Household cases at home can trigger children to become psychopaths as adults

"My house, my palace" So people say. But for many children, the home is where nightmares start. Every year, hundreds of millions of children around the world become living witnesses of domestic violence.

Direct complaints to Komnas Perempuan Indonesia show that there were 5,784 cases of domestic violence against wives in 2016. Imagine how many Indonesian children have to live with severe trauma from their parents' quarrels?

These children not only have to watch their parents fistfighting and throwing plates at each other, they also inevitably have to hear heartbreaking screams and insults at the zoo. And even though they are still small, they can be very aware of the tense atmosphere that surrounds the house even though their parents are in a truce.

Fighting moms and dads don't realize that what they're doing has a strong and profound impact on their child's future well-being.

Children who are eye witnesses of domestic violence cases grow up to become troubled adolescents

There have been countless studies showing that children who grow up in abusive homes are more likely to become victims of child abuse. Children who have experienced violence as a child never understand how parents should love and treat others well, so they grow up only familiar with violence.

Uniquely, the impact of violence on children acts like two sides of a coin. Children who are victims of domestic violence are more likely to be severely traumatized, so this cycle is likely to repeat itself later in life - whether they are victims of violence in their own relationships or are the perpetrators.

Children who are eye witnesses to cases of domestic violence at home may also grow up to have learning difficulties and limited social skills, display naughty or risky behavior, or suffer from depression, PTSD, or severe anxiety disorders.

And to make matters worse, this impact will be felt most severely by children who are still very young. UNICEF research shows that domestic violence is more common in homes with young children than children who are teenagers or older.

Now a new study published in the journal Law and Human Behavior shows that boys who witnessed their parents' domestic violence cases are more likely to become psychopaths when they grow up, than boys who grow up in harmonious families or who have never witnessed their parents. fight. What is the reason?

The trauma from witnessing violence can make a permanent mark on a child

The connection between children who are victims of domestic violence and their increased risk of developing psychopathic traits has long been strengthened by evidence from previous scientific studies. However, a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health emphasized that their study is the first to show that there is an increased risk for a child to develop this problematic personality disorder, just from witnessing violence at home.

In the study, researchers looked at psychopathic traits among nearly 140 male prisoners and investigated whether they had witnessed domestic violence in childhood. Although the term "psychopath" is often misused by ordinary people to describe someone who is brutal or cruel, in psychology, psychopath has a certain meaning.

The relationship between psychopaths and domestic violence experienced by parents

Psychopathic traits include deifying oneself and perceiving others as weak, cunning and manipulative, a lack of empathy, a tendency to commit crimes, and a tendency to treat others harshly or with indifference.

Researchers chose to study prison inmates because psychopathic characteristics were far more common in this population than in the general population, said lead study author Monika Dargis, a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The results of the study found that about 40 percent of these prisoners were psychopaths.

It was also from these results that researchers later concluded that groups of prisoners who had witnessed domestic violence between their parents or witnessed siblings being tortured at home during childhood were more likely to exhibit higher quality psychopathic characteristics than prisoners who had not witnessed domestic violence in his childhood.

The exact mechanism behind this potential connection is unclear. However, it is possible that children who observe coercive and manipulative behavior exhibited by perpetrators of domestic violence eventually develop these behaviors as well. On the other hand, these children may also learn to manipulate and lie to avoid becoming victims of violence by perpetrators of violence, Dargis said.

In other words, these children develop psychopathic behavior to avoid becoming targets of violence that has affected other members of their family.

Children who grow up in violent homes need protection

The above research shows that the link between being a living witness of a case of domestic violence in childhood and an increased risk of developing psychopathic traits is inevitable. But the findings don't prove that witnessing domestic violence in childhood is a cause of psychopathy.

Parents who commit domestic violence directly deny the child's right to live in a safe and stable home environment. Many children suffer in silence, and without any support. But even though not all children exposed to violence at home will become victims or perpetrators, they still need help from other trusted adults to get the help and affection they deserve.

Many victims can overcome their childhood trauma with emotional support from their loved ones, so that they realize that violence cannot be tolerated and their experiences must not be repeated. Child victims of domestic violence cases can be educated, given assistance, and clinical therapy from medical professionals to recover their mental condition.