NCJ Number
142866
Journal
Law and Policy Volume: 14 Issue: 2 and 3 Dated: special issue (April/July 1992) Pages: 169-184
Date Published
1992
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Following a review of the literature on the psychosocial consequences for children who witness woman battering, this article reports on the findings from interviews with 59 social service professionals regarding their practices of detecting and responding to children who witness woman battering.
Abstract
Research indicates that children who witness battering may have adverse psychosocial consequences that may perpetuate abuse into the next generation of children. Even those children who do not become direct victims of violence are at risk for negative psychosocial sequelae because of witnessing their mothers' battering. These findings provide strong justification for the implementation of policies that will address the needs of children who witness violence in the home. Data from the interviews with Lincoln service providers indicate that they ask battered mothers whether or not their children have been abused or have witnessed the mother's battering. Four out of five providers talk directly to battered women's children to inquire about possible abuse and to detect the effects of witnessing abuse. Even in this select sample of service workers, however, there is a need to train workers in the effects on children of witnessing violence, since respondents were significantly less likely to report child witnessing to social services than to report other types of child abuse. This practice may reflect a belief by the workers that these children are unlikely to be served by social service agencies overloaded with direct abuse cases. 3 tables, 5 notes, and 54 references