Children and Domestic Violence

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Children are not uniformly affected by their exposure to domestic violence.
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Several factors in the lives of children can affect their resilience, including their development of talents and interests, their access to close relationships with trustworthy adults, their ability to escape selfblame, and the strength of their peer relationships. 2 Men who batter their spouses or partners physically abuse their children at a seven times higher rate than non-battering men and they sexually abuse their children at a six times higher rate than nonbattering men. 3 A study by Bowker, Arbitell and McFerron (1988) found 70% of batterers abuse children. Rates of child abuse by batterers did not vary by race or religion, but were higher in families with higher income. 4 In at least 12% of domestic violence homicides, the batterer also kills one or more children.
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Anywhere from 44.5%- 73% of incest perpetrators also batter the child's mother. Exposure to domestic violence is emerging as an important risk factor for incest victims. 6 Jaffe, P., Wolfe, D.A. & Wilson, S. (1990). Children of Battered Women. Newbury Park, CA: Sage

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2. Roy, M. (1988) Children in the crossfire: Violence in the home-how does it affect our children? Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc. 3. Bancroft, L., Silverman, J. (2003). The Batterer as Parent. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 4. Bowker, L., Arbitell, M. & McFerron, R. (1988). On the relationship between wife beating and child abuse. In K. Yllo & M. Bograd (Eds.), Feminist Perspectives on Wife Abuse. Newbury Park, CA: Sage 5. Langford, L., Isaac, N.E. & Kabat, S. (1999). Homicides Related to Intimate Partner Violence in Massachusetts 1991-1995. Boston: Peace at Home 6. Bancroft, L., Silverman, J. (2003). The Batterer as Parent. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage (p. 86