Impact Of Domestic Violence On Children’s Behavior: A Mixed Research Methodology Approach

Definition of Domestic Violence

What is the impact of domestic violence on children in relation to their behavior?

Domestic violence is defined in the social and health discipline as the orderly patterns and attributes of abusive behaviors within relationships used for gaining and maintaining power and control over another individual. This includes sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse, emotional abuse and financial abuse. It has also been noted that domestic violence is a leading cause of injury to children and women in a number of developing as well as developed countries (Rogers and Parkinson 2018). The issue is not only of interest in the social science field, but also draws attention of policy makers in mental and medical health domain since the effects of violence lead to direct and indirect physical and mental health problems (Song et al. 2017). A rich pool of research aims at analyzing the impact of domestic violence on children in different communities, mentions (Överlien 2017). The behavioral and psychological development of children is influenced to a great extent when the upbringing is done in an abusive environment. Children who are repeatedly exposed to domestic violence have been linked to diverse psychiatric symptoms that indicate poor adjustment to life course. These symptoms might be internalized or externalized, depending on the nature of abuse.  While some incidents give rise to externalized behaviors such as aggression and agitation, others lead to depression and anxiety as the internalized symptoms of suffering or being exposed to any form of domestic violence (Lewis et al. 2017).

The proposed research would aim to address the following research question of “What is the impact of domestic violence on children in relation to their behavior?” The aim of the proposed research would be to highlight the effects of exposure to domestic violence on behavior of children and how these can be addressed. The objectives of the study would be as follows-

• To understand the extent of exposure of children to domestic violence
• To highlight impact of domestic violence on behavior of children
• To bring into focus the impact of domestic violence on adjustments made by children in the social context
• To analyze the impact of domestic violence on development of children

Research methodology and the underlying theoretical approach is the particular technique or process that is used for identifying, selecting, processing and analyzing information for addressing the research questions optimally. In the propose research, a mixed research methodology would be considered for fulfilling the research objectives. In such a research methodology, both qualitative and quantitative information would be analyzed and integrated for drawing the final inferences (Alavi and H?bek 2016). Such a research approach is used in cases where integration of both forms of data can lead to a better understanding of the research problem than either one alone. In the proposed study, the researchers can gain breadth and depth of corroboration and understanding of the research topic of impact of domestic violence on children. Since limited primary research exists on the concerned topic that collected data children having exposure to domestic violence, a future research in this regard would need to be analyzed in context of the data generated from existing pool of researches. Mixed method approach is useful researchers aim to generalize study findings from qualitative research (McCusker and Gunaydin 2015). The key advantage of the methodology would be that a more comprehensive understanding of the research problem would be gained.

Impact of Domestic Violence on Children

Families from an urban community and a rural community would be selected after screening for participation in the study on the basis of information gained from the local Federation who aim to preserve the rights of children and women suffering social challenges. The two criteria that would be used for screening families for participation would be a history of domestic violence and having children aged between 10 and 16 years. Domestic violence would be denoted as a form of violence towards the children occurring at least five times in the past two years. Random sampling would be done out of the selected population to recruit twenty families fulfilling the eligibility criteria. The advantage of random sampling is that the sample would represent the larger population with minimal bias (Morse 2016). Participation would include assessment to be carried out with the Physical Abuse Questionnaire (PAQ) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for the family members, and the Screen Scale of Child Abuse (SSCA) and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF) for the children. The PAQ contains 13 questions on the type of physical abuse as well as the frequency. The SSCA contains 8 items that aim to identify the form of abuse and the perpetrators. The CBCL is a commonly used tool for measuring child maladaptive behavior. Lastly, the CTQ-SF is used for assessing 5 different domains of abuse namely, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, emotional neglect and physical neglect (Cao et al. 2016).

Face-to-face interviews would be considered for the research for data collection purpose. The advantages of carrying out face-to-face interviews are multifaceted, including ability to understand nonverbal cues such as facial expression and body language, and provision for guiding respondents with questions. Further, face-to-face data collection would also allow for in-depth data collection along with the provision of comprehensive understanding (Bowling 2014). Interviews would be carried out for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, with time provided for maximal data extraction. Collected data would be stored in a secured manner via encrypted computer system. Data analysis would be done using the SPSS 16.0 which is famous data analysis software. Pearson correlation analysis would be one for assessment of the association between children’s behavioral problem and child abuse. T-test would be done for testing for significant associations existing between numerical variables (Morse 2016).  

Secondary data collection would be done as a critical assessment and evaluation of the existing research on the particular issue. For conducting the review, important databases such as PubMed and Science Direct would be searched for retrieving relevant research articles and other sources of information that focus on impact of domestic violence on children. Predetermined and specific terms would be used as key words for gathering the sources. These would include terms such as domestic violence, violence, children, child, witness, suffer, experience, effect, impact, influence, relation, behavior, development, developmental, behavioral, family, and so on. Articles published in English language and those having full—text access would only be considered for the review. Further, those published after the year 2008 would be included. Lastly, articles conducted in India would only be included for the study. The articles would be thereafter organized into groups to come up with common themes related to the research question. Conceptual organization would ensure ascertaining of commonalities and differences. Overarching themes might emerge from the review that would then be grouped accordingly (Green and Thorogood 2018).

Research Methodology

After the data from the quantitative and qualitative sections of the research have been analyzed, it would be crucial to integrate the same into a suitable manner. The rationale is that the integration would ensure maximization of the strengths that the two distinct approaches would have, as the weaknesses would be minimized. The data from the two methods would be connected by using the information from the qualitative research to guide and support the quantitative research information. Direct comparison of results would not be considered. This would support sequential data collection and analysis.

The proposed study would illustrate in an effective manner the association between domestic violence and related adversities in context of child behavior and development. The results of the study would indicate the deleterious impact of exposure to domestic violence on children. The review would therefore highlight possible array of protective factors that can have a strong influence on the impact of exposure and their consequent outcomes for the child. On the whole, the research would advocate for a child-centered and holistic approach to health service delivery drawing insights from a robust assessment. The primary target would be to capture a clear picture of the experiences of the children and coming up with responses that address individualized needs (Markström and Münger 2018).

The research would be beneficial for the public health department of the concerned State. On the basis of the inferences drawn from the proposed study, actions can be taken for using the best evidence for informing policy in the area of public health. The aim of the officials would be to remediate long term and short term negative outcomes associated with domestic violence and child maltreatment. Policy reforms can be considered depending upon collaboration with health care organizations that provide health counseling and education to the communities. At the core of such strategy would be domestic violence prevention efforts, exploration of negative health impact and delineation of practice implications for health professionals. The research would also aim at encouraging beneficial significant cross-sectoral partnerships in the domain of public health.

Ethics is an integral part of primary research where human participants are involved in order to preserve the best interests of the individuals and to maintain their fundamental rights. There are many reasons for which ethical norms are to be abided by, including promotion of the aims and objectives of the research such as prevention of error, fostering of truth such as prohibition against falsifying, fabrication and misinterpretation of research data. Ethical standard further is crucial for promoting the values essential for collaborative research work (Green and Thorogood 2018). The primary principles of ethics are informed consent, privacy and confidentiality and apt publication of data. For the proposed research, informed consent would be taken from the participants prior to the research. This would encompass informing the participants about the purpose of the research and related benefits or risks that the research brings about. The participants would be given the chance to give the consent in a voluntary manner. For ensuring privacy and confidentiality, the information would be recorded in an anonymous manner. Interviews would be conducted at a private setting as per the convenience of the participants. It would be ensured that the research report would be published as per the ethical norms of the research ethics committee of the country (Bowling 2014).

Data Collection and Analysis

Obtaining valuable and reliable data on the area of domestic violence has been denoted as a complex and challenging task due to the sensitive context of the personal experiences of the participants. This might be further amplified for the proposed research since the participants would be children vulnerable to emotional exploitation. Domestic violence arises predominantly due to conflicts and malpractice, and therefore it might be highly challenging to receive informed consent from the participants. Adult members of the families might not be cooperative enough to take part in the study following information provided to them regarding the aim of the study (Lindert et al. 2014). Further, cultural considerations are to be dealt with while carrying out the interviews. Individuals taking part in the study would be from diverse cultural backgrounds with different social beliefs and perceptions. The researchers would need to demonstrate attributes of cultural competency while carrying out the interview so as not prevent prejudice and discrimination. Elimination of discrimination would also aid in trustworthiness of the research findings (Kalmakis and Chandler 2015).

Suitable dissemination of research findings in the arena of public health ensures that policy reform agendas are addressed adequately. Dissemination is to be considered as a key approach of dispersion the evidence based information to the audience through proper channels. Planned strategies are required in this regard (Brownson et al. 2017). The finding of the proposed study in the form of a formal report is to be presented to the Public Health Commission of the respective state for their kind considerations. The objective would be to present them with the opportunity to have an in-depth knowledge of the challenges and plight faced by children suffering domestic violence. Through the Commission, the relevant health care organizations can be informed about the research and its implications. This would create a ripple of knowledge dissemination among the stakeholders who can actively contribute to further research and practice changes.

The proposed research is to be carried out within a time span of 14 weeks, with maximal time allotted for data collection. The detailed timeline has been provided as follows-

	Week 1	Week 2-4	Week 5-6	Week 7-9	Week 10-11	Week 12	Week 13-14
Preparation of research	·
Primary data collection		·
Primary data analysis			·
Secondary data collection				·
Secondary data analysis					·
Final data analysis						·
Report preparation							·

References

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Brownson, R.C., Baker, E.A., Deshpande, A.D. and Gillespie, K.N., 2017. Evidence-based public health. Oxford university press.

Cao, Y., Li, L., Zhao, X., Zhang, Y., Guo, X., Zhang, Y., & Luo, X. (2016). Effects of Exposure to Domestic Physical Violence on Children’s Behavior: A Chinese Community-based Sample. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 9(2), 127–135.

Green, J. and Thorogood, N., 2018. Qualitative methods for health research. Sage.

Kalmakis, K.A. and Chandler, G.E., 2015. Health consequences of adverse childhood experiences: a systematic review. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 27(8), pp.457-465.

Lewis, N.V., Larkins, C., Stanley, N., Szilassy, E., Turner, W., Drinkwater, J. and Feder, G.S., 2017. Training on domestic violence and child safeguarding in general practice: a mixed method evaluation of a pilot intervention. BMC family practice, 18(1), p.33.

Lindert, J., von Ehrenstein, O.S., Grashow, R., Gal, G., Braehler, E. and Weisskopf, M.G., 2014. Sexual and physical abuse in childhood is associated with depression and anxiety over the life course: systematic review and meta-analysis. International journal of public health, 59(2), pp.359-372.

Markström, A.M. and Münger, A.C., 2018. The decision whether to report on children exposed to domestic violence: perceptions and experiences of teachers and school health staff. Nordic Social Work Research, 8(1), pp.22-35.

McCusker, K. and Gunaydin, S., 2015. Research using qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods and choice based on the research. Perfusion, 30(7), pp.537-542.

Morse, J.M., 2016. Qualitative health research: Creating a new discipline. Routledge.

Överlien, C., 2017. ‘Do you want to do some arm wrestling?’: children’s strategies when experiencing domestic violence and the meaning of age. Child & Family Social Work, 22(2), pp.680-688.

Rogers, M. and Parkinson, K., 2018. Exploring approaches to child welfare in contexts of domestic violence and abuse: Family group conferences. Child & Family Social Work, 23(1), pp.105-112.

Song, A., Wenzel, S.L., Kim, J.Y. and Nam, B., 2017. Experience of domestic violence during childhood, intimate partner violence, and the deterrent effect of awareness of legal consequences. Journal of interpersonal violence, 32(3), pp.357-372.