Impact of Domestic Violence on Witnesses

Domestic violence is a term one has heard of numerous times. It is not a newfound concept and continues to affect not only victims and those in the household but those outside of the home it occurs in as well. Much research has been carried out on witnesses of domestic violence in the home. The first section of this thesis will discuss the impact of domestic violence directly on victims of the abuse. This may assist in understanding the impact on witnesses of the abuse. The second section of this thesis will conduct a literature review on these witnesses who are often children and teenagers. It will discuss the effects of domestic violence on these children; whether it be mentally, physically, emotionally, or in any other form. While much research has been conducted on children and teenagers, there has not been much research conducted on young adult witnesses of domestic violence. Many young adults share their home with their parents in current times and some will have most likely witnessed some form of domestic violence in their home. The third section of this thesis will offer a proposal to understand the effects of domestic violence on these particular witnesses to answer whether the effects are similar to the younger aged witnesses. A questionnaire is attached to ask questions that may be used to initiate research and collect data.