The Effects of Family Violence on Children

Abuse may begin during pregnancy, with the husband concentrating his blows on the woman’s breasts and abdomen. It seems clear that the pressure on the husband has increased with the pregnancy and that he is really expressing hostility toward the child or towards his wife because he feels she is not as attentive to him as in the past. The women may become hostile toward the child as a result, and this feeling may subsequently affect the mother/child relationship.

Consequently, it is not only the adults who suffer. The children in these families are often observers or victims of violence as well. As observer, the child may feel a sense of guilt and responsibility for the violence and may act out through truancy, sickness, or other behaviors to draw attention away from the spousal violence.

Eventually, during the course of family violence, a hand is likely to be raised against a child. Children may become targets in the fury of an attack. They are safe targets because they are not strong enough to fight back and generally cannot seek help outside the family.

Children may suffer physical harm in cases where they attempt to help the abused spouse. The victim may even turn on the children to vent anger and frustration after suffering abuse herself. Children may also be abused when a spouse is jealous of attention that is given to a child by his partner; this often results in anger, and violence may occur. Children may be neglected because the parents lack energy to cope with their needs due to the emotional strain of the marital relationship. In any of these cases, the child may be victimized, frequently suffering long-term physical and emotional effects.

Child Maltreatment as a Result of Domestic Violence

There are various types of child maltreatment, which may result from incidents of family violence. They include physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect and sexual abuse.

Physical Abuse
Physical abuse to children may occur:

1. During the course of parental fighting, when violence shifts directly onto the child
2. Accidentally during the course of parental fighting (for example, if a mother drops her infant during a fight or a parent accidentally hits the child.)
3. When a frustrated parent projects blame for his or her marital problems onto the child
4. When the disappointment in the relationship shifts to disappointment in the child
5. When a victim of family violence cannot retaliate against the abusive spouse and takes her aggressions out on the child
6. When the abusive spouse includes the child, as well as his partner, as a target for violence.
7. When a woman is battered during her pregnancy.

Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse of children in violent families may occur more often than physical abuse and may cause severe psychological damage to the child. In general, children in a violent family will experience emotional abuse, deprivation, and potentially long-lasting psychological problems. In particular, emotional abuse may occur when:

1. The child is accused of being responsible for the adults relationship problems;
2. The abusive adult accuses the child of making them angry or abusive;
3. Threats to the child that they may suffer physical abuse;
4. The child is called names, suffers put-downs.

Neglect
Children may be neglected due to the parent’s lack of energy or inability to meet their needs. Neglect of the child may take the form of emotional deprivation, lack of supervision, failure to provide adequate medical care, or failure to provide adequate nutrition. It can also take place when the mother does not know how to provide a positive consistent structure for the child and does not have the skills to play with the children.

Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse may occur when:

1. The abuser feels the child is there to serve his sexual needs;
2. There are older children in the home who have been sexually abused.

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