Domestic violence and divorce and their effects on children

Pages: 1820-1827
Soumya Dhani (Super Humans Academy, Delhi Chairperson for Empowerment, Women Economic Forum, New Delhi)

The aim was to study the accounts of the teens and young adults coming from dysfunctional families, i.e. families with domestic violence and abuse/ divorce/ parental separation. There are 8 female participants and 5 male participants aged between 17-29 with the total sample size of 13. The tool used was a semi-structured interview comprising of nineteen open-ended questions, spanning several aspects of the traumatic experiences (in retrospect), how it has shaped their lives and the current perspectives on life. The questions addressed: the reasons of conflict; who was at fault for the conflict; the roles played by the mother, father and the child during the incident of conflict; the coping resources used by the child; who wanted the divorce/ separation (if); any attempts made at conflict resolution; the current family structure and dynamics; any changes in locality and finances; their take on life; the child’s difficulty/ease in trusting others now; whether they think the world is essentially a fair place or whether they have to fight for their right; if they believe illegitimate male dominance exists; how the experience has helped them grow (if at all); the positives (if) and negatives and the long lasting effects of the traumatic episode; anything good that has resulted which wouldn’t have occured otherwise. Themes were obtained from the participants’ responses based on differences and similarities. The results have warranted some deep insights into their minds, revealing how children suffer in such dysfunctional families. The experiences of the child have been expressed through their own narratives now as teens/ young adults, along with their thought processes and emotions about the present. The categories like the ability to trust, views on marriage among others provide a rich source of qualitative data for this field of study.