What are the social and psychological impacts of witnessing domestic violence among teenagers? (Essay Sample)

What are the social and psychological impacts of witnessing domestic violence among teenagers?
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1.0 Introduction/Background
Domestic violence is any pattern or incident of coercive threatening, controlling, abusive or violent sexual, psychological, physical, emotional, or financial behaviors btween people aged at least 16 years (Abramsky et al. 2011). It also happens between intimate partners or couples and family members regardless of sexuality and gender and includes issues such as forced marriage and spouse battering (Abramsky et al. 2011).
Domestic violence affects children in different ways, whether they experience it or they witness it at home (Basu 2011).Studies show that adolescents show different reactions to exposure to domestic violence (Basu 2011). Younger children in kindergarten and preschool normally do not understand the abuse they witness at and home and thus end up imagining that it results from having done something wrong (Basu 2011). They also develop self-blame and this could lead to feelings of worry, guilt, and anxiety. It is also notable that adolescents often lack the capacity to express their feelings verbally, and thus do so through emotions and behaviours (Basu 2011). Adolescents may also become non-verbal, withdrawn, and show aggressiveness and regressed behaviour such as whining and clinging (Basu 2011). They also develop sleeping and eating difficulty, problems in concentration, anxiety, as well as physical complaints.
Adolescents also tend to externalize negative emotions by verbalizing them in different environments, as a result of witnessing domestic violence (Howard et al. 2010). Besides common symptoms such as eating disturbance, sleep problems, and nightmares, victims of witnessing domestic violence within this age group also tend to develop low self-esteem and concept, lose interest in social activities, avoiding peer relations due to withdrawal, rebelliousness and defiance while in the school setting (Howard et al. 2010).