Extract from NLA Best Practice
The following information and graphics are provided from a recent Best Practice Resource Manual produced by the Commonwealth Government to assist legal aid commissions in developing and implementing intake programs specifically addressing the issue of domestic violence.
Defining domestic violence
“In general, Family & Domestic Violence is defined as behaviour which results in physical, sexual and/or psychological damage, forced social isolation, economic deprivation, or behaviour which causes the victim to live in fear”. “Domestic Violence includes partners who are married, de facto or otherwise emotionally connected, ex-partners and family members”.
Source: Family and Domestic Violence Taskforce (1995) It’s not just a domestic : An action plan on Family and Domestic Violence. Western Australia.
“Domestic violence occurs when one partner in a relationship attempts by physical or psychological means to dominate and control the other. It is generally understood as gendered violence, and is an abuse of power within a relationship (heterosexual or homosexual) or after separation. In the large majority of cases the offender is male and the victim female”.
Source: Partnerships Against Domestic Violence (2001) Working Together Against Violence: The first Three Years of Partnerships Against Domestic Violence, Office of the Status of Women, Canberra. p. 7.
It needs to be recognized that many aspects of domestic violence are considered to be criminal behaviour, and that perpetrators of domestic violence can be charged with criminal offences.
“Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders do not believe that the term ‘domestic’ violence adequately describes what is happening in their families and communities, and have indicated they prefer to use the term ‘family violence’ to bring into focus ‘the trauma of inter-connecting and trans-generational experiences of individuals within families, to show the continuity between how we have been acted upon, and how, in turn, we may act upon ourselves and others’”.
Source: Bagshaw, Chung et al (2000) Partnerships Against Domestic Violence: Reshaping Responses to Domestic Violence Final Report, University of South Australia. p. 124.
Effects of domestic violence
§ Low Self Esteem / Self worth
§ Lack of autonomy and agency
§ Long term psychological damage
§ Social isolation
§ Somatic illnesses
§ Financial deprivation
§ Physical injuries
Reasons why victims stay in violent relationships
§ Fear
§ Promises of, and belief in change of the abuser
§ Beliefs and religion
§ Isolation and no options
§ Low self esteem
§ Love
§ Economics
Source: Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence (1999) Domestic Violence Advocacy Institute Training Manual
Warning bells of domestic violence
Some examples:
§ A woman who is unable to say what she wants, or has no future plans
§ Either party wanting to resolve everything today, immediately…
§ A very depressed man and a woman who seems very protective of him
§ Blaming of other person, alcohol or other external factors for violent behaviour
§ A woman clinging to a position or advice that she has received and unable to explain why
§ Threats to take unilateral action
§ Constant deferring to other party
§ Unexplained anxiety or nervousness
§ Affect inconsistent with the spoken word
§ Absence of expressed emotion
§ Threats of suicide
§ Jealousy or possessiveness
Adapted from: Susan Gribben, Violence and Family Mediation: Practice, Australian journal of Family Law, Vol. 8, No. 1 1994, p.31.
Security issues in PDR programs
The Keys Young (1996) literature review, referred to several common approaches to client safety that could be used by mediation agencies.
Some examples of these agency safety procedures included:
§ Alert system on files (e.g. colour coding)
§ No written material sent to ‘at risk’ clients – material can be picked up at centre
§ No messages left on client answering machines
§ Reception desks designed so that no one can read client data while looking over the counter
§ Separate waiting rooms
§ Staggered arrival and departure times for parties to the mediation
§ Staff making appointments specifically explaining to clients who have been victims of violence where they can park, and the physical layout of the building so that they do not become anxious about lighting, confrontations in car park etc.
§ Clients being asked concerns about ‘harassments’ in addition to specific threats of violence
§ Clients being accompanied to front of building
§ Agencies planning outdoor lighting in response to client concerns
§ A room provided for ‘settling’ down after a session
§ Clients being invited to have an advocate or support present.
Source: Keys Young (1996) Research/Evaluation of Family Mediation Practice and the Issue of Violence, Legal Aid and Family Services, Attorney General’s Department, Canberra. P.38-39.
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Cycle of violence
A Representation of the Cycle of Violence.
Duluth graphics
The wide range of abusive behaviors perpetrated in domestic violence situations can be more readily understood when viewed in diagrammatic form. The following depictions were designed by the Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Project, Minnesota.
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POWER & CONTROL
Reproduced with thanks to Duluth Abuse Intervention Program, Minnesota
EQUALITY
Reproduced with thanks to Duluth Abuse Intervention Program, Minnesota
ABUSE OF CHILDREN
Reproduced with thanks to Duluth Abuse Intervention Program, Minnesota
NURTURING CHILDREN
Reproduced with thanks to Duluth Abuse Intervention Program, Minnesota
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The impact of domestic violence on children and young people and the links between domestic violence and child abuse
As PDR programs are often dealing with issues in conferencing/mediation related to children, it is important staff are familiar with the impact of domestic violence on children including their safety and wellbeing. Research indicates the children living with domestic violence are at greater risk of child abuse. (Tomison, 2000; James, 1994). It is therefore essential for PDR intake staff identifying and responding to domestic violence, to also respond appropriately at the same time to child protection issues that may arise in the course of their work.
Domestic violence as a form of child abuse
The association between domestic violence and child abuse has become an issue in recent times as the awareness of the serious negative impact of the exposure to spousal violence for children has become more evident to researchers around the world (Straus & Gelles, 1990; Tomison, 2000).
Children experience domestic violence in a variety of ways. In some situations this may result in the direct physical harm to the child. Edleson (1999) states that “there are multiple ways in which a child may be exposed to adult violence, including directly viewing the violence, hearing it, being used as a tool of the perpetrator and experiencing the aftermath of violence” (1999:844). One third of the children in a Western Australia study (Blanchard, Molloy & Brown, 1992) while trying to defend their mother, or to stop violence, reported having been hit by their fathers.
Children who have witnessed domestic violence (indirect violence) can also be victims of the abusive behaviour (direct violence). Some studies have shown an overlap between spousal violence and child abuse of at least 40% (Straus, Gelles & Steinmentz, 1980; and Huges, 1988 cited in James, 1994).
The Queensland Domestic Violence Taskforce (1988) phone-in “revealed that, of the 88 percent (580) respondents who reported the presence of dependent children, 68 percent (392) said that their children had also suffered at the hands of the perpetrator of domestic violence. Of these, 68 percent reported their children being physically abused, 70 percent reported emotional abuse, and 8 percent reported sexual abuse” (James, 1994 p 4)
Recent medical research has now identified neuro-developmental problems that can be directly linked to exposure to violence at an early age. Findings reported by researchers are that children witnessing such violence suffer negative influences on their brain development, with subsequent emotional, behavioural cognitive and social functioning effects upon children, due to impaired brain development (Perry, 1997). Rather than resilience, which implies the ability to recover, Perry (1997) argues that children are malleable in formative years, and that experiences of violence lead to permanent developmental trauma that may not be readily apparent. Research has confirmed that:
“A child raised in an environment characterized by persisting trauma will develop an excessively active and reactive stress-response apparatus. The majority of the stress-response systems reside in the brainstem and midbrain. Over development of these areas, even in the presence of optimal emotional or cognitive experience will result in altered cortical modulation ratio and a predisposition to act in an aggressive, impulsive, behavioural reactive fashion” (Perry 1997:p136)
United States researchers Start and Flintcraft (1988) exploring the relationship between spouse abuse and child maltreatment examined the medical records of children in hospitals who were suspected of being abused or neglected. Forty five percent of mothers of the 116 children seen had medical histories that indicated or were suggestive of domestic violence. The medical records of these abused women showed that over their lifetimes they had on average come to hospital 4.2 times as a result of trauma. Furthermore, in homes where the mother was assaulted, the percentage of children removed from the home was significantly higher when compared to non-abused mothers (Magden, 2001).
Children may also be involved in the violence in ways that encourage a sense of responsibility for the violence (Parkins & Humpreys 1998). For example, the violent incident may occur in the context of arguments about the children and at the point of marital separation, or the abuser may use the children to coerce the mother to return home (Laing, 1994).
The impact of exposure to violence has both short-term and long-term consequences that depend on the children’s gender and stage of development (James, 1994). Preschool children who are exposed to this violence may suffer from nightmares or other sleep disturbances (Edleson, 1999). The trauma in their lives causes great confusion and insecurity that may lead to regressive behaviour, such as excessive clinging to adults or fear of being left alone. Some children are polarized by constant fear and anxiety because the people who should provide them with the greatest protection turn out to be the most dangerous (Gelles & Straus, 1998; Jaffe et al., 1990; Roy, 1988).
The effect of children witnessing domestic violence
Margolin (1998) points out that witnessing violence is associated with emotional behavioural and learning problems and that children’s susceptibility to witnessing this violence is affected by their developmental level, chronicity of exposure, physical proximity to the incident, and the child’s emotional closeness to the victim. Margolin (1998) further notes that:
“Witnessing violence between one’s parents is often recurring and chronic. It is most likely to occur in the home; the one environment generally associated with safety and protection of the child. Moreover, the aggressor and the victim are the persons with whom the child is most likely to identify and to whom the child would wish to turn to for support” (p58).
Research focusing on children’s problems associated with witnessing family violence are identified by Edleson (1999) as including problems relating to behavioural and emotional functioning, including increased aggression and anti-social behaviours (externalizing), fearful & inhibited behaviours (internalizing),low social competence, increased anxiety, depression, trauma symptoms and temperament problems (James, 1994).
Edleson (1999) concluded that overall findings were consistent, across various samples and research using a range of different methodologies, in identifying that child witnesses of family violence exhibit a host of behaviours and emotional problems when compared to other children.
Silvern et al. (1995) found witnessing violence as a child was associated with adult reports of depression, trauma related symptoms and low self-esteem among women. This was seen to be independent of any variance regarding parental alcohol abuse and divorce. Edleson (1999) stated that several authors reported strong associations between childhood victimization and both adult violence and criminal behaviour. Witnessing adult violence and being abused, independently and in combination, were significantly associated with adolescent use of violence.
The direct psychological effects of exposure to marital abuse are multifaceted and diverse, and have both immediate and long-term effects (James, 1994). These effects have been investigated through the use of retrospective reports by adults, assessment of children’s reaction to domestic violence (Silvern, 1995).
McCloskey, Figueredo, & Kloss (1995) compared children from women’s refuges, children witnessing domestic violence in their home environment and non-exposed children found that both groups exposed to violence had more conduct disorders, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders, separation anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorders than non-exposed children.
When adults or older adolescents’ retrospective reports of inter-parental violence as a child or adolescent were examined, Hotalling and Sugarman (1986) found in 14 of 16 studies that witnessing inter-parental violence was found to be the most important risk indicator for becoming a perpetrator and victim of husband-to-wife violence. Similarly, James (1994) found that witnessing marital aggression was a significant predictor for husband’s next generation abuse of their wives and abuse of potential of their children. Taken together, these studies indicate that the childhood witnessing of interpersonal violence can “lay the foundation for an aggressively oriented behavioural repertoire as well as different expectations regarding aggression in adult intimate relationships”. (Margolin, 1998 p.633).
Conclusion of effects on children
The following information has been taken from:
McIntosh, (2002) Thought in the Face of Violence: A Child’s Need. Child Abuse and Neglect, 26, 229-241
Introduction
Violence is inherently a non-thinking state of mind. It engenders reactive rather that reflective behaviour wherein thought, feeling, and affect of both perpetrator and victim are grossly simplified or denied. Children who live in angry homes experience violence in many forms. A more insidious but non-the-less cogent companion of inter-marital conflict for children is the profound web of “unthinkingness” within which violence is propagated. This paper considers some impacts on children of these combined insults, suggesting that the absence of thought can in some case be as damaging for a child as the witnessing and experiencing of violence. “Unthinking” non-reflective states of mind underscore most family violence, and are often paralleled within the care-giving system and the legislation and policies that guide it, adding layers of trauma, largely unseen, to the child’s experience of domestic violence. It is the prevention or early overturning of such unthinking states of mind, in and out of the home, that so determines the nature of a child’s recovery from domestic violence.