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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The intent of this article by Butterworth and Fulmer was to identify the effects if family violence on children ages 1-17 and to outline intervention strategies and programs.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors employed a non-experimental design by reviewing research on the effects of family violence on children. They also provided examples of curriculum-based intervention strategies. While the intent of the article was to identify the dilemma in the context of Australia, research and intervention strategies were pulled primarily from the United States.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
Children were indirectly affected by family violence, especially violence against their mothers, in two ways. The children first witnessed the abuse and then received the frustration and stress of their mothers. The age and gender of the child tended to affect the behavioral problems he or she encountered as a result, and the author divided the age groups under study into young (0-8 years old), school aged, and adolescents. Because younger children had limited cognitive development and adaptive skills, they were the most likely to experience somatic disorders and to retreat into earlier stages of development. This youngest group was likely to be ill, colicky, anxious, sleepless, deficient in attachment bonding, and suffering from somatic disorders. School aged children were more able to express their fears and anxieties than young children, with males usually exhibiting disruptive behaviors (especially fights) and females usually exhibiting an increase in somatic problems combined with withdrawal, passivity and anxiety. In general, school-age children tended to use violence to solve their problems, a finding consistent with social learning theory, and had special difficulty in differentiating patterns of aggressive/passive behaviors. All of these dilemmas were associated with distractibility in the classroom, school phobias, poor attendance, low concentration levels, and general academic dysfunction. Adolescents who witnessed violence at home learned to be socially deviant through violent behaviors and through their attempts to rationalize their parents' violent behavior. This tended to solidify a negative self-concept including poor sexual image, immature peer relationships, generalized anxiety, emotional/thought disturbances, helplessness and dependency. Adolescent boys tended to engage in the same behaviors as their fathers, while girls tended to develop extreme distrust of all men and negative attitudes about marriage.
Intervention strategies for these three populations were generalized into three categories: (1) immediate or crisis intervention, (2) teacher education, and (3) curriculum development. Immediate intervention, usually involving a removal of the child from the violent environment, included six primary issues: Demonstrating a sympathy for the child's shock; assisting the child in adapting to a foreign environment; becoming aware of the child's potential ambivalence to their parents; understanding the child's uncertainty about his or her future; becoming aware of the child's potential feelings of guilt; helping to develop a sense of trust and safety in the new environment. Group counseling was the most widely suggested intervention program for children of battered women, with the greatest challenge as that of providing a meaningful service on a time-limited basis, while simultaneously being sensitive to age and gender differences in the children's development. The two forms of intervention and education identified in the article were teacher education and curriculum initiatives, both geared at providing information on wife abuse and establishing concrete resource lists for advancing a gender-awareness curriculum. Resources for such curricula were available through the Minnesota Coalition of Battered Women, The Australian National Committee on Violence, and the Perry Programme in Michigan. The authors noted that these curriculum approaches were most effective when teachers: (1) developed their own observation and assessment skills; (2) listened carefully to children's feelings and helped them express their feelings; (3) provided opportunities for children to express their feelings in socially acceptable ways; (4) assisted the children in becoming assertive; (5) helped children distinguish between fantasy and reality; (6) enhanced children's self-esteem; (7) developed children's decision-making and problem-solving skills; (8) discussed human relationships and sexuality issues; (9) helped children identify someone outside the immediate family whom they could turn to in times of trouble; (10) provided means of self-expression for the children through music, art or dramatic play; (11) modeled effective and non-violent coping skills; (12) created a cooperative classroom environment; (13) addressed all peer aggression in the classroom; and (14) provided bibliotherapy as a means of using books to promote mental health. The four steps for providing effective bibliotherapy were identified by Jalongo as carefully selecting material and questions, setting discussion goals, expressively reading the material, and concluding with a clarification of information and a review of concepts.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors argued that bibliotherapy was an effective method for helping children solve their problems and helping them deal with the developmental issues they faced as a result of witnessing domestic violence. The authors also encouraged more widespread use of this tool through teacher education and curriculum reform.
(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 - Countries Other Than USA
KW - Australia
KW - Witnessing Violence Effects
KW - Spouse Abuse Effects
KW - Witnessing Spouse Abuse
KW - Domestic Violence Effects
KW - Domestic Violence Victim
KW - Intervention Recommendations
KW - Juvenile Witness
KW - Juvenile Victim
KW - Child Witness
KW - Child Victim
KW - Interparental Violence
KW - Child Development
KW - Juvenile Development
KW - Early Childhood
KW - Late Childhood
KW - Early Adolescence
KW - Late Adolescence
KW - Domestic Violence Treatment
KW - Domestic Violence Intervention
KW - Treatment Recommendations
KW - Psychological Victimization Effects
KW - Victim Treatment
KW - Bibliotherapy
KW - Books
KW - Violence Against Women
KW - Partner Violence
KW - Children of Battered Women
KW - Interparental Violence
Language: en |