Domestic Violence And Family Aggression

945 Words4 Pages

Domestic abuse and child abuse have widespread social and emotional costs. Family violence affects all segments of the family. In most cases of family violence the family has conformed to a pattern in which the line of family violence started generations ago. This pattern must be broken before more children grow up and live in a family that resorts to violence. But there are also children who live in loving families who do not resort to violence and as these children mature they start resorting to violence to help solve and deal with their problems. Studies show that physical punishment could cause aggression in children, but other studies show that even abusive parental violence does not always lead to an increase in children's aggression. …show more content…

A theory is that violent behavior is passed down from generation to generation through families (Cole & Flanagin, 2005). The majority of people are subjected to corporal punishment at one point or another during their lifetime (Kandel, 2001). Surveys suggested that almost all parents used physical punishment at one point or another and the punishment was regarded as an appropriate child rearing technique. Another survey also suggested that some psychologists believe physical punishment to be an effective and useful socialization tool (Kandel, 2001). Aggression is commonly conceived as existing on a continuum, ranging from very severe parental aggression to much milder and normal parental aggression, such as use of corporal or physical punishment (Kandel, 2001). A common concern is that parental use of physical punishment will lead to aggressive behavior in …show more content…

Significant contributors to violence are poverty, racism, unemployment, illegal drugs, inadequate parenting practices, and adult models of violent behaviour in real life and in the media. Violence on TV can help cause aggressive behaviour but, one must be reminded that not every person who watches violence on TV becomes violent (Birckmayer, 2009). Our society needs to understand why this is so. Research suggests that violence arises from the interactions among individuals' psychosocial development, their neurological and hormonal differences, and social process (Birckmayer, 2009). The actions each of us takes to reduce violence are matters of individual conscience, skills, resources and opportunities. The escalation of violence in our society worries many people. What are the factors or buffers that keep many children and adults from behaving violently under the exactly the same circumstances that provoke others to violence? Finding explanations for violence can help us regain a sense of control, giving us a psychological distance and thereby reducing fears of our