Child Witness

It is estimated that each year in this country between 3-10 million children ages 3-17 are at risk for witnessing domestic violence. An estimated 30% - 60% of these children will also be victims of child abuse at the hands of the batterer or his/her victim.

These children will be affected to varying degrees, with possible impact on their educational, social, emotional and behavioral development. How witnessing domestic violence impacts a childs development depends on a number of influences, such as age, relationship to the batterer, support systems, intensity, frequency and type of abuse witnessed and the relationship with the non-abusive parent. Each of these can serve as both risk and/or protective factors. Protective factors, including the childs own resiliency, can significantly mitigate the impact of the childs experience.

Research also shows that children do not respond uniformly to exposure to battering; manifesting both externalizing or acting out behaviors and internalizing or acting in behaviors to varying degrees.

Interventions which enhance childrens resiliency and counter the messages they take in as witnesses of domestic violence include safety planning with both the non-abusive parent and the child; identifying supportive, caring adults to serve as mentors; and providing other social supports, including support and education groups from a domestic violence program about what has happened to them.

Pennsylvania's Response

When children who have witnessed abuse come to shelter with their mother or contact a local domestic violence program, they can expect that local program staff are trained in intervention strategies to help them begin to heal and lead healthy, violence-free lives.

Many domestic violence shelters in Pennsylvania have one or more staff persons designated as childrens advocates to work directly with the children who accompany their mothers to the program. These advocates also work with the adult victims/parents to assist them in understanding the impact the abuse may be having upon their children and to assist with safety planning for the entire family. A number of programs also employ community educators who work with other service providers and in school settings providing education on the impact of child witnessing.

At the state and regional levels, PCADV convenes a Childrens Advocacy Task Force as a forum for networking and education among the childrens advocates working in shelter programs.

PCADV is working in collaboration with the Boston-based The Child Witness to Violence Project (CWVP) A project focused on supporting and enhancing the mother-child relationship when domestic violence is a factor in the home.

For abused parents who might be concerned about the impact of domestic violence on their children, the following resources may be helpful and are available from The Centre for Children and Families in the Justice System Children and Domestic Violence

Helping Children Thrive: information for mothers who have left abusive relationshipsHelping Children Thrive byLinda Baker & Alison Cunningham

Helping Children Thrive/ Supporting Women Abuse Survivors as Mothers: A Resource to Support Parenting Helping Children
by Linda Baker & Alison Cunningham
This resource is written for service providers assisting women who have survived woman abuse. Material addresses the needs of abused women as mothers, how abusive men parent, how abusive men affect family dynamics, effects of power and control tactics on mothers, the potential impact of woman abuse on children of different ages, and strategies used by young people to cope with violence in their homes. Guidance on parenting children who have lived with violence is also offered. Any of the 27 handouts can be distributed as an adjunct to individual or group interventions on woman abuse or on parenting. 2004.

Little Eyes, Little ears: How Violence Against a Mother Shapes Children as they Grow http://www.lfcc.on.ca/little_eyes_little_ears.pdf
by Alison Cunningham & Linda Baker
A resource developed with funding from the National Clearinghouse on Family Violence in Ottawa, a division of the Public Health Agency of Canada. It is an update and expansion of our popular Learning to Listen, Learning to Help: Understanding Woman Abuse and its Effects on Children from 2005. We combined the most popular information from our most popular resources, included some new material, and added reference to the newest sources of information and updated statistics. 2007.

Other Resources

Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence: Website Resource List bt the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (March 2002)

Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence by the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (March 2002)

Assessing Risk To Children From Batterers by Lundy Bancroft and Jay G. Silverman (2002)

The Batterer As A Parent by Lundy Bancroft (2002)

Batterers As Fathers: Rethinking and Reconceptualizing Policy and Practice by David Mandel (2002)

Building Bridges Between Domestic Violence Organizations and Child Protective Services by Linda Spears (February 2000)

Early Childhood, Domestic Violence, and Poverty: Helping Young Children and Their Families by Susan Schechter, Paper Series Editor and Project Director (January 2004)

Emerging Responses to Children Exposed to Domestic Violence by Jeffrey L. Edleson in consultation with Barbara Nissley, VAWnet: The National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women (October 2006)

Forging New Collaborations Between Domestic Violence Programs, Child Welfare Services and Communities of Color by Nita Carter (2003)

The Overlap Between Child Maltreatment and Woman Abuse by Jeffrey L. Edleson, VAWnet: The National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women (Revised April 1999)

Problems Associated with Children's Witnessing of Domestic Violence by Jeffrey L. Edleson, VAWnet: The National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women (Revised April 1999)

The documents listed below are available through VAWnets Research Area - Children

Child Custody and Visitation Decisions in Domestic Violence Cases: Legal Trends, Research Findings, and Recommendations by Daniel G. Saunders, VAWnet: The National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women (August 1998)

Fact Sheet: The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children by the National Network to End Domestic Violence (Fall 2004)

The Relationship of Adverse Childhood Experiences to Adult Health: Turning Gold Into Lead by Vincent J. Felitti, MD (2002)