Dissertation Correlates Home, School Violence

Belva Parrish studied domestic violence for eight years as a counselor for Aid to Victims for Domestic Violence and at the Cy-Fair school district in Houston. This fueled her interest in studying domestic violence, which, for her, has become a lifelong topic of research.

Her doctoral study, completed in December 2005 at Sam Houston State University for the educational leadership and counseling department, links the trauma of witnessing domestic violence to poor school performance, higher rates of alcohol and drug use, gang membership and committing acts of violence.

"After working these two jobs for eight years, I knew that domestic violence at home perpetuates a cycle of violence in the lives of students that often impacts the school environment,” she said. “Violence learned at home is also practiced at school."

Children who witness or experience violence exhibit signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and aggression, she said, adding that a 1985 study estimated that three in five children witness domestic violence every day.

For her study, Parrish contacted males aged 18-70 who were ordered to complete counseling services as part of a court order for domestic violence, assault or sexual assault. They were given surveys and asked questions about their school experiences.

The men who had witnessed domestic violence while growing up reported more high-risk behavior such as drug or alcohol abuse, gang affiliation or fighting in school at higher rates than those who did not report witnessing domestic violence.

For example, of those who did not report violence at home, 25.7 percent reported fighting at school. By contrast, 47.6 percent who had witnessed and been victims of domestic abuse reported fighting at school.
In addition, they had higher rates of failure, inability to concentrate, dropping out, fantasizing about violence and expulsion from school.

The numbers were always highest for those who had witnessed violence and been victims of abuse, according to Parrish.

Parrish advocates better training for educators in recognizing and dealing with victims of abuse, and she advises schools to utilize counselors more wisely.

"Counselors have been increasingly used as standardized test coordinators relegated to counting test booklets and overseeing state and district testing programs,” she said. “In addition to testing duties, counselors are required to perform such non-counseling duties as hall, lunch and bus duty. These activities take them away from the much-needed job of counseling students.

"Counselors are the mental health experts on their campuses. Leaders need to make every effort to require counselors to engage students in both individual and group counseling,” Parrish said. “In addition, counselors can be instrumental in procuring outside resources to help students caught in problematic situations at home. We simply have to ensure that counselors are working directly with students once again."

This study involved surveys sent to 900 men who were all likely to have experienced abuse and then continued the cycle.

The participants' accounts of abuse were dramatic and poignant, showing the effects of living with abuse more vividly than the numbers, Parrish said.

She said she hopes to replicate the study with women and see if the effects of witnessing violence are the same or different for them.

Parrish currently works for the Houston Independent School District as director of counseling at St. Thomas High School and will work for Clifton Middle School in the fall.

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SHSU Media Contact: Kelly Garrison
July 12, 2006
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