Identifying Issues

I will be doing a research paper on the effects of domestic violence both on the women who are victims and on their children. I have a strong interest in this topic as I have known women and their children who have been victims of domestic violence, and because my major in college deals with this issue. When college is complete, I hope to become a counselor in a domestic violence shelter, and eventually in my own private office.

But how, you may ask, did I come to identify this issue as a possible reasearch topic? First, I drew on personal experience. As I have said, I know women who have been through domestic violence, and some of those I have a very close relationship with. Some left their abusers; others did not. I am interested in gaining better knowledge of what the effects of domestic violence were, not only on these women and their children that I know, but what they are for all women and children facing the problem.

Next, I have identified parts of the issue that may be up for dispute. One argument that may challenge my own is that children are not affected by domestic violence if they are too young to understand what is going on. This, in my opinion as well as the opinion of others who study and work in the field of domestic violence is a myth rather than a fact. Children of any age may be affected if they witness violence first hand. I will use various sources to back up my argument on this point. Of course, even though I have my opinion as stated above, it will still be important for me to think about different perspectives from my own - which will lead to counter arguments and rebuttals to those counterarguments.

Once I have thought about the issue from multiple points of view, I will continue to consult sources to find out what others think about the issue and to gain a better focus on how others who have written about the issue have framed their arguments either in support of or against the issue.

Of course, one cannot write on any topic without considering constraints of the situation. For example, my audience is likely to be made up of women who either have been abused, are being abused, or are in rocky relationships but are not sure if the problems they are having would fall under the category of abuse. In any of these cases, I plan to give a background on what is considered domestic violence and its effects on women and their children as well as a possible soluiton for those who are or may become involved in abusive relationships. An issue based question that will be answered in this esay is What are the effects of domestic violence (both long and short term), and on whom?