so that one thing doesn’t lead to another. There needs to be a lot of support groups and available resources at all times. It should also be more publicly known what goes on within these relationships and the proper ways of going about helping someone in them. The more aware we are, the better chance we have at stopping this.

Domestic violence is a very hard-hitting subject with me. At the beginning of this paper, I wanted you to imagine yourself in a certain scenario. It’s such a hard-hitting subject with me is because that scenario was the one I was involved in. I was in a relationship that involved every form of abuse. He controlled every aspect of everything. He was manipulative. He was abusive and would leave bruises. He told me no wasn’t a good enough answer. I got the courage and left but that didn’t end things. I went to the police and showed them evidence of threats and stalking and gave them my story but nothing was done about it besides his police officer friend “talked” to him about it. We need to do better. We need to be better. Believe everyone’s story and always be supportive.

Domestic abuse has been traditionally thought of as a universal issue focusing on the primacy of gender as a factor and as such effects all women equally and that the experiences of battered women are similar no matter despite differences in race, sexuality and gender identity, culture, class or economic position. However recently this view of domestic violence which ignores other factors and existing social structures has recently been criticised as it has led to minority and oppressed groups being failed by the policies institutions that are meant to help them. By using intersectional analysis to better understand not only how likely different women are to experience domestic violence but also how they are likely to seek help, report it to the police or leave their partner, we could use this information to better adapt our institutions and policies that are there to support and protect victims to the needs of minority groups.

In order to better understand why domestic violence occurs and how best to deal with the problem I will firstly be analysing how sexuality and gender identity, race. culture and socio-economic standing contributes to the likelihood of a women experiencing domestic violence and how they could affect how a victim may act in the situation. I will then explore how this information could be used to better help victims receive support and how more inclusive policies could better solve this issue.

Sexuality and gender idenitity

The focus of domestic based violence as part of gender based violence for women completely obscures the existence of domestic violence within same-sex relationships which can often alienate the victims. According to research by LGBTQ+ charity stonewall 1 in 4 lesbian and bisexual women have been victims of domestic abuse, with two thirds of those saying the perpetrator was a women and only one third of those saying the perpetrator was a man. Sixty-two per cent of those respondents said that they had experienced physical violence as part of this abuse (Stonewall, 2012). One in four women in the general population have experienced domestic abuse (stonewall 2012) and so statistically lesbian and bisexual women are just as likely to be victims of domestic abuse as those in heterosexual relationships. Women who identify as transgender have very different experiences of domestic abuse to cisgender women which should be better researched and taken into account. A study by the Scottish Trans alliance found that 80% of transgender people had experienced ‘emotionally, sexually, or physically abusive behaviour’ in a relationship, with 45% of respondents experiencing physical violence (STA, 2010), suggesting that in fact transgender women have a higher risk of domestic abuse than any other sexuality.

The traditional notion that domestic abuse occurs mainly within heterosexual relationships with the perpetrator being male is simply not the case as shown by these statistics and has led to damaging consequences for LGBTQ+ women who are victims of domestic violence. LGBTQ+ women rarely report the abuse, one study on domestic violence in LGBTQ+ relationships found that 85.71% of the participants surveyed that responded saying that they had experienced domestic abuse never reported it to the police (Gringas, 2018). This is often due to fear they would not be taken seriously by law enforcement as the stereotypical biological difference in power that is seen in heterosexual relationships is not present (brown, 2008). Women may also fear being ‘outed’ if they report domestic abuse while in a same-sex relationship and fear homophobia that may come with that (brown,2008). The threat of being ‘outed’ is also often used as a manipulative tactic by abusers in same-sex relationships in order to control the victim and make them stay in the relationship (Dupont, sokoloff 2005). In countries where same-sex relationships are illegal or frowned upon particularly in the non-western world, the fear of being ‘outed’ would outweigh the fear of the abuse itself due to fear of being a victim to homophobic violence, social alienation or in extreme cases in countries where homosexuality is illegal, such as Saudi Arabia or Somalia, imprisonment or even death. Gay and lesbian women may also be less likely to seek help from charities aimed at helping battered women due their heteronormative focus also more recently many charities such as women’s aid have advocated for greater help and aid to be given to LGBTQ+ women (Women’s aid, 2017). A women’s sexuality and Gender identity therefore can create a very different experience of domestic abuse and so the heteronormative focus of the battered women’s movement fails LGBTQ+ victims who require unique help, support and polices to tackle domestic abuse.

Culture

An acknowledgement and understanding of a victim’s culture is extremely important in order to effectively help them. However, we must be careful not to simplify domestic abuse within some communities down to notions of ‘cultural norms’ as this lazy analysis can often villainise different cultures too simplistically (Dupont, sokoloff 2005). This is not to say that cultural explanations have not been used to excuse domestic violence, Gallin argues that cultural evidence is often used by perpetrators to justify domestic violence against women and children undermining progress within the battered women movement in the united states (gallin 1994). In many countries around the world domestic violence is still legal and so women from these communites are much more likely to be victims of domestic abuse than women from countries where it is outlawed. For example, in Egypt nearly half of women surveyed by the ministry of health said they had experienced domestic violence (amnesty, 2015) double the uk estimate of one in four women (stonewall, 2012).

Culture can also have a huge impact on how women react to domestic violence. Women from some cultures may be less likely to leave their partner as they value keeping a father figure in the lives of their children and maintaining a family unit over more individualist western focus on the battered women (sharwa, 2001). Huisan suggests that Asian American women may be more likely to stay with the perpetrator due to existing patriarchal structures within communities and an underlying philosophy towards harmony (huisan, 1996), while others suggest that religion can often influence Asian-American women to stay in the relationship due to a belief that suffering will be rewarded in their next life (Almeida and Dolan-Delvecchio (1999). Immigrant women also have a number of unique barriers which may prevent them from seeking help. Both legal and illegal immigrant victims may face language barriers when seeking help and also may be financially reliant on the abuser due to having to take low skilled work with low wages outside their skill of expertise after moving to a new country. Women who have emigrated illegally may fear deportation or even the deportation of the perpetrator (sharwa 2001). These are just a few examples how culture can create unique difficulties in some cases of domestic abuse which are often ignored when domestic abuse is seen as a issue with universal solutions.

Race

Data from the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS), revealed that there was little difference in reports of domestic violence between African-American, Latina and white women in the US (Dupont, sokoloff 2005). However, this does not mean that race is unimportant when researching domestic abuse, a black women’s experience of domestic abuse can be very different than the white-washed traditional view of the battered women’s movement. Black victims often receive less sympathetic and fair treatment from police officers due to damaging stereotypes of black women as aggressive which contrast with the equally damaging stereotype of a battered women as weak and helpless (Ammons, 1995). Black women may also be less inclined to phone the police or report the abuse in fear of safety of the abuser due to unjust treatment of black men by police officers particularly in the USA (Dupont, sokoloff 2005). Race can therefore create barriers to victims seeking help and should be considered to better improve the current intuitions and policies in place to tackle domestic violence.

Socio-economic standing

While race has little to do with the likelihood of domestic abuse, Browne and Bassuk identified that one reason why some research may indicate that women of colour are more likely to be poor, this has been used to suggest that socio-economic position rather than race is the reason why black women report slightly higher levels of domestic violence (Browne & Bassuk, 1997). Some research even suggests that once social class, employment statuses and occupation is taken into account there is little statistical difference between women of different races and culture suggesting in fact that socio-economic standing is the main predictor of domestic violence (Dupont, sokoloff 2005). The world health organisation identified both low-levels of education and low-levels of access to paid employment as risk factors for domestic abuse (WHO, 2017). Poverty in particular can put women at risk of domestic abuse with 14% of women in poverty experiencing extreme domestic violence compared to only 6% of those not in poverty (Womens aid).

A women’s socio-economic standing can restrict their choices considerably when they fall victim to domestic abuse. the most reported reason that women stay with the abuser is that they are financially dependent on the abuser, rather than any psychological reason (Dupont, Sokoloff 2005). When surveyed fifty-two per cent of women who still live with their abuser stated their reason for staying as they could not afford too, due to having no money of their own (Women’s aid). Straight white women’s experience of domestic abuse is therefore not monolithic as the victims socio-economic standing greatly limits their response to the violence.

How we should apply this to improve our domestic abuse services

Our current policies and institutions are failing minority and disadvantaged women whose unique experiences and circumstances mean they are failed by the current system which focuses on a whitewashed, heteronormative, westernised view of domestic abuse which assumes that all women have the means to leave their abuser. In order to properly tackle domestic abuse, we must take this intersectional analysis and use it to improve how we help victims of domestic abuse. Dupont and Sokoloff suggest we do this by ‘placing women at the margin at the centre’ (Dupont, Sokoloff 2005). By creating institutions such as charities and helplines that focus on minority groups it ensures that their unique needs are catered for which can better help women stuck in abuse relationships escape. The services we already have must also be adapted to suit each individual situation as intervention in different cases will have different priorities, in situations where women are financially dependent on the abuser, welfare and housing may be priority (Dupoint, sokooff 2005) while protection against homophobia would be more important for LBGTQ+ victims. Services such as shelters must be safe and inclusive for all survivors by for example offering meals suitable for different religions and law enforcement should be properly trained to prevent discrimination. These improvements and more could not be possible without more in-depth intersectional research on domestic abuse which is vital in ordered to move the battered women’s movement forward.

The Child Called “It” is written by David Peltzer and tells the story of his childhood and the abuse that he had to endure from his mother, terrible things from beatings to locking him in a room while it slowly filled with toxic gas. Peltzer talks about how he grew up feeling spite and anger towards people since they got to be fed and experienced happiness while he was treated as a slave and was lucky to find any food in general. Peltzer also talks about how by the time he was in the 5th grade, he had already given up on his school career and in reality, his life. He talks about how he would steal food from other kids at school and after, getting caught, eventually moving on to a store. He talks about how he once saw his dad as his savior and how he felt that if his dad was home that he wouldn’t have to endure as much pain than if his dad was at work. Eventually that changed for him, and he began to see his dad as a coward and began to feel spite towards him as well. His story of abuse ends with a police officer telling his mom that Peltzer would not be coming home and taking him somewhere in a police car ensuring him that his mother will never hurt him again.

This story was completely heartbreaking and simultaneously hard to read and hard to put down. While reading the book I felt like I could feel Peltzer’s pain and all of the things that he went through. The things that he had to go through are so horrific it doesn’t seem like it’s possibly real, but it is. Something that I don’t really understand is why the mom was so cruel towards David but was seemingly kind to the other children. It makes your heart go out to David more knowing that the other children are getting proper meals and getting to sleep in their beds while David is punished for having food in his belly and for most of the book sleeping on a cot in the garage in the cold.

I also don’t understand why everyone was so passive about it and just let it happen. The father irritates me the most in this scenario because he not only lets the mom abuse David, but he also leaves the family without doing anything to try to help him. Maybe I’m just not understanding how times were different or something, but it just feels like to me that he just sort of gave up on David when David needed him the most. Even though I knew how the story ended, I hoped that the father would step in, maybe tell his wife to go to hell and take his son away from that waking nightmare but he never did. Even when he left the family I was hoping that on the next page it was going to say that the father looks David with him when he left and that he’d finally be at peace but obviously, like I said earlier, you already know how David’s story ends.

One of the most chilling parts of the book is when the mother stabs David. This is written as an accident in the book saying that the mother was swaying and lost her balance, but I did some research after I read the book and in an article it says that Richard, the boy who was sitting on the mother’s lap when it happened said that he wholeheartedly believed that the mother meant to stab David and that he was sure that her end goal of the abuse was to eventually kill him. when David had to squeeze the infection out of his would it made me feel disgust and anger. Not disgust in the sense that it’s an infection, but in the sense that you could tell in that moment alone that mother truly did not care in the slightest whether David lived or died.

This was also evident in the mother having her sick fun with ammonia. Not only did she make David drink it, which caused chemical burns in his mouth, but she also put it in a bucket with bleach to create chlorine gas which is toxic to breathe in. Peltzer described it as being put in a gas chamber and would try to keep his air as toxic-less as he could by staying low to the ground and putting a rag over his mouth. I’m honestly amazed that it didn’t end up killing him considering how dangerous that stuff is. I wouldn’t be surprised if Peltzer had some serious respiratory problems now that he’s older. Another thing the mother did to David was put him in cold water for long periods at a time which for some reason reminded me of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (I know that the boy in that movie wasn’t left in cold water but just was in hot water but didn’t get out for hours but that what was in my head the whole time reading about this part.)

I thought the epilogue with Peltzer’s son was heartwarming, how he had gone through hell as a child but is not an adult with a son who he cares about. Peltzer seems to have gotten a better ending to his story that most get. A lot of kids who are abused either grow up to be substance abusers, child abusers, or die while in the custody of their abusers. I hope that peltzer is doing well for himself, hopefully he made some good money on his autobiographies and doesn’t have to worry about much anymore. I hope that Peltzer gave his son the family that he never got.

INTRODUCTION

Life has many surprises and challenges, but sometimes we just have to follow through the many different things life throws our direction. Some people go out of their way to escape the many challenges they might have to face. You know, that’s okay because that’s why there are people out there willing enough to help them out. When you take time to understand someone’s struggle and the situation they are in then you will only understand them. It doesn’t take much to help someone out. Experiences are not what happens to you, but it is what you do with what happens to you. Lending a hand towards someone who needs it is the best feeling ever. I haven’t done anything that really changed anyone’s life, but I have always been there when someone needed my support. Whether they need it or not I am there, or if someone else disapproves of it, I’m still there to support them. I will never someone behind when they need my help. I will never advise anyone into doing something, or even when asked for, I never give them advice. I prefer to be able to just be there to give them support. I wouldn’t want my advice to come back and bite me later on if something goes wrong for whoever that asked for my advice. I’m a better supporter than a person who gives advice. In this paper, I will be writing about how I will survive with this kind of job and what some of my experiences may help me with this kind of job.

What are the issues that are in your own history that will affect your feelings, behaviors, attitudes, and own mental health in the day to day dealings working with substance abuse issues?

I believe that the only problem I would have working with substance abuse is if they are harming anyone and especially a child, while under the influence. That I will not be able to deal with because I cannot tolerate anyone harming another human being because they are under the influence of drugs and alcohol. I understand that some people get carried away when they are under the influence, but if you know it then why don’t you stop using or perhaps go elsewhere where you know you won’t be able to hurt anyone. Other than that, I believe I will do just fine with working with someone who had substance abuse issues.

What are your vulnerable points? What is your strength?

One of my vulnerability is the emotional state that is most dreadful to me, in reaction to which I’ve developed the strongest defenses. Fear is pretty dreadful. I don’t want to experience it for very long Somedays are usually worse than the other for the most part. I fear of being a failure. For me, sometimes it triggers a deeper and more dreadful fear of solitude, hurt, or hardship. But I try my best not to think too much of what makes me vulnerable too. The fear failure sounds like this to me, “If I fail, no one will help, be there, love, or comfort me.” Another one that I hear is, ‘If I fail, I won’t be able to help others, and I won’t be worthy to anyone.” One of my many strengths is I believe in the good people have within themselves. I always see the good in what anyone can become. Another one of my strengths is I am a strong person who has gone through many struggles to become who I am today. Even when someone doesn’t see what they have I see it. Sometimes we all get so wrapped up in others’ lives because we think they have it all going on, and we want that. But that’s where we’re wrong. No one has a perfect life, each and every one of us has struggled at some point.

What is in your own history that could impact how well you survive in a job such as this?

One of my own history that would help me impact on how well I will survive in a job like this happened three years ago. It might not seem like such a big tragic, but to me it was. It has nothing to do with addiction or any sort of substance. When I was twenty-eight-years old I got engaged and then became pregnant. It should have been the happiest time of my life, but it turned out differently for me. God had other plans for me. Which I am thankful for today. I ended up raising my son on my own. It was tough for me, but I managed and still doing the best I can for my son. My fiancé left me for another woman who was married during that time. I was then eight months pregnant and left all alone. Many thoughts ran through my head. I just couldn’t understand what went wrong or what I did wrong. Honestly, I’m still doing my very best to get the situation out of my head and stop blaming myself. I didn’t do anything wrong, instead, I did everything right. I always do, and then end up getting left behind or abandoned. Like every girl, or guy, I fell in love with someone who gave me a lesson in life. It’s stupid I know. I went into depression for a while. I remember there were days when I couldn’t even find the strength to go on, but when I look at my son, somehow it kept me going. In this case, I believe some people would have turned to drugs or alcohol, but it wasn’t for me. I was stronger than the influences. There were many times I thought maybe going towards that route would numb all the pain away and make me feel better, but I always found the strength to step back and be a fighter. I’m glad that I am that strong to have avoided the hard road full of dangerous things. This experience that I had is going to help me survive because I believe that if you know there is something or someone there that needs you for support, you will be able to overcome anything. Or, if you know what is most important to then you can overcome anything. When you believe in yourself, you can be anything you want, and fight any battle that gets thrown your way.

How will you maintain self-care in your own life as a helper? How will you establish and maintain boundaries?

When it comes to self-care, you need to know your value. Self-care is important to maintain a healthy relationship with yourself since it generates positive feelings and increases self-assurance. Self-care also needs to remind you and others of the importance of you and your needs. I’m going to keep myself focused, inspired, and safe. By regularly practicing self-care and finding that it is the backbone of my daily and weekly routine, will enable me to be my best and help others. Limits are key to healthy relationships and a healthy life in reality. The creation and protection of boundaries is an art. We may take tips from observation here and there, or by looking at others. But boundary establishing is a rather new and challenging idea for many of us. One way of setting your boundaries is to be direct with your client in a good way. Also, tune out your feelings when you are with a client.

CONCLUSION

The main point of all this that’s been written in this essay is telling someone that I will be able to handle anything that will be thrown at me or at least tries my very best to help someone who might need my help out. I will never judge anyone just because they are different from and because they chose to do things differently from me. My point is I understand that everyone is different and everyone has their own problems which every one of us deals with them differently. Not every two-person are going to be the same. We all think differently and do everything differently. There shouldn’t be a reason for anyone to judge someone because you don’t know what that person has been through. Therefore, by judging a person by their appearance is something no one should ever do. Until you walk in their shoes, you should never judge them. For this reason, I believe everyone deserves a second chance. Just believe in you.

Have you ever seen or had a bad relationship with a male figure in your life? Children around the world get abused every day, weather is physical or mental abuse leaving an impact on their lives forever. In the two poems “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath and “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke the main subject that the authors portray is their fathers. “Daddy” and “My Papa’s Waltz” are both still similar but do not have the same tones throughout. Plath and Roethke both show not only a tone towards the father but mental and physical abuse through a childs perspective. Theodore Roethke is a great poet from the 1940’s who wrote throughout the 1960s. Born in Michigan, his father was a German immigrant who dies when Theodore was 14 years old. He later called himself “unhappy”, because of this death in his family. Sylvia Plath was a poet of the 20th century born in 1932 in Boston, who had an obsession with death and emotion. Otto Plath, Sylvia’s father, a German immigrant college professor who died when Sylvia was only 10 years old. She suffered from depression in her undergraduate years because of this led to her death. Plath committed suicide at 32 years old. Sylvia Plath conveys a message in “Daddy” that is letting all of her anger out on her father while Theodore Roethke is showing more of understanding approach, but still showing the relationship that he has had with his father. The small boy that is in “My Papa Waltz” is still understanding what his father has done for the fact he was mistreated as a child. her childhood. Plath was never abused as a child but, he hated what her father has done to others. The tone in both stories “Daddy” and “My Papa Waltz” shows the reader the mental and physical abuse throughout the childhood of the children.

Plath uses a negative tone throughout “Daddy” to show a negative approach towards her father as a child. Throughout the poem “Daddy”, Sylvia Plath points out a lot of issues with her father that impacted her life negatively. The reader can infer that the problems that she used to face seems to bother her in her adult life. The poem “Daddy” seems to be a poem that doesn’t explain to much detail and is very broad the reader might have a hard time seeing the path the Sylvia was going through. The reader may refer to the beginning of the poem, when Sylvia describes the father-daughter relationship and one can assume that it is hatred or hospitality that she has for her father. Such as when Sylvia Plath says, ”Daddy, I have had to kill you.”(line 6). This just shows one the hatred that she has had for her father since she was younger.

Throughout the poem Sylvia shows many forms of hatred that she has had for her father and that was shown in many ways, but this doesn’t mean that she won’t still love her father like any child would. As the father daughter relationship goes this is very common one would say. Plath still doesn’t seem to tell the reader that, but one would just assume that’s how the father daughter relationship would be. Although at the end of the poem Sylvia says, “Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through.”(line 80). This tells one that Sylvia is done with her dad and wants nothing to do with him anymore. This all connects with Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”, in which Theodore Roethke implies that his father was an abusive drunk shown in forms of violence throughout the poem representing the type of relationship his father and him.

The tones of both of the poems are negative on the abuse aspect of their childhoods. Theodore Roethke represents many of ways that he was mistreated as a child through only a few stanzas. One can start with the first two lines, ”The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy:”(lines 1-2). Theodore Roethke doesn’t exactly state that the father is an alcoholic but after reading, “My Papa’s Waltz” you can infer that the father is an alcoholic. This is another poem that represents a bond between parent and child that cannot ever be forgotten. The two children will always have to have the thoughts about their fathers and how they remember them as a child. One can infer that the fathers in both of these poems represents a form of hatred to the parent but maintain an unrestricted sense love for the parent as well. The main feeling that us the readers can see by what the authors exhibited is cruelty. The father in “My Papa’s Waltz” had abusive tendencies that one can see in the poem. When Theodore Roethke states, ”You beat time on my head with a palm caked hard by dirt,”(13-14). As one would read this you can take this as an abusive trait that the father has had. This sounds as if the father was just hitting his palm on the top of the little boy’s head. As in “Daddy”, it is hard to depict why she has a hatred for her father.

One may prefer “My Papa’s Waltz”, this would because it is a lot easier to understand. This poem is easier for the audience to connect to, because it is more of all issues the father had, not just one big one. As well as you can really see and picture what the young boy was really going through as a child. Theodore Roethke paints a picture of alcoholism and abuse especially when he starts the poem with, ”The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy:”(lines 1-2). This allows you to see what the poem is going to be based around. While the broader poem “Daddy”, is harder to see the little things like why the hatred toward her father started. Sylvia used many hateful words that helped the reader see the hatred and disparity. Especially when Sylvia says, “I have always been scared of you,” (line 41). This still doesn’t allow you to see why she hated her father and why she really feels this way towards him.

Although the ways that Sylvia uses to form a sense of hatred are not that easy to find one can assume that this is hate from something her father has done to her. This hate can come from something minor such as when a child is growing up, they go through such a faze as if they hate their parents. As well has Sylvia grew up with depression and this is how she took out the depression and took it out on another different part of her life in this case her father. The two children have similar things in common which is the negative remembrance of each of their fathers. Both had bad experiences with their fathers and it affected their lives then and even when their fathers passed away. This shows that no matter how hard a relationship is, family is still family, and they will always be important to people’s lives forever.

Evaluation

When looking back at the content of the research I have put together for my study on Extreme Sports , I have come across a question of what motivates Athletes to participate in Extreme Sports. The website addicted to success suggests the following:

• Money: In some cases. Yet only a few chosen ones will ever make a decent living out of their chosen sport. In triathlons for example the majority of participants are amateurs, who for some non-financial reason have taken time out of their frantic work days and busy personal or family schedule to train for hours and hours, and weeks and weeks on end to swim, bike and run for the limited duration of a race.
• Fame: Maybe, but most people have never heard of Ross Clarke Jones (big wave surfer) or Chrissie Wellington (an undefeated triathlon world champion who defeats most of the top men).Fame is a fickle, fleeting thing.Unless you’re extremely talented, media savvy, a good role model and great at your chosen sport, it will only take a generation and then your forgotten and hardly anyone will remember who you were.
• Ego: I think you can tell in an athletes personality when this is the case. Unfortunately if your ego is bloated enough and the sport you are doing is extreme enough there is only one thing that will happen. Your ego will get crushed. Or someone better comes along.
• Challenging yourself: Competition with others and with yourself brings out the best . This is the definitive reason or motivation most will participate in any sport. Self-improvement is the main reason people want to challenge themselves.

Are Extreme Sport participants addicts? As mentioned in my study, the participants that take part in these risky sports usually have daredevil like attitudes and they thrive off risk and fear. You really can’t judge a book by its cover because people who are involved in extreme sports see positive effects from the experience they get while doing such activities. Our brain and body are designed to get scared in these times. They are supposed to alert us about feelings of harm and or fear. Participants who go through these activities are responding to fear in a positive way and the brain rewards them for that.

Where does the addiction part come in you may ask?

Well the chemical Dopamine can cause the feeling of addiction. When you are partaking in an extreme sport you fall in to a state of fear, once you overcome this fear your brain rewards you with Dopamine. The Dopamine is the part of the equation that makes you feel confident and happy. It gives a natural high that makes you feel overall good about yourself. When a participant is constantly putting themselves through extreme situations for pleasure, they are constantly feeling that sense of happiness. If you take that away the extreme aspects of the activity, you take away the happiness they receive. They keep pushing themselves through no matter what the risk in order to get that sense of confidence and happiness.

Have you ever watched someone bungee jump? Did you feel a rush of excitement or did your heart pound in fear? “It has been widely assumed that extreme sports people are for the most part risk taking, sensation seeking individuals who lack connection to the natural world (Zuckerman and Neeb, 1979; Breivik, 1996; Zuckerman, 2009)”

According to psychologist Eric Brymer, Extreme Sports are good for you. Away from the realm of “Adrenalin Junkie”, true Extreme Sports require a high amount of focus and offer opportunity for a fun experience. He defines “Extreme Sports” as in which the most likely outcome is misjudgement and death as all athletes do when hearing the words “Extreme Sports”.

“Research suggests that participation in extreme sport activity might develop valuable personal attributes such as courage and humility (Brymer and Oades, 2009). Other research suggests high risk sports allow participants to explore and embrace “fundamental human values” which can have formative and “transformational benefits” (Brymer and Schweitzer, 2013).”

His recent studies showed that “Extreme Sports” athletes are actually better than the rest of us. They have lower anxiety, are more independent and self-assertive and have a higher sense of reality. Anybody who participates in these types of sports will nod their heads in agreement because they know that these sports will make them a better person.

Extreme Sports are more dangerous than your good old traditional sports. They require specific equipment and feature spectacular stunts, such as acrobatic flips and 360-degree turns. Any athlete who dares to participate in these types of sports will experience high level of speed, wind, height, depth and of course adrenaline. As everybody knows, Extreme Sports are so life-threatening that participants of these sports must take extra care to avoid injuries or even death.

Despite the danger involved with Extreme Sports, athletes continue to take part in Extreme Sports because, they seek adventure. Athletes who choose to participate, want to push their mental and physical limits but, Extreme Sports don’t appeal to everyone and that’s perfectly fine. There has been extreme efforts put in to assure the safety aspect surrounding the sport. Everybody knows that whatever these sports are called, they are dangerous. Extreme Sports are not a fixed group. They change everyday due to the dedication, creativity and originality of the people who participate in them. Over time, many people that gravitated towards these kinds of sports, thought of themselves as outsiders. These people created different ways to participate, dress and relate to one another. Gradually, as new sports, fashions and attitudes become more popular, the new sports became less an alternative and more a part of the culture.

This proceeded into arguments among participants about quitting or whether they were losing their outside edge. More businesses, Corporations and their advertisers for products such as RED BULL and Mountain Dew wanted to associate them with the new sports to reach younger audiences. The creation of the XGAMES by ABC and ESPN, part of the Walt Disney corporation; the Gravity Games by a partnership including NBC and the Dew Tour organised by a branch of NBC sports all were examples of this. Perhaps the biggest indicator of this shift is the organisers of the Olympics who felt they needed new sports to reach younger audiences by adding Windsurfing, Mountain Biking, Snowboarding and Freestyle Skiing.

Most people fear getting injured and not be able to continue doing the sports they love because access to mountains, river or places to test our boundaries is an essential part of what it means to be human. Most athletes are not looking for sensation but, are looking for other rewards like connecting with nature and a better understanding of themselves. Instead of NO FEAR mentality so often associated with Action Sports media, athletes actually do feel fear and it is a good thing to have because fear reminds you to pay attention and this is important. You can’t be on autopilot or making statues updates on your phone while you’re packing you parachute before jumping off a cliff, and not before kayaking off a thirty-foot waterfall.

In 1996, there were only 200 skate parks in the United States but now there is over 3000. Even with the acceptance of the new sports among society, some athletes still see themselves as outsiders of the sports and want to push their limits and create something new. These are the athletes who have pushed the sports to the place they are now, and these are the athletes who will push these sports to a place we can’t even imagine. Rodney Mullan who is a professional skateboarder said in the book for Exreme Sports,

“Skateboarding is as much, or more of, an art or mode of expression than it is a sport. What Skateboarding has given me is precisely that: a form of expression that drew me to it, and, in so doing, I was able to express and be who I wanted to be through it, in a sense. And establish myself within a community that were all essentially outsiders like myself. And by doing that, it gave me a place, a sense of belonging.”

4 years ago, I started in Parkour and Free-Running and Skateboarding myself, and now BMX, I strongly believe in this quote and follow it every time I go out to practice and believe that other athletes or anybody that has a dream and goal in their life, should follow it too.

Track athletes are no different. 9 time Olympic track and field gold medallist Carl Lewis said: “The joy that comes from ‘going beyond’ is the most incredible feeling in the world. I have felt it many times. And I have enjoyed watching others experience it.”

‘Your time is limited, so don’t waste it, by living someone else’s life . . . Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.’

Drug addiction has been an ongoing crisis across the country for several years, but especially in New Hampshire, where drug abuse statistics have been on the rise since 2010. Drug abuse is prevalent across all socioeconomic groups, but many New Hampshire residents are unable to afford treatment. In order to address the issues New Hampshire’s residents are facing, New Hampshire must change aspects of its health care system, such as supplying more treatment centers that accept Medicaid, utilizing and encouraging harm reduction techniques, and providing treatment programs that help those struggling simultaneously with drug abuse and mental illness.

Despite what some think, it’s not just the availability of drugs that is causing New Hampshire’s crisis. Hannah Rowell-Jore, a recovery specialist at Granite Pathways says, “homelessness and mental illness” are the top two things that contribute to substance abuse. “Compared with the general population, people addicted to drugs are roughly twice as likely to suffer from mood and anxiety disorders, with the reverse also true.” (Patterson, 2018). To help treat addicts and to lower relapse statistics, New Hampshire should treat substance abuse and mental illness simultaneously. “About two-thirds of people we see seeking treatment have a mental illness,” says Rowell-Jore. “The symptoms and issues related to one can worsen the issues of the other,” (Important Statistics, 2019). Resources for those struggling with addiction and mental illness are scarce, especially for those with state-provided insurance. While several of New Hampshire’s treatment centers promote dual-diagnosis treatment, national average claims about “12 percent [of addicts] get the help they need for both disorders,” (Important Statistics, 2019).

New Hampshire’s efforts to promote treatment are weak, with only two needle exchange centers in the state and low acceptance of Medicaid in treatment centers available in the state. “New Hampshire finally legalized needle exchanges in June, long after many other states had done so, but did not fund them,” (Seelye, 2018). Hannah Rowell-Jore says there is more that New Hampshire could be doing to promote recovery. When asked what could be done to help with this crisis she empathized on harm-reduction techniques, “promoting Narcan, needle exchange centers, and providing fentanyl testing strips would all help with this crisis…It’s a public health crisis and we need to take extreme measures.”

Two needle exchange centers are currently up-and-running in New Hampshire, but New Hampshire faces issues finding appropriate locations and funding to open more, despite the state’s need for them. “Dartmouth medical students, using donations and grants, opened the first needle exchange last summer in a Claremont, N.H., soup kitchen, but it was shut down in October because it was too close to a school.” (Seelye, 2018). Project 439, the program that had opened the needle exchange center in Claremont, “provided 1,690 clean needles and collected 329 dirty ones between July 1 and Sept. 30,” (Doyle-Burr, 2017) before closing its doors in October. Since then, the project has continued to face resistance while searching for an appropriate location to house the needle exchange program. Several locations have already been deemed inappropriate, including two hospitals. “Though city officials have said they want to find another location for the exchange, some in the recovery community are concerned that the stigma of drug addiction will make it difficult to find any acceptable location to provide this service,” (Doyle-Burr, 2017).

Harm reduction techniques like needle exchange centers can help addicts who are not ready or unable to seek treatment. Needle exchange centers help keep the community clean of disease by taking in used needles and properly disposing of them. These centers provide clean, sterile needles and sharps containers in exchange , which helps lower risks of those with a substance abuse disorder of contracting a transmittable disease, like HIV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. New Hampshire currently has two needle exchange centers, one in Nashua and one in Rochester. Other forms of harm reduction, like Narcan, drug-assisted treatment, and “shooting galleries,”-spaces in which an addict could use illegal drugs in a more controlled environment- are met with resistance from local and medical communities. “It all comes back to stigma and any given community’s willingness (or lack thereof) to address the issues that its citizens are faced with,” (Doyle-Burr, 2017). Some treatment programs promote “abstinence only” drug policies, and using medications such as methadone, suboxone, or Vivitrol to help maintain sobriety violates the recovery program policies. Hannah Rowell-Jore says drug-assisted sobriety is a valid treatment option. “Methadone usually isn’t used anymore, it has too many side effects. We go with suboxone or Vivitrol now. Also, marijuana is legitimately something that can be used for harm reduction, but it hasn’t been legalized for medical use for opiate addiction yet,” she says. New Hampshire has legalized marijuana for multiple medical conditions, but addictions is not listed in the medical conditions that qualify for legalized use.

The lack of harm reduction techniques is not New Hampshire’s only shortcoming in terms of treatment. Many of New Hampshire’s residents struggling with drug addiction are homeless or low-income. “There are approximately 100,000 New Hampshire residents in need of substance abuse treatment. Only four percent of those looking for treatment receive assistance from the state’s publicly financed system. This leaves thousands of individuals left to find alternate ways to fund treatment,” (New Hampshire Addiction Treatment, 2019). Even those who do qualify for programs like Medicaid have trouble receiving treatment. “Medicaid supports four treatment centers but only one has a detox center. Private health insurance covers a lot more,” says Rowell-Jore. “A problem we run into is a lot of people looking for help have Medicaid, and there’s a wait list for the centers that accept Medicaid. These people are homeless and a lot of them don’t have phones. By the time a spot opens for them, we have no way to contact them.”

New Hampshire has already started to experience the impacts that drug abuse can have on the community. Drug-related deaths have risen since 2010, from about 13 deaths per 100,000 residents to over 36 deaths per 100,000 residents. “Drug abuse is associated with substantial increases in rates of violent crime,” (How Does Drug Abuse Affect Society And You?, 2018). Additionally, in 2017 “the state’s crime lab tested more than 830 meth-related arrests, compared to just 50 three years ago,” (Sutherland, 2018). Drug-related crimes consist of up to 50% of prison populations, and “annual costs averaged across 50 states for state prison populations is greater than $32,000 per inmate,” (How Does Drug Abuse Affect Society And You?, 2018). Not only that, but drug addiction can cause “increased rates of homelessness and poverty [and] substantial financial health care burden,” (How Does Drug Abuse Affect Society And You?, 2018) to the community.

Drug abuse has a wide spread effect on the community. Not only do crime rates increase, but there is an influx in minors entering the foster care system due to parent’s drug use. Property values drop, and disease is more likely to spread due to unsanitary environments. These factors are costly to the community, tax money used to care for children, tax money used to clean communities, and over-taxed land.

While New Hampshire has started to make change, it needs to remind the community that drug addiction is an ongoing crisis that impacts the entire state. Educating the community and actively promoting treatment options would cause substantial improvement. Hannah Rowell-Jore says that publishing articles in local newspapers is not enough. “Articles in the news barely touches the populations we work with. Word-of-mouth is most effective.” Safe Stations, a program run by local fire departments and encourages addicts to seek help, has been a great first step in promoting treatment centers and in New Hampshire.

New Hampshire must also fine-tune it’s healthcare system to cater to all affected individuals. While not all harm reduction techniques will be accepted in the community focusing on how harm reduction techniques will improve the safety of those abusing drugs and help keep the community free of drug paraphernalia can entice the public to be more accepting of these techniques. By educating the community, it would help destigmatize addicts and encourage more people to seek treatment for substance abuse. Needle exchange centers can be daunting to the members of the community but are a good compromise to give New Hampshire time to address the lack of accessible treatment centers for under-insured addicts.

It doesn’t stop there. Improving accessibility to treatment would be the next step New Hampshire could take to help improve the ongoing crisis. While Safe Stations is a great way to encourage treatment, it does not help addicts unable to afford private insurance or out-of-pocket treatment. How would New Hampshire make treatment more accessible? “Make more treatment centers accept Medicaid,” says Rowell-Jore. “Promote Narcan use. And vote in representatives that care about the drug epidemic,” she adds. Statistically, drug users will relapse multiple times before recovering. New Hampshire must prepare for the long road ahead by securing funding and resources to tackle the lasting effects of drug use on the community.

References

1. Addiction Treatment Alternatives: The Way to Harm Reduction. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.dualdiagnosis.org/harm-reduction-guide/
2. Doyle-Burr, N. (2017, November 11). Claremont Needle Exchange Program Searches for a New Home. Retrieved from https://www.vnews.com/Claremont-Officials-Seek-Legal-Exemption-to-Allow-Needle-Exchange-to-Relocate-to-Hospital-Near-School-13661092
3. How Does Drug Abuse Affect Society And You? (2018, September 11). Retrieved from https://www.drugrehab.org/how-does-drug-abuse-affect-society-and-you/
4. Important Statistics on Dual Diagnosis. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.dualdiagnosis.org/dual-diagnosis-treatment/important-statistics/
5. NH.IAC@dos.nh.gov. (2018, June 31). [New Hampshire Drug Monitoring Initiative]. Unpublished raw data.
6. Interview With Hannah Rowell-Jore [Personal interview]. (2019, February 21).
7. Seelye, K. Q. (2018, January 21). How a ‘Perfect Storm’ in New Hampshire Has Fueled an Opioid Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/21/us/new-hampshire-opioids-epidemic.html
8. Sutherland, P. (2018, February 6). Methamphetamines Are Back and On the Rise Across New Hampshire. Retrieved from https://www.nhpr.org/post/methamphetamines-are-back-and-rise-across-new-hampshire#stream/0
9. Vivitrol Use in Drug Addiction Treatment. (2018, November 25). Retrieved from https://drugabuse.com/vivitrol/
10. Wallstin, B. (2016, November 28). Drug Monitoring Program Records Significant Drop in Painkiller Prescriptions. Retrieved from https://www.nhpr.org/post/drug-monitoring-program-records-significant-drop-painkiller-prescriptions

The understanding of Trauma in lower and middle countries is said to be a major burden disease, in South Africa as it falls into the middle-income countries. This essay will start by defining trauma as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Secondly, the essay will describe the criterion used to diagnose this disorder. Thirdly, the essay will provide are understanding of trauma from a western to an African understanding of trauma. Fourthly, it will provide the South African sociocultural understanding of trauma. Lastly, this essay will discuss the sociocultural adaptability and controversies.

In psychological literature trauma refers to experiences that are usually unanticipated that happen to many aspects of psychological functioning and placing excessive demands on the persons coping strategies (Kaminer & Eagle, 2010). Given this definition the Diagnostic statistical manual supports this definition to say traumatic experience are not only caused by a person’s subjective response to external stressors which cause the person to view a particular experience traumatic or not incident (Bedard-Gilligan & Zoellner, 2008). This, in turn, causes the individual to develop psychological distress disorder called Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a disorder which is diagnosed as a response to external events these include exposure to rape, torture, and natural disaster (Osterman & de Jong, 2007).

In the DSM-5, this disorder is classified on its own category as the Trauma and stress disorder which now separates it from the category it used to be grouped in the DSM 4. This new category comes with many changes to how the disorder used to be known, these changes include the emphasis on criterion B symptoms as being the core symptoms (Brewin, Lanius, Novac, Schnyder and Galea, 2009). Criterion B describes this disorder as having associations which other prevalent disorders which overlap with how the disorder is understood. The move from criterion A was based on the departure from the emerged meaning of what PTSD is understood asvv and the suffering of the victims who are exposed to this life threatening events (Brewin et al, 2009).

The common PTSD symptoms include the persistent re-experiencing of the traumatic event, persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the event, numbing of general responsiveness, and signs of increased arousal. In spite of the fact that all these symptoms may be observed in all traumatized people, including Africans, relying on the symptoms alone should not be the only way to assess or diagnose trauma (Motsi, 2018).

The understanding of trauma from the western perspective comes from a researcher, American psychologist Becker, who is an expert on this subject matter. Becker defines trauma as a traumatic experience which occurs in the individual’s mind causing problems in the individuals cognitive processing (Becker, 2000). Many researchers understand this disorder as a not scientifically rigor as other disorders but it accounts for every danger response and was created as a sociopolitical construct (Shepard, 2005). It does not have core symptoms as the DSM5 claims to say it has mostly verbal responses and it is not based on any clinical framework. This disorder diagnosis comes with issues where what is socially recognized as normal stress is pathologies which question what is really stress and depression do they have an exact time frame for their detersive state (Friedman et al, 2007).

Clinicians believe this distress causes some brain abnormalities which comes to the body reaction with fatigue, headaches and insomnia etc. These are cognitive vulnerabilities that trauma victims face including many cognitive abnormalities which lead to symptoms development (Elwood, Kathryn, Hahn, Bunmi, Olatunji, Williams, 2009). Some of the abnormalities take place in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, which play an important role to regulate negative emotions and the negative affect it arises, when it seems to be impaired (van der Kolk, 2004).

Universally many therapists would agree all psychological stressors are cognitively mediated and therefore should account for the individual and their spiritual being. The African understanding of trauma comes from a South African researcher Motsi who discusses trauma as a type of anxiety disorder which is a result of experiencing a traumatic experience which can include assault, rape, and injury. According to Motsi, this present psychological distress to the individual who got exposed to the traumatic experience and broadly seen as a diagnosis to be pathologies (Motsi,2018). The researcher continues to say from an African perspective trauma should be interpreted as a culture which has a set of beliefs and secondary factors which go against the tangible understanding of biology.

The understanding of trauma in South African can be linked to the countries historical past events which took place. This includes the apartheid era, Soweto uprising and recently #FeesMustFall protests to name a few historical events. The understanding of violence in this country is different as it is seen as something normal whereas for psychology that is traumatic and seeks intervention. For author Mulago describes trauma in South Africa as a shared experience where an individual experience by them alone but a community with shared values. Where some of these experiences have caused negative results in the individual’s early childhood development where it has affect the individual’s emotions, cognition and memory (Hardcastle, 2016; Brewin et al, 2009). Madikizela continuous the argument to say trauma is something inherited as a result of genocide, colonial oppression and different types of mass atrocities. These experiences of trauma present themselves as wounds which appear as fear, anger and aggressiveness as after effects of witnessing trauma that will never heal but continue to be wisdom passed down to different generations (Pera, 2019).

The understanding of trauma in South Africa is something which is intergenerational which comes from a historical connotation where the past generation lived traumatic experiences. This directs to a sad, resentful and shameful feeling causing trauma. Some old generation members believe trauma started in the apartheid era where oppression was done to minority groups. With this the main goal is to clearly present an all-round understanding of trauma from different perspectives which present different worldviews to the understanding of trauma (Motsi, 2018). This essay will now be moving on to discuss the sociocultural factors understanding of trauma in South Africa.

The term social can be linked to society as a way of functioning, this refers to how people living together share similar norms, beliefs, values and customs. Culture is defined as an institution which is represented by roles, settings, objects, language, rituals, art and symbols. These two concept marge a foundation of two worlds which were social constructed to be knowledge carriers (Matsumoto, 2009; Marsella, 2010). The understanding trauma from a sociocultural perspective stems from the contexts that people make sense of their way of living. This happens with the person encoding traumatic event in their minds which then their minds take note of the event and influences their experience, response to it (Zayfert, 2008). This includes discussing it from these elements such as the culture of violence, culture of blame, poverty, patriarchy, alcohol use and an African worldview (Wright, 2013).

The culture of violence

The culture of violence in South Africa has been seen as a normalized way of living, this is seen through the traumatic events we come across in society. These events include human trafficking, rape, gender-based violence, robbery and other similar traumatic events (Nagata &Takeshita, 1998). All the mentioned traumatic events speak to the endorsement of violence in society were any form of violent act is rewarded and never seen as a punishable offence. This culture comes from past generations where such acts where seen as a way to attain power and enforce power dynamics and subordination (Matsumoto, 2009). For many people who are considered the subordinates they experience trauma from an aspect where it is collective as it has historical underpinnings.

This experience with historical underpinnings according to Alexandra is referred to as cultural trauma. Cultural trauma is the experience that indicates a collective memory where society were was abused and became slaves who have influences African people’s identity sculpturing (Alexandra et al, 2001; Rosenblatt, 1988). This experience becomes visible in many media forms such as song’s lyrics in Hippop and Trap music, Poetry, stage plays, video games and television. These media forms have been used to explain the feelings of cultural trauma to what apartheid did in South Africa to are majority of black African people who were seen as subordinates to the British colonial leaders. For a black person these violence actions come from the racism traumatic experience which affected them, and they ended up believe violence is a solution to everything. In society violence is something accepted and foster a continuation of violence as a way to get what they want. This can be power in social status and recognition (Alexandra, 2015).

The culture of blame and patriarchy

The blame culture in society comes from a place where culture is granted power that should be traumatic events take place power inequality should apply. This in a way for sociocultural understanding comes from a place where the person has experienced traumatic events comes from an victim and perpetrator positioning. This positioning places the victim in the wrong place as the one who provoke the perpetrator and the perpetrators are seen as someone innocent who can never commit such a crime (Sharpe, 2015). The blame culture is more visible in instance where women are involved; consider the Femicide cases like the Karabo Mokoena, Jabulile Maseko. They were blamed never given a chance to tell their side of the story since society never believed them and considered them as people who called the occurrence to themselves. This blame culture for these two cases in literature can be understood as self-blame where society will put the wrong on the victims, not the perpetrator. If the social understanding of trauma was from the two victim’s perspective, it will be considered characterological blame. Characterological blame refers to victims being able to talk about their trauma experience, victim qualities which might have made them prey to the perpetrator (Wright, 2013).

Self-blame in society is seen something which need to be social addressed as it affects the violence understanding and the context in which victims become prey to subordination. Consider rape culture faces many social misconceptions of rape as something the victim brought on to themselves. Placing the blame on the victims clothing, behavior and pride to give others a chance to date them (Matsumoso, 2009). Whereas, the rapist is seen as someone who has sexual addition, disturbed, performing are gang ritual and has sexual dysfunction making them need power or control from their victims. In this instance the perpetrator utilized violence, anger, lust to intimidate their victim (Kaminer & Eagle, 2010). This intimidation comes from a time when a male patriarchy places a key role to dehumanize, legitimize power dynamics relation to their actions and blaming social norms as creators of male’s dominance. This in the end leads to the substance dependence to numb traumatic experience.

Alcohol use and poverty

The understanding of trauma in many circumstances has been based on contexts where the individual finds themselves. In a community where gang activities are worshipped, society finds itself to really with how gang actions become messy, violent and at times taking away many lives of those who were victims of illegal activities. As a result, traumatic event occurs where one finds themselves medicating them with substance abuse to ease the witnessed trauma (Sharpe, 2015). This addiction to substance abuse takes away money which was put aside for food and household essentials. This presents a case where society has broken down a relationship between social capital which becomes the persons moral conscious causing moral transgression which causes emotional shame. This emotional shame talks to the sociocultural, psychological and spiritual aspects of understanding trauma (Bateman,2016). Society now finds itself having high poverty because of substance abuse, violent act where some acts which happen to be physical have left victims disabled and not able to work anymore. For many women poverty sends them to become sexual violence victims and future prostitutes hoping that it will help take away poverty at home but adding to themselves psychological distress. Whereas with many male’s alcohol use has led to then getting into car accidents because of intoxication and alcohol drinking limit exceeding (Wright, 2013).

The African worldview

The understanding of trauma in the sociocultural context comes from the interaction of the body and mind that should any part of the body become ill the entire body becomes sick. This understanding comes from a shared knowledge system where society finds pleasure from putting the person on a place where the individual is seen as someone connected with their community. The understanding of the individual’s traumatic experiences is understood from the collective African frame and in the western the understanding of individual comes from an individualistic frame (Konner, 2007). In the western view people believe trauma is something affecting the mind, body and soul no other thing is considered to explain the disorder (Motsi & Masango, 2012).

When African people come across a traumatic experience it is perceived as a sign the ancestors are not happy with you therefore you should go and appease them. A study by Crawford and Lipsedge (2004) looked at how mental illness in IsiZulu home language speakers conceptual understanding of physical and mental illness could be categorized in their understanding of trauma. The results of the study found that the prevalence, aetiology understanding of trauma was explained using ancestors and sorcery. This in an African system has kept majority of black understanding of illness going for generations, whereas in the western context trauma is only explained by its ethnocentric explanation which are given scientific rigor and validity (Van der Kolk et al, 2007).

For the Africans trauma issues have become topic which have caused many social instabilities in the economic, political and social views. This goes to show violence is not only something affecting the individual but also their surroundings. The African perspective of trauma is crucial to the understanding of care needed to be shown to other African who have suffered from similar traumatic distress. Which might present themselves as inability to sleep, intensified alertness, anxiety and concentration difficulties (Hybels-Steer 1995).

For approaches like the sociocultural traumatic symptoms are based on experiences from traumatic events which have presented negative results to the person who witnessed them. Africans will therefore prefer to use culture as a shield which will protect them and their integrity. Forgetting that this will start the development of PTSD, where now culture is seen as a double plug a shield, security and protector there to reassemble the person’s identity in society. Culture now becomes the person’s willpower for their progress in life (Brown & Prudo, 2007). Trauma needs to be understood from a view which applies to their context not the universal validity of PTSD from western cultures. These western perspectives take away the African social experience of being African, and the experience of participating in traditional healing approaches (Kirmayer et al., 2007). The African viewpoint calls for social reconstruction of the understanding of the African person and their indi¬vidual healing. Psychology might suggest a combination of approaches to help the individual but there never effective, continue to misdiagnosis or overgeneralize traumatic experi¬ences (Konner, 2007). The western understanding of psychological distress is viewed from a point where it needs medication taking away the patients human rights to explain human victimization and oppression (Eagle, 2004).

An African viewpoint of trauma comes from a phase where African marginalization is addressed and challenged. A time when western ideas of trauma and other psychological disorders perceived universality is challenged. Society needs a chance to be given optional traumatic aesthetics and provide a clear understanding of trauma understanding from first and third world countries trauma exploration (Konner, 2007).

Consequences of trauma

Considering, the amounts of literature available to speak to this subject, many black south Africans find themselves unable to talk of themselves as people who have experienced trauma. It is only those who have studied further who have that kind of knowledge and those without that kind of knowledge become passive subject enduring to that kind of pain Shorter (1998:43). Research alludes the understanding of grief and trauma is understood as a social construct never a scientific medical diagnosis and believe their collective experiences, social structures influence the accessibility of psychosocial resources. Many South Africans find themselves in the receiving end being people who cannot afford counselling services that are said to normalize traumatic thoughts. Where they have accumulated a lot of pain from many historical experiences that have presented many unresolved communally shared traumas. Some issues which have been ignored and point to physical wellbeing and socioeconomic implications (Bonnano,2008).

Traumatic experiences should be critically understood from a plural not a singular framework outside the ethnocentrism of the Western trauma paradigm. This discusses the potential for explanatory frameworks that are more holistic, interdisciplinary and multidimensional (Suarez, 2000). Literature on trauma reports that culture has related impact on trauma that includes beginning of symptoms, symptoms dissociation, stress pattern onset, and patterns of re-experiencing trauma (Marsella, 2010). The idioms of stress on individuals has shown cultural variation to how people experience emotional states. For different sociocultural groups stress idioms differ because of the culture norms, values and traditions. This talks to the idea that PTSD has universality across culture which matches were cultural influences decontextualize (Van Rooyen & Nqweni, 2012). In many cultures PTSD prevalence has shown to be more common to criterion C and as a result lower countries that have come across symptoms such as avoidance/numbing are more influential because of their culture. Many victims find themselves not recovering quickly as they experience more severe symptom conditions include depression, substance abuse, and anxiety disorders (Kaminer & Eagle, 2010; Kirmayer et al., 2010).

In South Africa, the understanding of trauma has been attempted to be visited using the Truth Reconciliation Commission as a form of healing method. This method was meant to help trauma suffers understand the traumatic events effects on individual’s consciousness which impacted on the persons personal and political healing. Multiple trauma has impacted on a majority of black people who experienced pain and continue to come across the apartheid colonial wheel of trauma (Ngcwane, 2018). This wheel model has created a number of serious human rights abuse which were affected by political violence from the apartheid era. Physical violence has impacted on the individual suffering as they become affected by humiliation, powerlessness, vulnerability and poverty. The political violence and torture in Africa is the major contributing cause of trauma that needs to be eradicated. This intervention has not been any successful but it has faced many biases. The ANC might have created interventions but many of them still need to be redressed to end marginalization in society (Alexandra, 2015).

However, it is clear to say this essay discussed what is trauma and the different understanding of trauma from the western to the African context. The essay then moved on to describe trauma symptoms and understanding of the causes of trauma included factors such as crime and violence, male dominance, blame and the use of drugs and alcohol. The essay moved on to discuss the sociocultural factors understanding of trauma. It lastly provided a brief discussion on the Truth Reconciliation Commission as it was used as a method of healing in South Africa but it was not successful but more bias.

Violence against women:

Sexual behaviour you don’t want; such as being forced into sexual activity against your will, or physical and social .. to either bring physical or emotional pain.

• On average at least one woman a week is killed by a partner or former partner in Australia.
• One in five, women have experienced sexual violence
• One in four, have experienced physical or emotional violence.
• Every year in Australia over 300,000 women experience violence – often sexual violence
• Eight out of ten women aged 18 – 24 are harassed on the street every year.

Family violence: family violence is when a family member is threatening, controlling and abusive towards another family member.

• Family violence can happen between partners, parents and children, or extended family members
• Family violence happens to one in four Australian women. So you’ll probably come across someone who has experienced family violence of some kind.
• Family violence is about power and control. The purpose is to scare the victim so that the victim does what the perpetrator wants. By making the victim afraid, the perpetrator keeps power and control in the relationship.
• More than 1 million children experience domestic violence in the family

Violence against men: Consists of violent acts that are committed against men, Men are overrepresented as both victims and perpetrators of violence. sexual violence against men is treated differently in any given society, and may be unrecognized by law.

• Almost half of all men have dealt with some sort of psychological aggression by an intimate partner. This number is equal to women at 48.4% and men at 48.8%.
• Study between 2003 – 2012 show that men account for about 24% of domestic violence survivors
• About 1 in 7 men ages 18 and older have experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner.
• Nearly 1 in 18 men have been stalked by an intimate partner to the point they were scared for their life or safety or the lives or safety of loved ones.

“Silence shouldn’t kill, Love shouldn’t hurt. The future of preventing domestic violence begins with you.”

Abuse

Abuse is the act of someone who purposely hurts another whether it be verbally or physical, it can come in many forms, such as; threatening, assault, rape, injury, violation or other types of aggression. Abuse can be involved in a family, Relationships, elderly abuse.

Relationship abuse:

• He tried to strangle me after my brother’s wedding in Feb but told me that it was my fault, that I deserved it and that he would finish it off.
  • Physically harming, leaving marks.
  • Creating trauma
  • Depression and anxiety
• Threatened to smash my head in with a hammer and proceeded to bash holes in the wall around me.
  • Creating trauma
  • Scared – fear

Family abuse:

• destroying personal property or physically harming someone, or threatening to do so.
  • Depression and anxiety
  • Creating trauma
  • Physically harming, leaving marks

Elderly abuse:

• threatening to evict someone or puīt them in a nursing home
  • Loneliness, fear
  • Anxiety and stress

Unhealthy relationships

An unhealthy relationship is a relationship where one or more of the people involved starts to display behaviors that are not healthy and are not founded in mutual respect for the other person. An unhealthy relationship is not necessarily abusive in relationship, but it can be.

Intensity – Having extreme feelings or over the top behaviour that feels like too much, examples may be rushing the pace of a relationship, always wanting to see and talk to you, feeling of someone who may be ‘obsessed’.

Jealousy – Jealousy is an emotion that everyone experiences, but jealousy can become unhealthy when someone lashes out and takes control of you, some examples include them getting upset when you text or hangout with people your partner may feel threatened and accuse you of cheating, they may start being possessive over you or even start stalking you.

Manipulation – When a partner tries to influence your decisions, actions or emotions. Manipulation is not always easy to spot, but some examples are convincing you to do things you wouldn’t normally feel comfortable with, ignoring you until they get their way, and using gifts and apologies to influence your decisions or get back in your good graces.

Isolation – Keeping you away from friends, family, or other people, Examples can be when your partner makes you choose between them and your friends, insisting you spend all your time with them, making you question your own judgement of friends and family, and making you feel dependent on them for money.

Sabotage – Purposely ruining your reputation, achievements or success, Examples can be making you miss work, school or practice, keeping you from getting work done, talking about you behind your back or starting rumors, and threatening to share private information about you (blackmailing).

Belittling – Making you feel bad about yourself and putting you down this can resolve in making you feel insecure about yourself , Examples can be calling you names, making rude remarks about who you hang out with, what you look like, and making fun of you.

Guilting – Making you feel guilty or responsible for your partner’s actions, some examples can be making you feel responsible for their happiness, making you feel like everything is your fault, threatening to hurt themselves or others if you don’t do as they say or stay with them, pressuring you to do something you’re not comfortable with.

Volatility – Unpredictable overreactions that make you feel like you need to be cautious with what you say or do around them or do things to keep them from lashing out, Examples can be mood swings, losing control of themselves by getting violent or yelling, threatening to hurt you or destroy things, and making you feel afraid of them.

Deflecting responsibility – Keep making excuses for their behavior, Examples can be blaming you, using alcohol or drugs as an excuse, using mental health issues or past experiences (like a cheating ex or divorced parents) as a reason for unhealthy behavior.

Betrayal – When yur partner acts differently with you versus how they act when you’re not around, Examples can be lying to you, purposely leaving you out or not telling you things, being two-faced, acting differently around friends, or cheating while in a relationship with you.

• They don’t know how true love feels like, or don’t really understand what love is and what it feels like, so they settle for the very little they are given. Don’t understand the concept of love over lust.
• The parents want to protect their children from the emotional pain of divorce, and they also want to spare themselves of the pain that would come from having their own children blame them for not being able to hold the family together. And so, they choose to stay together “for the children’s sake”.
• Some may be in an abusive or obsessive relationship and have no way of getting out of it because scared of what their partner may do, weather it be hurting them, others or even themselves and not having the support throughout the relationship and having to deal with being unhappy within the relationship and living in fear causes it to be very hard.
• There are so many fears that keep people from leaving unhealthy relationships, and some of these fears are fear of being alone forever, fear of not being able to find another person who would love them. Fear of not knowing what to do with one’s own life, how to handle the many challenges that will come their way, fear of not being able to survive all alone, fear of losing the security, safety and comfort they are used to. There are times when people want to leave unhealthy relationships and want to live a happy life, But because of how bad things look like, and because the road ahead of them seems very foggy, they feel trapped and can’t seem to find a way out. They can’t seem to find the help, encouragement, strength, and courage they need. And so they give up.

Support and advice you can give someone

If you notice a friend who may be in an unhealthy relationship and feel that they may not know how to approach someone about the topic and who they may approach, the best thing to do is to try to start a conversation on a positive note and make them feel comfortable when talking to you, make them feel safe and as if they can seek your advice, make sure to be steady in the conversation things may be really hard for them in life and presurring will not help them to feel like they can confide in you. Make sure to listen to them and allow them to open up on their terms and to not be forceful in the conversation, it can be a hard topic to talk about and share, make sure to offer your support to them and make them feel as if you are there to listen to them whenever they need. Focus on the conversation and make sure to make them feel like they are talking in a safe space, see how your friend may feel about their partners actions and where they stand instead of jumping to accusing their partner for abuse because this can cause them to shut down and not want to talk about it anymore, so instead just listen and try point out behaviours that may come under unhealthy relationships, this allows your friend to think about how they feel and what an unhealthy relationship may look like. Try to keep the conversation friendly and assure your friend that your not judging them, telling them about how you may relate because of your past experiences can make your friend feel as if you understand them more and know how they may feel, but try not to talk too much about yourself and focus more on your friends situation, also don’t make it feel like your a counsellor trying to council them but as two friends talking. Make sure to never blame your friend and make them understand that the behaviors and emotions they are feeling is normal, and isn’t their fault their partner is acting the way they are. Everyone is responsible for their own behaviour and no matter the reason violence is never okay.

Domestic violence

Domestic violence refers to violence, abuse and intimidation between people who are are currently or have previously been in an intimate relationship. The perpetrator uses violence to control and dominate the other person. This causes physical harm, psychological fear

Impacts of domestic violence on health and wellbeing

Trauma to the mind and body – When physical danger threatens our control, the ability to escape is something we can’t stop we switch on our natural instinct for survival, this includes the body using a huge amount of energy to fuel our fight or flight reactions. But this process to fight which is to defend or flight to get away from the violence, is not an option for most victims while the abuse is happening. The violence can result in shock and other sets of involuntary responses. These effects tend to stay with the victim long after the violence ends and is the main cause for psychological, physical and emotional damage, this can cause not only physical injury, but mental shifts including behaviour patterns, coping mechanisms all focused on surviving the violence and abuse as the mind attempts to process the trauma or protect the body. The abuse and violence can have a serious impact on the way they think and how they interact with others and the world around them. The exposure to domestic violence/abuse can cause permanent stress and fear. It is very high that the victim experiences many different emotions such as anger, sadness, shame and even depression or worst case scenario suicide, these emotions are very common in someone who has experienced violence weather it be in the home or outside, this often leads to the victim getting involved in drugs and alcohol to cope with the pain.

Post-traumatic stress disorder – PTSD is a mental health condition that is triggered by a traumatic experience. The common symptoms associated with PTSD are flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety and uncontrollable thoughts about the event. Many people who go through domestic violence or abuse have difficulty coping and adjusting as they seek to recover and heal but struggle due to the memory of it. There are now many associations that are to help with people who may have trouble overcoming the event, and so they have people to help support them and listen to them, with the right support the PTSD will improve overtime.

Depression – Depression remains the most common symptom of survivors of domestic violence, it is more than common feelings of temporary sadness. Symptoms can include prolonged sadness, feelings of hopelessness, unexplained crying, changes in appetite with significant weight loss or gain, loss of energy or sleep disturbance, loss of interest in activities previously pursued or enjoyed. Depression can affect someone’s outlook which can lead to feelings of hopelessness and loss of personal agency and an overall impact on thought processes and ability to make decisions. In extreme cases of depression suicidal thoughts or attempts can occur.

Effects of domestic violence on children

Babies / Toddler – An infant exposed to violence may have difficulty developing attachments with their caregivers an in extreme causes suffer from failure to thrive. Preschooler’s development may be affected and they can suffer from eating and sleep disturbance. Some effects on both babies and toddlers are sleep difficulties, development of post traumatic stress disorder, delayed physical and mental development.

Child – A young child who may experience violence at home may experience irregular sleeping patterns, nightmares, delayed emotional development which causes lack of emotions or heightened emotions such as feeling worried, scared, angry, sad or even aggressive behaviour, delayed physical development, depression and anxiety which influences thoughts of suicide, self harming and substance abuse . Some effects being in school may be struggling to socialise with others and forming or maintaining friendships, withdrawal from friends and family, low academic performance (struggle to concentrate) and poor attendance.

Teenage – A youth may be at higher risk of substance misuse or becoming a victim of dating violence, youth are likely to feel that it’s their fault and blame themselves for the violence. They may also feel very guilty about not being able to prevent domestic violence from occurring. Some effects that are caused are flashbacks, Sleeping problems – including nightmares, Problems with peers – antisocial behavior, risk-taking behavior – such as reckless driving, depression and anxiety – emotional numbing, difficulties at school – such as attendance and struggles to concentrate and complete the work – affecting academic levels, Suicidal thoughts or attempts, Self destructive behaviour – for example drug and alcohol use or eating disorders.

Support services – city of casey

• Casey youth support services (casey 360) – help youth and young adults ages 10-25, to support people who have experienced domestic violence inside or outside the home, including alcohol and drug abuse, mental illness, family violence etc. Casey 360 supplies 3 free sessions that allows the victim to have a trial with a counselor to see the support programme and services they provide.
• Headspace – a national youth programme that help supply support for people who may experience violence in the home, drug or alcohol use, mental illnesses, etc. they allow you to have support within their headspace centres which allows you to talk to a counsellor face to face, and even allows for someone to find support online through they online and phone services this allows you to talk to someone about what you may be going through anonymously. Headspace also provides information about what you can do to help your situation if you don’t want to talk to someone.
• Commonwealth home support programme – people who are in their late adulthood ages 50+ who may have experienced domestic violence or types of abuse such as drug or alcohol abuse, mental illness, family violence, unhealthy relationships in the past or present experience/s and may have finally sought to seek help, they provide support services with counselling and support groups known as the safer casey partnership.

How can we play a role in reducing domestic violence?

Bibliography

Statistics: (1,3)

1. http://www.domesticviolence.com.au/index.php
2. http://www.domesticviolence.com.au/pages/domestic-violence-statistics.php
3. https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/subjects/family-and-domestic-violence/what-family-and-domestic-violence
4. https://raisingchildren.net.au/grown-ups/family-life/domestic-family-violence/family-violence-what-is-it-
5. https://www.domesticshelters.org/articles/statistics/men-can-be-abused-too
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_against_men
7. http://www.hiddenhurt.co.uk/abuse_examples.html
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abuse
9. https://www.secasa.com.au/pages/family-violence/examples-of-family-violence/
10. https://www.whiteribbon.org.au/understand-domestic-violence/types-of-abuse/elder-abuse/