Verbal abuse

Victims of verbal abuse may display abusive behaviors towards other individuals. Verbal abuse and verbal aggression can take form in many ways. When individuals understand how verbal abuse may be presented, they can better analyze and act accordingly in certain situations. Verbal aggression can be defined as a characteristic or trait that drives a person to attack the self-values and concepts of others in addition to, or instead of, their own values and concepts. • Bullying – "The use of physical, psychological and verbal aggression to intimidate others to submit to the will of another and/or cause emotional upset". Bullying is typically one-sided and unprovoked by the victim and can be present in any environment. • Accusations/Denial of wrongdoing: When an individual falsely accuses another individual of performing a certain action; When an individual denies his/her actions performed against another individual that could have or did cause the victim harm to self-preserve and protect the abuser. (Gaslighting also fits into this type of abuse). • Minimization – Refers to when the abuser is attempting to down-scale the severity of the situation and making it seem insignificant to the victim or audience • Threatening – When an aggressor uses words or actions against a victim that indicates if the victim does not comply with certain situations and/or actions, harm will be inflicted upon them. • Name calling – The use of offensive language/names to gain something from the situation (ex: win an argument) or to probe a negative reaction out of another individual or situation; this is also used to induce rejection or condemnation without consideration of the facts in the situation. == Impacts ==

Age Children and adolescents Research shows that if a young child has been constantly verbally abused over the years they begin to develop constant feelings of mistrust, shame, doubt, guilt, and inferiority. There are various ways a caregiver can use verbal communication to abuse a child: rejection of a child's worth, isolating a child from social experiences, terrorizing a child with verbal assaults, ignoring a child's needs, corrupting a child's views of the world and teaching them that delinquent activity is normal, verbally assaulting a child, and over-pressuring a child to mature faster than the normal rate of maturity for the child's age. Boys were often verbally abusive towards other boys and girls, this showed researchers that these characteristics were used to build masculinity amongst themselves. Often, boys are portrayed as needing to be "tough" or masculine, to be able to paint this image, they often resort to verbal abuse, which in turn, made them unfavorable to girls. In America, a vulnerable group for verbal aggression are college-aged women. 80% of these women are aware that verbal abuse is a serious ongoing issue and 25% of them have reported to have experienced verbal abuse in an intimate relationship. Abuse in the workplace The workplace can be a breeding ground for verbal aggression. Slurs, racist comments, and derogatory terms have been used against ethnic minorities. Adults who have been victims of verbal abuse and workplace mistreatment have been more susceptible to suffer from mental health illnesses and social disorders. Relationships In romantic relationships, specifically physically and verbally abusive ones, it has been found that when the couple has a conflict, 53% of the victims to this abuse say that physical aggression was the factor that started the conflict while 33% of the aggressors, in this case, claim that verbal aggression was the factor that ignited the issue. It is not a surprise that both the victim and the aggressor have different points of views as to what caused the abuse to escalate. In marital relationships, it is common to see that if one individual – whether it be the husband or wife – has trouble communicating their needs and expectations to their partner, instead of having "healthy" discussion, they resort to using verbal aggression against their partner which in turn causes more distress and conflict in the relationship. Just like in the workplace, adults who have experienced intimate partner violence have also had their mental health and brain morphology be affected. == References ==