Written by: Nick "Mac Daddy" Maccarrone
Physical abuse is physical force or violence that results in bodily injury, pain, or impairment. It includes assault, battery, and inappropriate restraint.
Physical abuse consists of anything one person does to another that causes physical pain. This includes slapping, pinching, punching, pushing, throwing objects at another person, assaulting someone with an object or anything that brings about physical pain or discomfort to another. Physical abuse can result in bruises, black eyes, knocked out teeth, broken bones, internal organ injuries, miscarriage, brain concussions, and even death.
Most individuals are surprised when they become a victim of physical abuse. Women or men who may have been physically abused by their partner in the past may feel surprised when it happens again. Other victims may walk around knowing that their partner may become physically abusive at any time. Some victims take on guilt about the physical abuse they are receiving, as if they are somehow to blame. However, there are victims of domestic violence who live in denial that they are in an abusive relationship. Some abused individuals may even make excuses for their partner who is abusing them.
Who are the perpetrators?
Perpetrators may be acquaintances, sons, daughters, grandchildren, or others. Physical abuse that is perpetrated by spouses or intimate partners in order to gain power and control over the victim is described in the section on domestic violence. Perpetrators are likely to be unmarried, to live with their victims, and to be unemployed. Some perpetrators have alcohol or substance abuse problems. Some are caregivers for those they abuse.
Who is at risk?
As a group, victims of physical abuse do not differ significantly from seniors who are not abused.
What are the indicators?
Indicators are signs or clues that abuse has occurred. Physical indicators may include injuries or bruises, while behavioral indicators are ways victims and abusers act or interact with each other. Many of the indicators listed below can be explained by other causes and no single indicator can be taken as conclusive proof. Rather, one should look for patterns or clusters of indicators that suggest a problem.
Physical indicators
- Sprains, dislocations, fractures, or broken bones.
- Burns from cigarettes, appliances, or hot water.
- Abrasions on arms, legs, or torso that resemble rope or strap marks.
- Internal injuries evidenced by pain, difficulty with normal functioning of organs.
Bruises- The following types of bruises are rarely accidental:
- Bilateral- bruising to the arms.
- Bilateral bruising of the inner thighs.
- "Wrap around" bruises that encircle an older person's arms, legs, or torso.
- Multicolored bruises-indicating that they were sustained over time.
- Injuries healing through "secondary intention"- indicating that they did not receive appropriate care.
- Signs of traumatic hair and tooth loss
- Behavioral indicators
- Injuries are unexplained or explanations are implausible.
- Family members provide different explanations of how injuries were sustained.
- A history of similar injuries, and/or numerous or suspicious hospitalizations.
- Victims are brought to different medical facilities for treatment to prevent medical practitioners from observing a pattern of abuse.
- Delay between onset of injury and seeking medical care.
I have noticed while doing this project that there are many different forms of physical abuse. There are also many different forms of violence in relationships. These violent acts can be in the form of domestic abuse, child abuse, etc. I cannot even imagine feeling so threatened by someone who "loves" you. Violence in relationships is a terrible issue; an issue that should come to an abrupt stop. I have never met someone who was continuously abused by a guardian or a spouse, but I can only imagine the damage it could do. It is especially haunting to think that there are abused individuals who never face the truth; there are people who never find help. This post was very informative; I learned things about physical abuse that I was not aware of.
ReplyDeleteThe number of forms of abuse is great. Good job in looking at some of them. Keep polls open longer. Let people know what plug-ins they need to view all the pictures on your site.
ReplyDeleteNick, even though physical abuse is such a deep topic to cover you handled it very well. Physical abuse is not only hurtful physically but also is emotionally. For one human to cause physical harm to another is just devastating to read about or see personally. Not only is the person being abused hurt on the outside with bruises, black eyes, broken bones, and internal organ injuries, emotionally their souls are beaten up too. It was interesting to read about how most people who are abused for the first time are surprised when it happens to them again. Then the post stated how most people take the blame for being abused as if they had done something wrong which is really hard to imagine. How could someone being abused feel so much regret inside as if they had done something wrong when they know they didn’t do anything to deserve this? I also found it interesting how you discussed who the perpetrators are and who is at risk. Overall, Nick, you did a superb job at covering the topics an outsider might want to know about physical abuse.
ReplyDeletePhysical abuse is such a hard topic to discuss, especially because of how horrible it is to the victims. What makes it even more horrible is the fact that physical abuse is just so common in todays society. The part that really got to me was the part where you spoke about how the victims tend to think they are the ones to blame for being abused. What a terrible feeling.. being abused and blaming yourself for it.
ReplyDeleteTo think that spouses could do such a thing to each other is just so horrible. When you marry someone, it's because you love them. If you love them, then there should be no reason to abuse them in any way.
It's also sad to think about the people who are being abused in their marriage yet they still insist on making things work, whether it is out of love, or out of fear.
Physical abuse, just like any other form of abuse, is just so terrible and wrong and it's just so hard for me to think about the fact that people go through this everyday..
Physical abuse is the abuse that is most noticeable. It leaves marks and scars that could last for a life time. When someone is physically abused they also take emotional abuse. It damages their soul and takes about their pride. They become sad and we see their social skills go down. Physical abuse is very common in marriages. Often, a man will beat his wife if something is not going right. For someone who does not know about physical abuse, I would recommend them to come here and read this. Great examples of who is at risk and who is the perpetrator.
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