Impact of Family Violence on Children

2. Impact of Family Violence on Children

3. Children andFamily Violence (FV) Terminology Terminology reflects growing understanding of the issue and the complexity and diversity of children and young people’s experiences. Earlier term: • children who ‘witness’ violence More recently: • children exposed to violence • In Australia, the terms ‘experiencing,’ ‘affected by,’ and ‘living with’ violence have increasingly been used • This language acknowledges that children are not passive onlookers or unaffected bystanders.

4. Some Common Myths • Common myths about children and trauma include: • Children are too young to be aware of what is going on around them • The effects of a major incident will be short-lived • Children are resilient and will naturally recover by forgetting the experience, getting over it or growing out of it • A lack of an obvious behavioural response means the experience has not had a negative impact.

5. Facts • Children of all ages are affected by FV. They witness emotional and physical trauma, they experience the states of mind and emotions of their parents and they often experience the effects of a ‘helping system’ • The helping system can either facilitate recovery from the trauma or further perpetuate it.

6. Children’s Experiences of Family Violence Children experience FV in myriad ways. Most research has looked at physical abuse and has found: Physical harm • Violence may begin during a woman’s pregnancy • A woman may be assaulted while holding an infantor when trying to protect her child • A child or young person may be injured when they try to intervene to protect a parent.

7. Children’s Experiences of Family Violence • Observing violence and experiencing its effects • Children may directly observe violence, or they may hear it or see the consequences of it (bruising, distress, damaged property) • Children also live with the effects of family violence on the health and parenting capacity of the parent who is the victim • Children may feel (or be made to feel) responsible for the violence • Children may live in fear of violence • Children of separated parents may feel at the centre of the conflict • Children’s lives and routines (friends, pets) may be disrupted • Secrecy and shame may pervade their lives

8. Impact on Children • In the research there is most consensus about the short to medium term effects of behavioural and emotional problems, compared to other children • There is less consensus about longer-term effects. Exposure to FV tends to go hand in hand with other developmental risk factors such as child abuse and neglect, substance abuse and poverty NB: Effects are complex and varied, as are research methodologies; therefore it is difficult to generalise.

9. Impact on Children • Some say there is a cycle of violence, i.e. Inter-generational transmission of violent behaviour • However, there is some consensus that most children exposed to FV do not become either perpetrators or victims of FV in their adult relationships • It is important to acknowledge that there are many causes of violence in the community.

10. Understanding the Effects • Exposure to FV impacts on children in each of the developmental stages, from pregnancy, infancy, school age through to adolescence • Differing responses are exhibited at different ages and developmental stages • Some commentators talk of the effects as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Such stress typically overwhelms a person’s coping abilities and may manifest as extreme fear, helplessness and/or horror • The traumatic responses of children witnessing the abuse of their parent are likely to be intensified if the perpetrator is known to them • Trauma in childhood is thought to be especially harmful because it overwhelms the child’s developing sense of self and coping mechanisms.

11. Children Living with Family Violence When a child is not helped to deal with and ‘integrate’ the impact of FV, behaviour can become separated from emotion and emotion separated from the event. If this separation occurs, the child is left with impaired pathways for understanding aggressive behaviour and frightening information. In these circumstances, a child’s responses are likely to ‘break through’ in seemingly disconnected ways. Symptoms include: • Chronic tension • Arousal (agitation) • Numbing • Avoidance • Intrusive thoughts about the violence (or ‘playing out’ the emotions of the violent context).

12. Children Living with Family Violence • A child’s trauma reaction can be resolved or intensified according to the immediate and longer-term responses they encounter • The quality of responses that the child receives in situations of FV strongly influences how that child will deal with the experience.

13. Types of Conflict • The types of adult conflict most distressing to children are those that • lack resolution and include high levels of hostility, physical violence and • threats to leave. Important findings include: • Intensity of conflict is a predictor of children’s adjustment • A single exposure can result in trauma • The strongest likelihood of distress occurs when there is a combination of exposure to domestic violence and direct maltreatment by parents • Covert conflict – unspoken tension, resentment – is linked with internalising behaviours (depression, anxiety and withdrawal)

14. Types of Conflict • Children are also affected by the informational content of parental conflict (i.e. what is said about the other) • Children’s distress is reduced according to the degree to which the conflict is resolved • Children are less distressed by non–resolution when the parents are optimistic about ultimate outcomes of the conflict.

15. Responses • Children from violent homes are more likely than children from • non–violent homes to demonstrate the following responses: • Clinical disturbance in emotions and behaviour • Heightened aggression, impulsiveness and anxiety (even as young as 3–5 years) • Restricted range of contacts with peers and people outside the family • Endorsement of the idea that men have the right to be the most powerful and privileged member of the family. In addition to these observable behaviours, there can be other layers of damage that can have long term consequences. e.g. the ability to think about and process experience is affected.

16. Mediating Factors • Much research has been directed at identifying factors that mediate the • effects of children witnessing violence: • Being a victim of child abuse appears to lead to a more severe impact • The victim’s ability to parent effectively and provide a nurturing and safe environment for the children appears to lessen the impact. This can be enhanced by social support.

17. Mediating Factors • Factors that contribute to children’s resilience (coping capacities) would appear to include: • support within the family (e.g. a parent) • support outside the family – social networks, especially a reliable and capable adult within walking distance • attributes of the child. N.B. Danger: In emphasising children’s resilience, the focus can be shifted away from the responsibility of the perpetrator. It is important to acknowledge that resilience is not ‘innate’ but developed socially. The violence needs to stop and effective responses from significant adults within the family and helping system are needed.

18. What makes the Event Traumatising for a Child? • Some factors that influence the impact of a traumatic event include: • The proximity to the event broadly corresponds with the impact it has on the child • Existing conditions, such as ill health, history of trauma (current trauma can re-awaken impact of past trauma) • Relationship to victim. Children are more vulnerable if they know the victim or if they are worried about the safety of someone close to them • Impact on parents – this profoundly influences the meanings that children ascribe to trauma and their ability to integrate the experience.

19. Short and Medium Term Symptoms of Trauma • Short term: • Dazed, confused, regression • New fears and insecurities • Preoccupation and/or frequent talk and play about the incident • Withdrawal, sadness, irritability, anger, moodiness, demanding behaviour • Increased comfort seeking • Separation problems

20. Short and Medium Term Symptoms of Trauma • Medium term: • Constant need for attention • Frequent fighting • Seeking of pain • Possessiveness towards toys • Withdrawing • Poor school performance & peer relationships • Mood changes • Stealing, lying • Depression

21. Long Term Symptoms of Trauma • Unable to progress in a flexible, productive manner. Dominated by anxious recollection of the trauma •  Anxiety disorders, phobic and obsessive responses •  Avoidance e.g. in denial, emotionally absent, distant, lacking energy for living and learning •  Substance abuse, conduct disorders in adolescence •  Delinquency, aggression •  Limited means for dealing with interpersonal conflict and intimacy NB. It is important to note that trauma caused by ‘natural disasters’ often brings with it a high level of community support. However, trauma caused by FV is surrounded by taboos.

22. Psychological First Aid • After a critical incident a child’s sense of safety is re-established through re-engaging with the “protective cocoon”. This sense of safety within a cocoon is usually provided by parents, significant others, family and community • It is important to find out who these people are in the child’s life and brief them to ensure that they are able to support the child. The professional worker also needs to establish a comforting presence for the child.

23. Early Goals of a Response to Children who have Experienced Trauma • Begin the re-establishment of trust and predictability • Reduce the child’s engagement in the incident and establish distance from the event • Help children name and understand their experience • Identify and discuss relevant facts • Give information, clarify errors and ambiguities and help the child understand the ‘status’ of the incident • Manage connection with other adults sensitively • Assist parents to deal with their own traumatisation and be aware of the children’s needs.

24. Early Goals of a Response to Children who have Experienced Trauma • Support coping skills andvalidate difficulties • Screen for children needing comprehensive/therapeutic intervention • Inform relevant support networks • Monitor progress. It is important to keep in mind the difference between psychological first-aid and clinical de-briefing. The focus should be on respectful situational actions that promote safety and establish contexts where violence is rejected as an option.

25. Interviewing Traumatised Children • Helpful approaches include: • Starting where the child is at (rather than with what you want to know) • Following the child’s direction (encouraging them to tell their story in their own ways) • Knowing that resistance is understandable (not construing it as negative behaviour or taking it personally) • Being careful about re-traumatising or prolonging traumatic stimuli.

26. Screening for Specialist Treatment • It is useful to consider: • The quality of thought and reflection within the family about what the child has experienced • The resources and capacities available in the child’s world for assisting the child’s recovery • Ask: Is this enough now?