Dr. James Husen Reveals the Long-Term Effects of Domestic Violence on Children

Why do abused people find it hard to leave their abusive partners? Why and how abused people frequently grow up and abuse others by repeating the same patterns? How can these patterns of behavior – the cycle of domestic violence – be broken? Dr. James Husen provides the answers in a slender yet impactful book “Sticks and Stones: Domestic Violence in Family Law and its Developmental Impact on Children.”
 
The independently published “Sticks and Stones” deals with the effects of domestic violence upon those who are affected by it, particularly children. Dr. Husen wrote this book, a product of two years of painstaking research and writing, to aid lawyers, judges, social workers, and mental health practitioners who work with couples and families affected by domestic violence.
 
He explains how the vicious cycle of domestic violence is rooted in early childhood and how the exposure and experience contribute to violence and the sufferer’s response to such act:
 
“One of the most important ideas I’ve discovered… involves the impact of experience upon human perception. From birth, early and ongoing experiences create our beliefs, perceptions, and internal working models of self, others, and the world. Once established, these internal models predispose us to have experiences consistent with our expectations – our minds automatically and effortlessly seek and find the expected patterns. Whether functional or maladaptive, these childhood beliefs remain unchanged until they are actively engaged and modified through new experience.”
 
Dr. Husen is determined to help children from violent homes break the intergenerational cycle of violence and victimization through prevention and rehabilitation, and develop them into secure and productive adults. Through his book, he offers “a remedy that involves addressing experience-derived issues of trust and the implicit perceptual biases that drive relationship dynamics, fright, fear, and attachment.”
 
The good news is that the negative effects of domestic violence upon children can be corrected. Those of us who work with families and children in the courts and in therapeutic settings can make a difference. However, in order to promote healing and growth among this population, it is vital that we understand the cycle of domestic violence – where it comes from and how the cycle can be permanently broken.
 

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