UC Merced Undergraduate Research Journal

This paper addresses different types of abuse and ways of defining them, and it then focuses on emotional abuse. The paper acknowledges the more commonly known types of abuse such as physical, domestic, or sexual abuse. This paper also presents types of abuse that are less heard of such as spiritual, financial, and emotional abuse. Just because these forms of abuse often go unsaid, they occur frequently and are important to consider. This paper takes a stand that these forms of abuse are arguably as or more important because they don't get the mass coverage that other types of abuse do. Furthermore, this paper examines how emotional abuse is overlooked but common. When emotional abuse gets downplayed or swept under the rug by people in power, friends, or family, then there can be significant damage to the victim. This paper provides a review of the literature and notes that there are many limitations both when looking for research on this topic and conducting research on this topic. There needs to be more education on what emotional abuse is, yet definitions vary greatly from source to source.