Running head: COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT !

Community Problem Report:

Domestic violence at UTEP

Ariana Valles

University of Texas at El Paso

COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT !2

Abstract

In many instances, crime and violence is related to domestic violence in the suspects back-

ground. Domestic abuse and violence have internalizing and externalizing effects on a child’s

adulthood including depression, anxiety, aggression, violence, and delinquency. Lowering the

rates of domestic violence around the world can lead to a decrease in violence and aggression.

Once a child is exposed or has experienced abuse firsthand, they are exposed to all the effects

causing problems in social, physical, and mental development. This paper will explore the exam-

ples of child abuse, present statistics of the growth and effects, and discuss some of the action

taken and can be taken to improve the problem to lead to a better future.
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Community Problem Report

Domestic violence has been a serious crime over the years. There have been cases where

the victim will not come out to people about being abused. Due to the fact that they are scared

that their partner will harm them even more. As a community there should be someone that is

trusted with problems like this if not there are shelters for this. Many people do not know about

them so they do not get the help they need. In any circumstance nobody should be afraid to speak

out about their problem, the more they hide the more it will hurt their own self. Also, domestic

violence is something huge and taken very seriously, because there are people that can kill them-

selves due to the abuse they have.

Domestic violence

Domestic violence just does not happen to women but also men. According to Davis

(2008), Both females and males that are either young or old get abused by other men and women

(pg. 2). There are so many ways domestic violence can happen. Most people just think getting hit

by your partner is abuse, but abuse can happen mentally as well (pg. 1). If your partner is saying

oh you’re too fat, or why are you so ugly and it’s a repeated thing this can cause people to do

harm to their bodies in a negative way, which is never good. Being mentally abused is just as bad

as being physically abused. According to Gardner (1994), domestic violence has been serious

issue over the years. Many people don’t know who has been a part of it or who is still a victim of

abuse. Like in our own community there has been over hundreds of calls to the police for domes-

tic violence. Most of these calls are by women because men think that they don’t get abused.

Men should also be the ones to speak out about being abused. Everyone probably thinks

oh men are tough, well they are human beings and do have feelings too. As a community there
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should be limits of what is being said and how it’s said. There are people that just don’t care

about others feelings. That’s just because people have been mean to them and after a while they

just got tired of trying to ask for help. So, they just want someone to feel the pain they had when

nobody was there for them. That shouldn’t be the case they are abusing others just so they can

feel better. By them acting like that with others is harming them in a mental way. The way the

communities are right now there are many differences, different perspectives on certain things.

How physical therapist help

Kids or even adults with disabilities that have been involved in domestic violence. Ac-

cording to Willison (2017), the fact that they can’t rely on themselves they need others. When

they don’t get the treatment, they need or help they need bad things can happen to them. People

with disabilities have a higher percentage rate of them being involved with domestic violence.

Something so little and it being a daily thing can be considered domestic violence. For example,

the caregiver not providing them with medicine when they need it, or not helping them do things

that need to be done. Having disabilities is already hard enough on the child or adult and causing

them more harm is just not right for people to do. They enjoy every moment they have left of

their life and by abusing them we’re just ruining it for them to enjoy. Instead of trying to ruin

something so special to them why shouldn’t it stay special for them. The ones that cause the

harm to others might feel like they don’t have anyone to rely on but be rude to others to make

them feel good.

Being physical enable to do things is probably the most common abuse, because there are

caregivers out there tired of doing things for others that they just stop. With them stopping they

can cause the person they taking care of to get hurt or to do things that their bodies aren’t used
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too. Doing this to someone is just awful. According to Flannagan (2017) disabilities is something

that isn’t controlled the way we act is. Sometimes people act the way they do because that’s the

only way they know how to act since they were kids. As a child you take in everything you see

not knowing whether it is good or bad, and if no one is there to teach them it will carry on to

when they grow up. By having a horrible childhood leads onto what will happen in the future

(pg. 56)

The affect it has on children

Children that are in a household with violence is harmful to them. Many parents do really

know how they affect their kids with their actions, but it can affect a kid very bad. Especially, if

they see it on a daily basis the child thinks it’s okay to do it. By a child learning bad habits at

home can harm other kids as well. Being at home has an impact on kids. Most of a Childs learn-

ing is at home. They learn how to be respectful to others, how to be responsible, and most of all

how to act around others. If their parent/parents to show them all bad habits that is what they will

take out in the world. Being in an atmosphere where domestic violence happens is something

that will stick with the kid forever. Especially, if they are the ones getting abused they will not be

able to trust people they love anymore. Not being able to trust one’s that are closet to you is an

issue because they are the ones to help you through the darkest times in your life. But not being

able to do that you figure out a different way to get through times that are hard. This solution is

usually never a good path to go down to, but nobody is there to help you get out of it.

Thousands of reports of child abuse and domestic violence every day, some more severe

than others. There could be a number put to the reports made but, there are even more that go

unreported by the abused. According to Sasha Joseph Neulinger (2015), a student and survivor of
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child abuse, it is hard for the child to understand that what their parents are doing is abuse. When

he tells his story, he mentions his family’s social worker who never took his side of the story into

consideration. Instead, he felt that what his mother did to him was how all mothers treated their

children. This feeling led to him to not reporting anything to an adult and taking the abuse. the

social workers that deal with families are not sensitive to what the child is experiencing and may

even feel that the parent should have complete control over the child.

Childhood is crucial in the growth and developing process. In that case, if a child is expe-

riencing constant abuse and maltreatment, they will develop differently than other children men-

tally, physically, and socially. The trauma may lead to violent behavior producing abusive par-

ents, substance abusers, and criminals whether the child is a victim or witness of violence. Trust-

ing another person with a child is hard for a mother and devastating to hear that the person you

trusted mistreated that child. Vonda Dennis, a certified specialist in parenthood and healthcare,

discusses the signs of a good nanny and changes in a child behavior is abuse has occurred.” One

sign of a good nanny, she says, is a background in early childhood education.” (Hernandez,

2014). With heavier background checks, nanny cams, more interactive social workers, and the

overlap between human services and criminal justice a change can be made to help these chil-

dren and the future of the community.

In conclusion, domestic violence can happen anywhere with anyone. It doesn’t not have

to be certain people or even a certain race. Domestic violence will happen to people you would

never think of. Men are the least likely for people to think will be abused but they are just as

likely to be victims as women. Women are seen more likely because back in the day women were
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the ones that got hit if their husband had a bad day. Everything was taken out on them. Now men,

women and even children all have an impact on domestic violence. Always know that there is

help out there for people to use, and people to trust. Instead of a solution most people go down

which is either drugs or just ending their life because it’s bad there is someone to always talk to

someone to rely on no matter what. There is awareness out there for people that have been

through domestic violence and that are going through at the moment. No one is ever alone.
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References

About, M. H. (2014, October 15). Fontana nanny cam arrest turns focus on signs of child abuse.

Retrieved October 29, 2017, from http://abc7.com/news/fontana-nanny-cam-arrest-turns-

focus-on-signs-of-child-abuse-/351076/

Gardner, D. (1994, ). Be aware and report domestic violence. The Prospector, pp. 4. Retrieved

from https://theprospector.newspaperarchive.com/el-paso-prospector/1994-10-13/page-4/

T. (2015, May 20). Trauma is irreversible. How it shapes us is our choice. | Sasha Joseph

Neulinger | TEDxBozeman. Retrieved October 30, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=K_WL5iqvPlY

Willison, K. (2017). Why I'm ending the silence around domestic violence and people WIth dis-

abilities. Retrieved from https://themighty.com/2017/10/domestic-violence-and-people-

with-disabilities/

The Psychological Effects of Domestic Violence- Part 2. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://info-

graph.venngage.com/p/156107/the-psychological-effects-of-domestic-violence-part-2
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Break the Silence

Figure 1: To break the silence against domestic violence and stand up. This picture repre-

sents people that are afraid to say something, you should not be afraid. You need to stand up for

what is right for you and get help.