|
Abstract
|
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The intent of this article by Peled was to address the dilemmas inherent in providing assistance to children who witnessed women battering. The author suggested alternative approaches to three elements central to the process of dealing with these children: definition, legislation, and intervention.
METHODOLOGY:
The author employed a non-experimental design by reviewing research on the topic of children who witnessed women battering. The author then explored the predominant definition, legislation, and intervention strategies which confounded the efforts to provide assistance to children.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
At least 3.3 million American children were at risk for exposure to women battering (Carlson, 1984), and there was evidence of the intergenerational transmission of violence whereby children who witnessed violence in the family were more likely to be violent themselves (Kalmuss, 1984; Rosenbaum & O'Leary, 1981). The dilemma of this cycle resulted partly from the medical method of defining the problem. Under the medical approach, children exposed to violence were viewed as sufferers of pathological syndromes and therefore required medical-psychological intervention. This definition contributed to an individual centered focus on the problem rather than a social-structural focus. The author argued that although the medical method was socially non-controversial and therefore easier to manage politically, it ignored the socioeconomic and structural factors which contributed to the problem. The medical model treated children as passive and helpless with problems that needed to be addressed. Unde the social-structural definition, the social mechanisms which fostered the violence became the locus of attention and therefore identified a different target for intervention: the patriarchal social order which legitimated man's us of force to establish authority. The author argued that the social-structural definition was more ecologically comprehensive and was therefore underutilized because it implied controversial politics less likely to be addressed by policy-makers. In addition to the shortcomings of definitions of the problem, the author identified the lack of legislation to address the problem. The only laws applicable to child witnesses of violence were those dealing with child abuse an neglect, which meant that accusations could be directed at both the female victim and the male perpetrator. These laws would place the woman at risk for losing he child to protective custody and therefore deter women from seeking assistance. Finally, the author noted intervention as a dilemma in addressing the problem, because the few resources that were available for domestic violence were directe at women, not at child witnesses. The child welfare system was so limited that only severe abuse or neglect resulted in any intervention at all (Kamerman & Kahn, 1990).
AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS:
Because of the dilemmas associated with the definition of children who witnessed violence, the legislation for these children, and the intervention strategies available for them, the author argued that greater measures were needed to prevent child witnesses from falling between the cracks in the social services system.
(CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Child Witness
KW - Domestic Violence Effects
KW - Witnessing Spouse Abuse
KW - Spouse Abuse Effects
KW - Witnessing Violence Effects
KW - Domestic Violence Intervention
KW - Children of Battered Women
KW - Interparental Violence
KW - Spouse Abuse Intervention
KW - Intervention Recommendations
KW - Social Services Intervention
KW - Policy Recommendations
KW - Exposure to Violence
KW - Violence Against Women
KW - Partner Violence |