NCJ Number
183316
Journal
Future of Children Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Dated: Winter 1999 Pages: 1-144
Editor(s)
Richard E. Behrman M.D.
Date Published
1999
Length
157 pages
Annotation
These 10 articles focuses on children who are exposed to domestic assault between their parents or other intimate partners and focuses on the prevalence and effects of this exposure, legal and service system responses to domestic violence, and strategies for improving intervention and prevention programs.
Abstract
The introduction notes that although data are limited, research indicates that millions of children are exposed to domestic violence each year and that this exposure can have significant negative effects on children’s emotional, social, and cognitive development. Individual papers focus on the prevalence and effects, the impacts of Federal and Sate laws, the response of the legal system, the role of child protective services, community-based services, responses of the health care system, mental health services for children who witness domestic violence, and emerging prevention strategies. Recommended actions include research, stable funding sources, new strategies to identify and serve children exposed to domestic violence, and clear protocols for intervening with families in which both domestic violence and child maltreatment are present. Additional recommended actions include ongoing professional training for all who have regular contact with families and children, empowerment of courts to design and enforce protective orders that address the needs of battered women and their children, and consideration of the best interest of the child in child custody and visitation cases involving domestic violence. Further recommendations include attention to the potential unintended consequences of new laws and public support for effective prevention programs. Photographs, table, chapter reference notes, and 26 references