Originally published June 4 2005
Children who only witness violence at home still show signs of abuse, say experts
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A child who is brought up in a "chaotic" house filled abuse and anger is more likely to grow up thinking that violence at home is normal, say experts. Even if they aren't abused themselves, their brains automatically associate that kind of anger with stress and fear. For example, the majority (all but four or five) of the men who pass though Community Alternatives of the Black Hills, a transitional house for federal prisoners, admit they were from an abusive home, says Lori McClure, assistant director of the program. Experts agree: A great deal of the problem is the fear chaotic homes cause. Children grow up with this fear, and when the reach adulthood, they react to others aggressively because they don't want to appear afraid. Rich Mylant, a counselor who leads Rapid City's Violence Intervention Program group sessions, tells men they have 26 weeks (usually their sentence) to break the cycle, because if they don't they may as well drop their sons at jail and their daughters in hospital now. The thought that their children are so impressionable "Shakes them up, makes them think," he said.
- Mental-health experts say that witnessing violence and living through chaos in the home changes children's brains, potentially leading to a lifetime of problems.
- Children's brains develop according to experience: What a child sees and hears is translated by brain activity.
- Patterns of experience result in patterns of development, and patterns of development result in patterns of behavior.
- In other words, if the developing brain perceives danger, it reacts to stress.
- And if the brain perceives and reacts to danger often enough, the brain cells continue to send stress signals even after the danger is gone.
- Mary Lou Mylant, pediatric and psychiatric nurse practitioner who teaches at the South Dakota State University School of Nursing, said a child who is ignored and left lying in bed doesn't learn to trust.
- The disorder manifests itself in what is traditionally dubbed a "fight or flight" response.
- The women who grew up in dysfunction have more extreme responses to an abusive relationship, including a passive acceptance - "This is the way life is; this is my lot in life" - and joining in the fight, Thompson said.
- Mary Lou Mylant cited a woman who explained it by saying that going through life with a bad childhood behind you is like driving a car while looking in the rearview mirror.
- Trimble, referring to a pre-sentence report, noted that the man had previously done time for manslaughter and that his sister had been beaten to death by her boyfriend.
- Without further comment, Trimble sentenced the defendant to two years in prison, the maximum amount of time he faced for his third simple assault conviction in five years.
- Based on a University of Minnesota database, researchers estimate that 10 percent to 20 percent of children are exposed to domestic violence, Mary Lou Mylant said.
- The women tell her, "He'll never touch the kids.
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