Domestic Violence and the Impact upon Academic Achievement of Students

Mohammed Rowdhan Al-sabawy; Wissam Jabbar Qassim

doi:10.37421/ /2472-0496.2023.9.194

Research Article - (2023) Volume 9, Issue 6

Domestic Violence and the Impact upon Academic Achievement of Students

Mohammed Rowdhan Al-sabawy^* and Wissam Jabbar Qassim

^*Correspondence: Mohammed Rowdhan Al-sabawy, Department of Nursing Science, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq, Email:

Author information

Department of Nursing Science, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq

Received: 24-Apr-2023, Manuscript No. ABP-23-98291; Editor assigned: 27-Apr-2023, Pre QC No. ABP-23-98291(PQ); Reviewed: 11-May-2023, QC No. ABP-23-98291; Revised: 15-May-2023, Manuscript No. ABP-23-98291(R); Published: 12-Jun-2023 , DOI: 10.37421/ /2472-0496.2023.9.194
Citation: Al-sabawy, Mohammed Rowdhan and Wissam Jabbar Qassim. "Domestic Violence and the Impact upon Academic Achievement of Students ." J Abnorm Psychol 9 (2023): 194.
Copyright: Ã??Ã?Â© 2023 Al-sabawy MR, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution license which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

Introduction: Domestic violence is a significant problem that demands research and intervention. In many Arab societies, domestic violence has expanded to be a common occurrence. The study aims to identify the most prevalent forms of domestic violence and their impact on middle school student's academic achievement.

Methods: A descriptive correlational study used a cross-sectional study design has been used through a questionnaire that was distributed among 597 middle school students from eighteen schools in Kirkuk, Iraq, conducted between November 2022 and March 2023. Excellent internal consistency reliability was shown by the instrument (Cronbach's alpha=0.91). To choose schools and subsequently classes, the researchers applied the stratified random sampling technique.

Results: Findings revealed that (43%) had ever been the victim of domestic violence, whereas (57%) had never experienced violence of those, 56.6% had experienced verbal violence, 25% had experienced psychological violence and 18.4% had experienced physical violence. The findings show that females (54.7%) are more likely than men (45.3%) to be subjected to violence. The amount of domestic violence used against students, particularly physical violence was significantly influenced by the family's monthly income at (P-value=0.003) and the parent's education levels at (P-value=0.001). 68% of battered students performed poorly academically. The study's findings show domestic violence impacts students' ability to pay attention and concentrate in class.

Conclusion: It is concluded that there is a moderate prevalence of domestic violence among middle school students. Experiencing any domestic violence, especially psychological violence, impacts class participation, school attendance and academic achievement.

Keywords

Domestic violence • Academic achievement • Psychological violence • Physical violence • Verbal violence

Introduction

Domestic violence is a widespread global crime that has had an impact on many children's lives. The values of domestic violence as a behavior have been progressively increasing over the past decade. The narrative of Cain being murdered by his brother Abel, the crucifixion of Christ and other events were addressed in the Holy Quran. The Multimodal Indicator Survey (MICS6) 2018 found that 4 out of 5 Iraqi children suffer violence at home or school [1]. Even if fighting has subsided in Iraq, a culture of violence persists, with children bearing a disproportionate amount of the burden.

All types of violence, whether committed by family members or other caregivers, friends, partners, or strangers, against those under the age of 18 are considered to be violence against adolescents.

Childhood exposure to violence affects one's health and well-being for the rest of one's life. Physical, psychological and sexual violence are all considered forms of domestic violence. This refers to the use of any kind of force against another person to inflict injury or gain control over them [2]. It could happen in households, such as when parents hit their children, a spouse beats his wife, or professors ignore their students.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that six in ten children globally, ages two to fourteen, endure routine physical punishment, and even higher proportions (about seven in ten), psychological violence; harsh physical punishment, defined as being hit hard recurrently or in the face, impacts an equivalent of 17% of children from 58 nations where information is accessible. Students who have impaired vision reported that their experiences with violence have primarily involved beating, as opposed to other types of physical violence, and that their experiences with verbal violence have primarily involved being teased, subjected to namecalling, and verbally abused [3].

Children who suffer violence are more vulnerable to becoming adults who mistreat their offspring. For instance, in Turkey, women who had both suffered Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and observed violence from their mothers recorded the greatest rates of physical violence perpetrated towards their children (66%) compared to women who had neither experienced IPV nor heard abuse committed by their parents (37%). High rates of victimization (bullying, victims, and sexual victims) among pupils at school are a predictor of smoking and drug use [4]. Children who experience domestic violence suffer from social and psychological problems. It directly affects how violent experiences are as adolescents. Long-term effects, frequently having an impact on one's whole life, might also result. It may facilitate the emergence of certain familial ties and particular life circumstances.

Many researchers have found a connection between domestic violence's impacts and children's outward conduct, traumatic stress, internalization issues and social difficulties. Many factors outside of the classroom, such as family situations, have an impact on each individual's academic success levels. Students who have seen domestic violence may develop cognitive, emotional and behavioral issues that will affect their future academic achievement [5].

Materials and Methods

A descriptive correlational study used a cross-sectional study design has been used through a questionnaire that was distributed among middle school students from various schools in Kirkuk, including public schools. This was adopted to enable the study to gather relevant data on the impact of domestic violence among middle school students in Kirkuk City [6]. The sample for the research consisted of 597 subjects made up of male and female students who are in middle school. The questionnaire was distributed to 20 groups of students in 19 middle and secondary schools. Two groups were taken for the pilot study and excluded from the original study. The instrument of the impact of domestic violence on academic achievement among middle school students demonstrated excellent internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha=0.91).

A research-administered questionnaire was used for the data collection on socio-demographic characteristics of domestic violence and their academic achievement. The researcher use an instrument that consists of three parts: The first part contains sociodemographic information data and contains three questions, Are you exposed to family violence by your parents or a member of your family? If your answer is yes, what is the type of domestic violence? (physical, verbal, or psychological violence) and what is the source of domestic violence? finally, are there issues or problems between parents or family members? Part 2: Domestic violence rating scale among middle school students contains three sections, this part is only for battered students: Consists of nine questions related to verbal violence, ten questions related to physical violence, and ten questions related to psychological violence [7]. The likert score is (never, sometimes and always), (1, 2, and 3, respectively). The self-assessment tool deals with mean of score values from (1.00-1.66) is classified as low, the score ranges between (1.67-2.33) is classified as moderate, the score ranges between (2.34-3.00) is classified as high. Part 3: The scale evaluating the academic achievement of battered student, the scale contain 15 questions related to the direct teacher (the supervisor of the class) and score for the battered student during the first semester and mid-year scores [8].

Results

Results showed that 256 (43%) students had experienced domestic violence throughout their life while the remaining 341 (57%) students did not have any experience with domestic violence. The types of domestic violence encountered by the students are illustrated in Table 1 and show that all those who experienced DV had suffered some form of violence, 56.7% had suffered verbal violence while 18.4% had suffered physical violence [9]. Some of the students had experienced more than one type of domestic violence, mainly physical and verbal violence while, some students had experienced all types of domestic violence (physical, verbal, and psychological) Table 1.

**Table 1.** Prevalence of domestic violence among the studied sample and the distribution of the types of domestic violence experienced by the respondents.
Type of domestic violence	F	%
No domestic violence	341	57
Domestic violence	256	43
Physical violence	47	18.4
Verbal violence	145	56.6
Psychological violence	64	25
Total	256	100

Table 2 provides information on the socio-demographic characteristics of DV victims, where the average age of the students in the study was (14.29). The results showed that females are exposed to violence by more than 54%, while males are at 45%.

Regarding the monthly income, this study found that the majority of the study was almost enough (39.1%) of the total study samples [10]. More than 70% of the parent's educational level of battered students do not read and write, or have less than secondary education (Table 2).

**Table 2.** The distribution of the socio-demographic characteristics data of the victims.
Socio-demographic characteristics of victims		F	%
Age (Years)	12-13	83	32.4
	14-15	121	47.3
	16-18	52	20.3
	Mean=± 14.29, Median=14.00 and S.D=1.435
Gender	Male	116	45.3
	Female	140	54.7
	Total	256	100
Class	1st	89	34.8
	2nd	79	30.9
	3rd	88	34.4
	Total	256	100
Family income	Enough	65	25.4
	Almost enough	100	39.1
	Not enough	91	35.5
	Total	256	100
Social status of parents	Married	213	83.2
	Divorced	15	5.9
	Single parents dead	25	9.8
	Two parents dead	3	1.2
	Total	256	100
Institution	Private	164	64.1
	Public	92	35.9
	Total	256	100
Level of mother education	Illiterate	36	14.1
	Read and write	77	30.1
	Primary	61	23.8
	Secondary	39	15.2
	Diploma	36	14.1
	Total	249	97.3
Level of father education	Illiterate	10	3.9
	Read and write	93	36.3
	Primary	52	20.3
	Secondary	49	19.1
	Diploma	34	13.3
	Total	238	93

Demonstrates that there are considerable disparities between the monthly income level of the family experiencing physical and psychological violence at the level of significance (0.001, 0.016) respectively [11]. While it was shown that the monthly income has no effect on verbal violence at the level of significance (0.139) (Table 3).

**Table 3.** The association between the type of domestic violence related to the family income of victims.
Type of DV	Family income	F	Sum of squares	Df	Mean square	F	Sig.
Physical violence	Enough	65	2.231	2	1.115	5.8	0.003
	Almost enough	100	48.627	253	0.192
	Not enough	91	50.857	255	0.192
Verbal violence	Enough	65	0.686	2	0.343	1.65	0.193
	Almost enough	100	52.376	253	0.207
	Not enough	91	53.062	255	0.207
Psychological violence	Enough	65	1.996	2	0.998	4.2	0.016
	Almost enough	100	60.03	253	0.237
	Not enough	91	62.027	255	0.237

The findings show that the academic performance of the battered students was poor. The findings indicate that there are no appreciable disparities in academic achievement between males and females. However, the mother's and father's levels of education and academic achievement range significantly at a level of significance (0.001) to both of them. Academic achievement of battered students is associated with family income at a level of significance (0.001) in Table 4.

**Table 4.** The association between the Socio-demographic characteristics data of victims with academic achievement.
Socio-demographic characteristics of victims		Fail	Weak	Moderate	Good	Very good	Chi-square (X²)
Age (Years)	12-13	32	28	18	3	2	X²=10.090 P=0.259
	14-15	68	34	13	5	1
	16-18	25	16	10	1	0
Gender	Male	48	42	22	3	1	X²=6.550 P=0.162
Gender	Female	77	36	19	6	2	X²=6.550 P=0.162
Class	1st	37	30	18	3	1	X²=5.603 P=0.692
	2nd	41	26	8	3	1
	3rd	47	22	15	3	1
Family income	Enough	21	17	18	6	3	X²=36.717 P=0.001
	Almost enough	46	35	16	3	0
	Not enough	58	26	7	0	0
Social status	Married	102	66	37	6	2	X²=11.688 P=0.471
	Divorced	6	5	2	1	1
	Single parents dead	16	6	1	2	0
	Two parents dead	1	1	1	0	0
Institution	Private	80	51	26	4	3	X2=3.254 P=0.516
Institution	Public	45	27	15	5	0	X2=3.254 P=0.516
Level of mother education	Illiterate	14	18	3	1	0	X²=48.270 P=0.001
	Read and write	37	25	12	3	0
	Primary	37	16	8	0	0
	Secondary	25	8	6	0	0
	Diploma	8	10	11	5	2
Level of father education	Illiterate	3	5	2	0	0	X²=51.198 P=0.001
	Read and write	48	29	15	0	1
	Primary	27	19	5	1	0
	Secondary	25	17	7	0	0
	Diploma	13	3	10	6	2

Table 5 There is a connection between academic achievement and the independent variables as a function of linear regression. Tvalue and P-value can be used to display this relationship. The results demonstrate that there is a very high association between domestic violence and academic achievement, which is shown by the F-value (12.83) and P-value.

Domestic violence explains 34.4% of the variation in academic achievement, according to the R²-value (0.001). The post hook test multiple comparison was performed through mean differences to determine the type of domestic violence that is most relevant to academic achievement. It was discovered that psychological violence is the most type of violence that has an impact on academic achievement (Table 5) [12].

**Table 5.** Shows the impact of psychological, physical and verbal violence on the academic achievement of the victims.
Type of DV	R	R²	F	Sig.	B	T-value	Sig
Physical V.	0.364	0.13	12.83	0.001	0.316	2.571	0.011
Verbal V.					0.49	4.068	0.001
Psychological V.					0.405	3.59	0.001

Discussion

This study has been carried out on middle students in Kirkuk, Iraq to look at the prevalence of domestic violence, and the characteristics of the victims, and to gauge how domestic violence impacts academic achievement. According to the study's findings, verbal violence comprised most of all domestic violence (56%). The study's findings corroborate those. The levels of Physical violence constituted the least amount of domestic violence at (18.4%). The study's findings were in line with, who found that the lowest amount of domestic violence was physical. However, the study's findings contradict the data indicating that physical violence is the most prevalent form of domestic violence. While the prevalence of psychological violence among individuals is moderate. The current study's findings are consistent with previous studies [13].

The demographic data of the research participants, where the average age of the study participants was (14.29). The study's findings support those of, who found that the age group had the greatest proportion (60.0%). According to the findings of the research samples, females are more likely than males to experience domestic violence. The research's findings supported those of the United States survey, which found that more than half of the victims were female (54.1%), while 45.9% were male. Also, many previous studies have proven this. The study's findings show that male adolescents are more likely than females to experience physical violence. The study's findings were in line with those, which demonstrates that males are more likely than females to be subjected to physical violence [14].

The results of the study demonstrated a significant relationship between the form of domestic violence used against students, particularly physical violence, and the amount of monthly income as well as the mother's and father's educational attainment. The current study's findings are consistent with previous studies, which indicated that the parent's monthly income level and educational attainment affected the occurrence of child abuse [15]. The study demonstrates that students who experienced domestic violence have poor academic achievement, and 68% of the abused students have low and weak academic achievement. This result is consistent with the previous studies, was shown that domestic violence is mostly caused by a high proportion of poverty and drunkenness and greatly affects academic performance. Moreover, observe that there is a connection between child maltreatment and poor educational achievement.

The results show that there is a statistically significant correlation between domestic violence and academic achievement. To determine which specific form of domestic violence has the greatest effect on academic achievement, multiple comparison post-hook tests were used. The results of the study agree with many previous studies that showed that psychological violence is the most common type of violence that affects academic achievement. The victim's academic success in future university life is affected by her exposure to domestic violence.

The results show that the battered student doesn't participate much in class and doesn't go to school very often. Domestic violence affects students' attention, attending, participation, and focus in the classroom. Also, student's grades are not good in the end of term exams and interfere with their capability to depend on themselves to accomplish assignments and pass examinations. The study's findings were in line with those, who showed that domestic violence had a detrimental impact on students' emotional, psychological, and physical well-being. Similar findings were reached in a previous study, which found that domestic violence may have a detrimental impact on cognitive capacities, linguistic proficiency, and academic accomplishment. The findings stated child abuse has an impact on a child's academic performance in various ways, including reduced cognitive capacity, sleep disturbance (causing poor concentration), difficulties in memory, language delays, understanding, and expression.

Conclusion

The results of the current study revealed that domestic violence is a common occurrence and that most of the respondents experienced many forms of family violence, including verbal, physical, and psychological violence. The most common form of violence in society is verbal, followed by psychological violence and, to a lesser extent, physical violence. The findings of the present study demonstrated that domestic violence significantly affects middle school student's academic achievement (p=0.001). According to Scheffe's test, the psychological violence a student is exposed to has the most impact on their academic achievement.

Ethical Clearance

This study was approved by Republic of Iraq/Ministry of planning/ Central Statistical Organization (CSO) facilitating agreement No: 1/3/1/8/7885 in 14/12/2022.