Impact of Domestic Violence on Career Aspirations of Children: A Case Study of District Okara

Abstract

This study is based on the impacts of domestic violence on the career choices and career aspirations of the children who witness it. Keeping the nature of the study in view, the study falls under the interpretivist paradigm. This study further followed the exploratory qualitative approach that aims to explore the dilemmas behind the career choices of children who witness the domestic violence in their childhood. The data analyzed, is collected through semi-structured, open-ended and in-depth interviews from Okara District through convenient sampling technique. Participants were interviewed after fulfilling the certain criteria specified by the researchers. The collected information is analyzed through thematic analysis. After completing the thematic analysis, the analysis resulted in four superordinate themes i.e. Exclusion, Challenges, Recovery and Influence over Career Choice, 8 themes and 26 sub themes.  Findings of the study have shown that many participants who witnessed domestic violence in their early life became the abusers of the relationship and they were practicing domestic violence themselves. It has also revealed that not all the children fall into the trap of becoming victims of abusive relationships. Some participants of the study worked hard to end up the abusive relationships of their parents. Some of them believed that the reason of abusive relationship among their parents was some financial crisis and they started to chase their career with great zeal so that they could help their parents to eliminate their abusive behaviors. Most of them were successful and now doing prestigious jobs at different institutions. Recovery process (negative and positive) of the participants played a major role in determining their career.