My older siblings were only in middle school and my mother remained unemployed because she had no one to care for us. Even though we received government assistance and food stamps, we lived near the poverty line and this was a risk factor that increased distress and depression (Lawson, 2013, p. 193) for my mother . Everything seemed fine, but around my teenage and young adult stage, I believe my mother was distressed and couldn't handle the misbehavior and poor academic performance we were having. She disciplines using passive verbal violence (McCleannen, 2010, p. 82) and sometimes even corporal punishment. Personally, I believed that emotional abuse had affected my behavior throughout my life.