Promoting Changes in Attitudes and Understanding of Conflict Resolution Among Child Witnesses of Family Violence

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study by Jaffe et al. was to focuse on early intervention procedures that hold promise for promoting the child's recovery following family violence and disruption, with a particular emphasis on methods that are sensitive to the child's attitudes about aggression and family behavior as well as skills for resolving interpersonal problems. METHODOLOGY: A non-experimental exploratory design was employed using a study of group counselling session with children. Several objectives and methods were defined to stimulate children's expression of their feelings and experiences with others. Topics for group counselling sessions were developed. These included: 1) identifying feelings, 2) dealing with one's own anger, 3) prevention of child abuse and acquiring basic safety skills, 4) identifying and using social supports, 5) social competence and self-concept, 6) dealing with feelings of responsibility for violence in the family, 7) coping with wishes about the family and dealing with repeated separations or uncertainty about future plans, and 8) exploring sexual stereotypes and myths about men and women. Group counselling sessions were held over a ten week period. Each session lasted 1 1/2 hours each week. Eighteen boys and girls ranging in age from 8 to 13 years were assigned to two groups of 9 children each, one group of 8-10 years old and one of 11-13. All of the children had both recently been residents of shelters for battered women and had witnessed extensive violence between their parents. Children were referred to the program by community agencies, counsellors, and shelter staff. Initially, each child was seen for a 1 hour individual interview in order to gather information about the child's attitudes, awareness of conflict resolution strategies, interests and motivation for participating in the group. An identical post-group interview was conducted by a different staff member to ascertain if intervention had been effective during the pilot phase of program development. Group therapists had expertise in dealing with a range of family issues, from children as witnesses to wife battering. At each session, children were encouraged to discuss their attitudes about the topic in question and to seek alternative perspectives on viewing the issue through mutual discussion and problem solving. Evaluation of the intervention group was done by interviewing the children and their mothers separately. The therapy sessions were run by the therapists who stimulated sharing of feelings and experiences among the children. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: Overall, the mothers felt positive about their children's attendance at the group sessions. 93% of the mothers believed that their children enjoyed the group, and 62% of them felt that their child learned something from their attendance. One-third of the mothers felt that the group had led to significant behavior changes in their child. There were some differences between the initial and late interviews which revealed areas where there was initially weaker understanding. Regarding practical skills, more children could identify appropriate strategies for handling emergency situations (such as calling 911) than before the group sessions (44% pretest and 73% posttest). In terms of individual self-perception and attitude change, 85% of the children could identify two or more positive things about themselves, compared to 52% at pre-test. Most notably, the group counselling was associated with a decrease in the extent of violence that the child condoned in his or her family. Before counselling, 25% of the children felt that it was appropriate for a man to strike a women if the house was messy and 55% felt that it was okay for a woman to strike a man if he drank alcohol. 95% believed it was okay for parents to hit their children if they did not do as they were told. Following the program, very few of the children condoned marital violence. None of the children condoned a man hitting a woman, while 14% condoned violence if the man stayed out too late and was drinking. 53% of the children still condoned corporal punishment by their parents for general rule-breaking and non-compliance. AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS: Authors felt that future research would need to involve a larger number of children in order to evaluate the differential impact of group counselling on boys and girls as well as children with a wider range of adjustment problems. Children who show more severe problems would require an intervention approach aimed at more long-term therapeutic planning for difficulties they are experiencing. For all children, it would be important to evaluate the impact of their parents being involved in an appropriate group or individual treatment for problems related to being a batterer or a victim of marital violence. To expand knowledge of ways to prevent future violence in the family, future studies should address the extent to which children who are not exposed to marital violence would condone the behavior in their family. Finally, programs developed for shelters should be extended to Boards of Education and other community agencies as a was to assist the hidden population who may be experiencing violence in the home but never enter a shelter. EVALUATION: This article sheds light on some strategies that may help in both assisting adjustment of children from abusive families and, potentially, breaking the cycle of violence. Clearly, there is much more research to be done in the area. This study uses a small, purposive sample which limits generalizability. Additionally, the selection of the subjects from official referrals may have provided some sample selection bias. It was difficult to ascertain what kind of therapist uniformity there was. The goal of this study was to explore the issue, and it accomplished this goal. Further research will be needed to establish whether these findings hold up with a larger cross-section of the population. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) Violence Against Women Partner Violence Children of Battered Women Interparental Violence Witnessing Violence Effects Witnessing Spouse Abuse Domestic Violence Effects Child Witness Child Attitudes Child Perceptions Child Adjustment Attitudes Toward Aggression Conflict Resolution Psychological Victimization Effects Emotional Adjustment Aggression Perceptions Child Aggression Interpersonal Relations Relationship Skills Family Relations Witness Adjustment 09-04