Witnessing Violence: Impact on Children

Witnessing Violence Fact Sheet

Introduction

• Society is increasingly aware of the negative impacts of child abuse on children’s behavioral, emotional, and social functioning.
• Children don't need to be direct targets of violence to be affected by it.
• Research has shown that negative outcomes are associated with exposure to violence.
• Children may be exposed to violence in:
  • Media (television, movies)
  • School
  • Community
  • Home (between adults, i.e., domestic violence)
• This fact sheet will focus primarily on children’s experiences of witnessing domestic violence.

Kinds of Violent Activities Children Witness

• Violence children are exposed to in their homes varies in:
  • Frequency
  • Duration
  • Degree of reciprocity
  • Severity (Wolak & Finkelhor, 1998)
• Domestic violence includes:
  • Physical assault
  • Verbal and emotional abuse
  • Sexual assaults
  • Murder
• Edleson (1999) discussed different ways children witness or are part of domestic violence:
  • Witnessing actual violent events
  • Hearing the violence
  • Being physically assaulted while near the mother during a violent incident
  • Being taken hostage to force mother visitation
  • Being forced to participate in violence
• Coping with the aftermath of domestic violence can be stressful.
  • Aiding an injured parent
  • Calling the police
  • Witnessing the arrest/removal of the offending parent
  • Relocating to a shelter
  • Coping with family stressors (poverty, substance abuse, mental and physical illness)

How Many Children are Affected?

• Prevalence estimates of children who witness domestic violence vary widely.
• Common figures:
  • 3.3 million children exposed to domestic violence each year (Carlson, 1984).
  • 10 million teenagers exposed to domestic violence each year (Straus, 1992).
• Other studies suggest approximately 20\% to 41\% of adults recalled observing domestic violence when they were younger (Henning, Leitenberg, Coffey, Turner, & Bennett, 1996; Silvern 1995).
• Differences in prevalence rates are due to methodological issues, including:
  • Age and geographic location of participants sampled
  • Retrospective versus prospective nature of studies
• Despite variations, most researchers agree that a substantial number of children are exposed to violence in their homes.

Correlates of Witnessing Violence

• Children who witness domestic violence are often referred to as the "forgotten" victims because interventions generally target adult victims or perpetrators (Groves, Zukerman, Marans, & Cohen, 1993).
• Children exposed to domestic violence are at increased risk for emotional, behavior, academic, and social problems (Kolbo, Blakely, & Engelman, 1996; Pfouts et. al., 1982).
• Specifically, children exposed to domestic violence may exhibit:
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Anger
  • Low self-esteem
  • Aggression
  • Delinquency
  • Interpersonal relationship issues
  • Substance abuse (Carlson, 1990; Jouriles, Murphy, O’Leary, 1989; Silvern, et al., 1995; Sternberg, et al., 1993)
• Children may react in ways that further augment their risk for negative outcomes.
  • Running away increases the risk of substance use, prostitution, homelessness, physical illness/injury, and victimization.

Association Between Child Abuse and Witnessing Domestic Violence

• Children in violent homes are at higher risk for being abused than children in non-violent homes.
• McKibben, DeVos, and Newberger (1989) found that 40-60\% of mothers of abused children were abused themselves by their partner, compared to 13\% of mothers of unabused children.
• Hughes et al. (1989) compared:
  • Children who only witnessed violence
  • Children who were abused and witnessed violence
  • Children who experienced neither
• Findings:
  • Children who experienced both direct abuse and witnessed violence exhibited the most symptoms.
  • The group that did not experience either exhibited the least symptoms.

Revictimization and Other Long-Term Correlates

• Women who witnessed domestic violence as children may be at higher risk for being victimized in their own relationships.
• Experiencing revictimization may lead to greater difficulties in the women’s functioning (i.e., post-traumatic stress disorder, depression) as adults.
• Sonnleitner, Basil, and Van Hasselt (1999) found that women who experienced or witnessed violence in their families of origin reported greater depression and hopelessness.
• Silvern et al. (1995) found that witnessing domestic violence was associated with depression, low self-esteem, and trauma symptoms in adult women and trauma symptoms in adult men.
• Henning et al. (1996) surveyed adult women and found that those who reported witnessing domestic violence as children reported higher psychological distress and lower social adjustment than those who had not witnessed violence.

Limitations of Research and Future Directions

• Research on exposure to domestic violence is steadily improving, but there are limitations and methodological shortcomings.
• Frequency, severity, recency, type of violence, and other characteristics are rarely assessed and reported.
• Child abuse and neglect often are not assessed despite the high risk in this population.
• Most studies have included children residing in shelters.
  • The chronicity and severity of violence they witness may not accurately represent the range of experiences and symptoms reported by children exposed to less severe forms of domestic violence.
• Many studies fail to differentiate between children who witness violence and those who experience it.
• Little attention has been paid to the demographic characteristics and the differential developmental needs of children exposed to domestic violence.
• Most studies have relied on the reports of the primary caregiver rather than assessing the child’s response directly.
• Few studies have differentiated between the effects of observing domestic violence and the impact of negotiating multiple transitions and family disruptions that are secondary to leaving an unsafe environment.
• Few assessment tools have been designed specifically to address the impact of witnessing violence.
• To date, there are virtually no follow-up, prospective, or longitudinal studies that examine the effects of witnessing violence.

Interventions

• When domestic violence comes to the attention of others, interventions are typically focused on the adults.
• In the past, law enforcement and other social service agencies have not been equipped to deal with the diverse needs of children exposed to domestic violence (Wolak & Finkelhor, 1998).
• According to Wolak and Finkelhor (1998), professionals serving the needs of children exposed to domestic violence should be prepared to provide:
  • Crisis intervention (assess for safety, develop a safety plan, file an abuse report, and provide crisis counseling)
  • Assessment (assess current functioning, suicide risk)
  • Short and long-term therapy (gradual exposure, trauma processing, reduction of feelings of responsibility and self-blame)