The Effect of Domestic Violence on Women
- Submitted by: stillaura
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- Category: Science
- Date Submitted: 06/23/2011 01:39 PM
- Pages: 8
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The cost to women’s mental health due to their experience of domestic iolence
This assignment will discuss and evaluate the personal cost to women’s mental health from their experience of domestic violence. It will consider perpetrator behaviour that undermines self-esteem, confidence and sense of self, and can lead the victim to suffer mental health conditions, such as anxiety, depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The link between women’s experience of domestic abuse and the onset of poor mental health will be demonstrated.
Although this essay focuses on first order effects of domestic violence against women, it does acknowledge that men also experience mental ill health as a first order effect of domestic violence (Harne and Radford 2008).
The main use of violent abuse, whether physical or psychological is to establish and maintain power and control over the victim. Perpetrators use several strategies of coercive power and control over their victim, such as keeping the victim isolated from their friends and family, intercepting their mail, gate-keeping phone calls and locking them indoors as the perpetrator is able to venture out freely. All of these acts seek to undermine the victim and although most are not criminal, they are all psychologically abusive (Harne and Radford 2008).
The World Health Organisation state that Mental Health can be conceptualised as::
‘a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community’. World Health Organisation (2007)
Other definitions include the person being in a state of spiritual resilience and well being (Health Education Authority 1997).
This essay encompasses all elements of these definitions as its understanding of mental well being.
Where these stabilising elements are challenged by the onset of domestic...
This assignment will discuss and evaluate the personal cost to women’s mental health from their experience of domestic violence. It will consider perpetrator behaviour that undermines self-esteem, confidence and sense of self, and can lead the victim to suffer mental health conditions, such as anxiety, depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The link between women’s experience of domestic abuse and the onset of poor mental health will be demonstrated.
Although this essay focuses on first order effects of domestic violence against women, it does acknowledge that men also experience mental ill health as a first order effect of domestic violence (Harne and Radford 2008).
The main use of violent abuse, whether physical or psychological is to establish and maintain power and control over the victim. Perpetrators use several strategies of coercive power and control over their victim, such as keeping the victim isolated from their friends and family, intercepting their mail, gate-keeping phone calls and locking them indoors as the perpetrator is able to venture out freely. All of these acts seek to undermine the victim and although most are not criminal, they are all psychologically abusive (Harne and Radford 2008).
The World Health Organisation state that Mental Health can be conceptualised as::
‘a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community’. World Health Organisation (2007)
Other definitions include the person being in a state of spiritual resilience and well being (Health Education Authority 1997).
This essay encompasses all elements of these definitions as its understanding of mental well being.
Where these stabilising elements are challenged by the onset of domestic...