Mission Statement

To reduce the number of individuals and families who experience domestic violence by providing counseling, community education and fostering independent living free from abuse.

 

WellSpring Center For Hope
P.O. Box 368800
Chicago, IL 60636

Monday - Friday
8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.
773-723-2119

wellspringctrhope1@yahoo.com

A Ministry of the Evangelical Covenant Church Department of Benevolence

 

 

The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children

  • Emotional injuries: low self-esteem; fearful; insecure, with home environment; delayed emotional development from lack of emotional nurturing and security.

  • Depression
  • Guilt Feelings: feelings of responsibility for violence; guilt for not being able to prevent or stop the violence; guilt for failure to intervene during the violence to protect parent.
  • Agression toward others: model aggressive and violence behaviors; use violence to resolve conflicts, only solutions they know of; use violence to distance others from them – if distant, no one will discover problems in home.
  • Distant and Preoccupied: main concern is on what may be happening at home; fear for safety of parent and self; maintains distance from others so no one discovers violence in the home; shame.
  • Poor school adjustment: education and peers.
  • Truancy: stays at home, believing that their presence will prevent the violence and fighting.
  • Roll Reversal: older children will take on responsibility of the younger children and household; become caretakers for the parent and "parenting" the abused parent; abused parent may begin to confide in oldest child as they would an adult; little opportunity to become involved in childhood acitivities; forced early maturity due to violence and family dysfunction.
  • Running away episodes: desire to escape an unbearable home situation.
  • Modeling of behaviors: adopts learned victim or agressor roles; often becomes involved in violent relationships in adulthood, either as abuser (modeling aggressor role) or as an abused person (modeling victim role).
  • Alcohol and drug abuse experimentation: desire to find escape from violent home situation, psychological escape; attempt to find support with others involved in like activities; modeling parental behaviors.
  • Physcially, emotionally, and/or sexually abused: children may attempt to intervene in violent incidents and become physically injured; emotionally damaged when they witness the violence; abused parent may become so preoccupied with fear and abusive situation that he/she cannot offer the nurturing needed by the child; child may be victim of sexual abuse if family is dysfunctional in that manner or extent.
  • Early marriage: seen as an escape out of violent home environment; may be subconscious or conscious desire to create home environment which they had been denied.
  • Delinquency: lack of support in home environment, so seeks support through acceptance in powerful, "strong", usually delinquent group; easy group to be accepted into as long as individual performs according to group standards.
  • Violence towards parents as adolescents and adults
  • Expansion of violence into community.