The intergenerational transmission of family violence: Mothers' perceptions of children's experiences and use of violence in the home

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
File version

Version of Record (VoR)

Author(s)
Meyer, Silke
Reeves, Ellen
Fitz-Gibbon, Kate
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2021
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) on average affects one in four women, with the majority of victim survivors identifying as mothers in national survey data. Children experiencing parental IPV are now equally understood as victims. Extensive research documents the short- and long-term impacts of children's experiences of IPV on their safety and wellbeing. More recently, research has started to examine adolescent children's use of violence in the home as adolescent family violence (AFV). Contributing to this emerging body of research, we draw on narrative interview data from mothers who participated in a larger study on IPV, help-seeking and the perceived impact on children to better understand how mothers make sense of children's use of violence in the home. Mothers identified an emergence of AFV in male children with childhood experiences of adult IPV. Although mothers' experiences of adult and adolescent violence highlight their dual victimisation, mothers frame their abusive children as victims rather than perpetrators. Implications for future research, policy and trauma-informed practice are discussed.

Journal Title

Child & Family Social Work

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

26

Issue

3

Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement

© 2021 The Authors. Child & Family Social Work published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in anymedium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Social work

Criminology

Child and adolescent development

Law and legal studies

Psychology

Social Sciences

Family Studies

Social Work

adolescent family violence

children

Persistent link to this record
Citation

Meyer, S; Reeves, E; Fitz-Gibbon, K, The intergenerational transmission of family violence: Mothers' perceptions of children's experiences and use of violence in the home, Child & Family Social Work, 2021, 26 (3), pp. 476-484

Collections