Alternatives to Domestic Violence

• Research studies report the co-occurrence of spousal abuse and child abuse among 40-60% of families.

• Research indicates that children exposed to domestic violence demonstrate:

• Higher levels of aggression
• Lower social and academic competence
• Elevated levels of traumatic symptoms

• Children who witness violence at home display emotional and behavioral disturbances such as:

• Withdrawal
• Low self-esteem
• Nightmares
• Aggression against peers, family members, property

• Over 3 million children are at-risk of exposure to parental violence each year.

• In a national survey of more than 6,000 families, 50% of the men who frequently assaulted their wives also frequently abused their children.

• Approximately one in five high school girls reported being abused by a boyfriend.

• According to the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect, “children in violent homes face three risks”:

• Risk of observing traumatic events
• Risk of being abused themselves
• Risk of being neglected

Impact on Children

Child abuse is 15 times more likely to occur in families where domestic violence is present. Children who live in a violent environment:

• Learn to accept violence as a way to resolve conflicts
• Learn to maintain control of others by using threats of violence
• Learn that loved ones have the right to hurt one another
• Often feel guilty for the violence between their parents
• Feel angry toward one or both parents
• Experience anxiety and fear
• Often “protect” the abuser in the face of outside intervention
• Have sleep disturbances such as:

• Nightmares
• Bed wetting problems
• Insomnia

• Have difficulties in school:

• Staying awake in class
• Concentrating on work
• Playing/interacting with peers

• Have poor appetites
• Often confuse love and violence
• Learn unhealthy sex-role stereotypes from parents
• Grow up to be abusers of their own mates or children; or become victims
• May use violence to problem-solve in school, with peers and with family
• Frequently maim or kill animals or hurt siblings
  

Children and the Cycle of Abuse

• Children are sometimes used as a weapon against the victim.
• Children can be accidentally injured when the batterer is assaulting the victim.
• Children may be used to interrogate the victim’s activities.
• Children may be held hostage or abducted in efforts to punish or gain victim’s compliance.