Should Childhood Exposure to Adult Domestic Violence be Defined as Child Maltreatment Under the Law

A growing body of research has revealed that many children are affected by exposure to adult domestic violence. Increased public attention to this issue has led at least one state to define childhood exposure to domestic violence as a form of child maltreatment and to respond to it as such. This article reviews the research on childhood exposure to domestic violence and emerging laws aimed at protecting these children. Greater caution and more creative thinking is needed as public agencies and programs attempt to develop public policy for children exposed to domestic violence. The author concludes with an argument against assuming that childhood exposure to violence is automatically a form of child maltreatment and suggests the need to modify child protection services and the expansion of primarily voluntary community-based responses to these children and their families. Is exposure maltreatment? 3 Should Childhood Exposure to Adult Domestic Violence be Defined as Child Maltreatment Under the Law? The issues of child maltreatment and adult domestic violence have separately received extensive public attention over the past three decades. Yet it is only in the past 10 years that children who are exposed to domestic violence but not themselves victims of abuse have been identified and extensively studied. Several recent research reviews reveal that many children exposed to adult domestic violence may experience a variety of negative developmental outcomes and may also be at risk for direct physical abuse (Appel & Holden, 1998; Edleson, 1999a, 1999b; Fantuzzo & Mohr, 1999; Margolin, 1998; O’Leary, Slep & O’Leary, 2000; Rossman, 2001). A heated national debate is emerging around the question of whether children exposed to adult domestic violence should be defined as maltreated. As this article will show, some of these emerging efforts are creating unintended negative consequences for families and the systems serving them. Greater caution and more creative thinking is needed among policy makers and program staff when attempting to help children exposed to domestic violence. This article first reviews the research on childhood exposure to adult domestic violence, the variability of children’s experiences, and emerging laws aimed at protecting these children. The article then makes an argument against assuming that childhood exposure to violence is automatically a form of child maltreatment and suggests the need for redesigned child protection services and the expansion of unique, community-based voluntary responses to these children and their families. Is exposure maltreatment? 4 What the Research Says about the Impact of Exposure Much of the developing national response to children exposed to adult domestic violence is based on a premise that such exposure is harmful or places a child at greater risk of harm and requires social intervention. As discussed below, the research offers a much more complex picture of these children. Estimates of Children’s Exposure Estimates of the number of American children exposed to adult domestic violence each year vary greatly and are based mostly on extrapolating figures from national surveys. The two most widely cited statistics are those developed by Carlson (1984) and Straus (1992). Carlson estimated that "at least 3.3 million children yearly are at risk of exposure to parental violence" (p. 160). Her estimate is derived from earlier studies that found approximately 3 million American households experience at least one incident of serious violence each year (Straus, Gelles & Steinmetz, 1980). Carlson adjusted this finding for the estimated number of households with children (55%) and then multiplied by the average number of children per household (two). Straus later estimated that there may be as many as 10 million teenagers exposed to parental violence each year. His estimates resulted from a 1985 national survey (see Straus & Gelles, 1990) in which adults were asked "whether, during their teenage years, their father had hit their mother and how often" and vice versa (p. 98). Straus goes on to estimate that "at least a third of American children have witnessed violence between their parents, and most have endured repeated instances" (p. 98). He bases this even larger estimate on the fact that in his and Gelles' national survey 30% of the parents reported that their children had witnessed at least one violent incident over the duration of their marriage. It is clear from these estimates that many millions of Is exposure maltreatment? 5 American children are exposed to adult domestic violence each year. 1 What is less clear is what impact such exposure has on individual children. Impact of Violence Exposure on Children Almost a hundred published studies report associations between exposure to domestic violence and current child problems or later adult problems. Only about one third of these studies have separated exposed children from those who were also direct victims of abuse, allowing one to determine the unique impact on children of exposure separate from direct abuse. A number of authors have produced partial reviews of this growing body of literature and its limitations (see Edleson, 1999a; Fantuzzo & Lindquist, 1989; Fantuzzo & Mohr, 1999; Holtzworth-Munroe, Smutzler & Sandin, 1997; Jaffe & Sudermann, 1995; Kashani, Daniel, Dandoy & Holcomb, 1992; Margolin, 1998; Peled & Davis, 1995; Rossman, 2001). Overall, existing studies reveal that some children exposed to adult domestic violence exhibit more difficulties than those not so exposed. These difficulties can be grouped into the two major categories associated with recent exposure: (1) behavioral and emotional functioning and (2) cognitive functioning and attitudes. These two areas and the degree to which these problems extend into young adulthood are reviewed below. Behavioral and Emotional Problems. Several studies have reported that children exposed to domestic violence exhibit more aggressive and antisocial behaviors (often called “externalized” behaviors) as well as fearful and inhibited behaviors (“internalized” behaviors) when compared to non-exposed children (Fantuzzo et al., 1991; Hughes, 1988; Hughes, Parkinson & Vargo, 1989). Exposed children also showed lower social competence than did other children (Adamson & Thompson, 1998; Fantuzzo et al., 1991) and were found to show higher average anxiety, depression, trauma symptoms, and temperament problems than children Is exposure maltreatment? 6 who were not exposed to violence at home (Hughes, 1988, Maker, Kemmelmeier & Peterson, 1998; Sternberg et al., 1993). A common question asked is whether exposed children go on to commit more violence when compared to groups of other children. Social learning theory would suggest that children who witness violence might also learn to use it. Some support for this hypothesis has been found. For example, Singer et al. (1998) studied 2,245 children and teenagers and found that recent exposure to violence in the home was a significant factor in predicting a child’s violent behavior outside the home. Cognitive and Attitudinal Problems. A number of studies have measured the association between cognitive development problems and exposure to adult domestic violence. While academic abilities were not found in one study to differ between exposed and other children (Mathias, Mertin & Murray, 1995), another found increased violence exposure associated with lower cognitive functioning (Rossman, 1998). One consequence of witnessing violence may be the attitudes a child develops concerning the use of violence and conflict resolution. Spaccarelli, Coatsworth and Bowden’s (1995) findings support this association by showing that, among a sample of 213 adolescent boys incarcerated for violent crimes, those who had been exposed to family violence believed more than others that “acting aggressively enhances one’s reputation or self-image” (p. 173) and holding this belief significantly predicted violent offending. It appears that boys and girls may also differ in what they learn from these experiences. Carlson (1991) found that, in a sample of 101 adolescents, boys exposed to domestic violence were on average significantly more likely to approve of violence than were girls who had also witnessed it. Is exposure maltreatment? 7 Longer-Term Problems. A third category of associated problems cuts across the other two and provides evidence of longer-term development issues for exposed children. For example, Silvern et al.’s (1995) study of 550 undergraduate students found that exposure to violence as a child was associated with adult reports of depression, trauma-related symptoms and low self-esteem among women and only trauma-related symptoms among men. Violence exposure appeared to be independent of the problems accounted for by the existence of parental alcohol abuse and divorce. In the same vein, Henning et al. (1996) found that 123 adult women who had witnessed domestic violence as a child experienced greater distress and lower social adjustment when compared to 494 non-exposed adults. These findings persisted even after accounting for the effects of witnessing parental verbal conflict, being abused as a child, and level of reported parental caring. Children’s Varying Experiences Most readers would be convinced by the above studies that children exposed to adult domestic violence must all show evidence of greater problems than other children. In fact, the picture is not so clear. These studies compared groups of children who were either exposed or not exposed to adult domestic violence. The results reported are group trends and may or may not indicate an individual child’s experience. In fact, the available research reveals a great deal of variability in children’s experiences and the impact of those experiences on a child. Graham-Bermann (2001) points out that many children exposed to domestic violence show no greater problems than children not s