Domestic Violence: Summary and Recommendations of Breakout group.

 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF BREAKOUT GROUP 

Children’s Exposure to Marital Violence.

Basic Question: What scientific developments are needed for us to understand better, to respond more effectively, and ultimately to prevent children’s exposure to domestic violence (DV)?

 • Strategies • Topics • Repeating themes 

Strategies • Broaden the scope of independent and dependent variables • Enhance the depth and precision of processes and mechanisms through both descriptive and theory-driven designs

 ƒ examine pathways; examine iterative cycles;

 ƒ examine protective factors as well as risk factors • Measure stability vs. change over time/longitudinal designs • Monitor outcomes of naturally occurring and experimental interventions

 Topics for Further Study 

• The nature of exposure to domestic violence • The impact of domestic violence on family functioning • The impact of domestic violence on child functioning • The interface with other systems 

Repeating Themes 

Research needs to be. . . • Culturally sensitive • Developmentally sensitive • Gender sensitive

Understanding the Nature of Exposure 

1. Broader/more inclusive definitions of violence • Range of intensity (e.g., verbal aggression through homicide) • Range of behaviors (e.g., psychological control, threat of violence, coercion, etc.) • Develop a common language/common measurement across researchers 

2. Timing and patterning of exposure (e.g., age of onset, frequency of exposure, single episode vs. multiple episode vs. chronic, coincidence with important developmental transitions) 

3. Multiple reporters (moms, dads, children, other family members, first line responders such as police, health care workers) • For purposes of corroboration • For purposes of different perspectives

4. Understand children’s perspectives, attributions and meanings ascribed to DV • How does the meaning of DV (understanding of danger) change across development? • What explanations have the parents given to the child regarding the DV?

5. Measure child’s degree of involvement in DV • Type of sensory input (e.g., directly see, hear from another room, hear about DV from someone else, see evidence of DV such as mother’s bruise) • Child’s reaction, particularly when directly see or hear (try to physically intervene, call police or contact another adult, leave home, protect sibling, hide in closet) 

6. Measure DV within an Overall Context • Place in context of other forms of violence (e.g., direct victimization through child abuse, sibling abuse, community violence, terrorism) • Place in context of other adversities (e.g., poverty, parental mental illness, parental substance abuse, displacement from home, unhealthy peer relations, natural disasters) • Whether co-occurring or sequential, consider cumulative effects--To what extent does DV lead to unique variance in child outcomes?

 7. Cultural Definitions and Understanding of Violence • Sample populations that differ on SES, cultural background, ethnicity, immigrant status, etc. • Understand the meaning of DV from different cultural perspectives • Apply theoretically driven approaches to cultural questions (e.g., cultural views on male/female roles, on hierarchies in family, on permeability of family boundaries to outside influences; cultural identity as a strength)

Impact of Domestic Violence on Family Functioning

 1. Impact of DV on family as a system • Effect on family organization and structure (e.g., role reversal vis a vis parents and siblings; chaos and unpredictability vs. overly rigid; providing for child’s needs in terms of regular meals, clean clothes, school supplies, medication, etc.) • Effect on family interaction--hostility vs. warmth; family as a safe place • Relations with extended family--involved vs. isolated • Impact on teen’s decision to leave home and/or cut-off relations with family • Impact of family violence on poverty and life stress 

2. Impact of DV on Parenting 

• Need focus on competent parenting as well as compromised parenting ƒ What do mothers do to protect their children? ƒ How does a mother’s style of coping with trauma affect her parenting? 

 • Need focus on fathers as well as on mothers ƒ What is the father’s commitment/involvement with child? ƒ Is contact with the father helpful vs. harmful?

 • How DV affects parenting children of different ages ƒ Prenatal care and protection of the fetus ƒ Parenting the preschool child--meeting the child’s high need for engagement and supervision ƒ Parenting the school-age child--parent as link to the outside world such as school system; monitoring activities and friendships; facilitating child’s emerging competencies ƒ Parenting the adolescent; continuing to keep open communication channels while tolerating adolescent’s separation from family

 • Ethnic differences in parenting and how they relate to DV ƒ Authoritarian vs. authoritative parenting ƒ Closeness vs. distance--exaggerated with DV? 

 • Parenting of female vs. male children in families with DV (and with respect to ethnicity) ƒ Parents as role models for male and female behavior  

Consequences for the Child 

There is a pressing need for research that broadens and expands our understanding of the effects of exposure to DV on children. Research has largely focused on outcome in terms of psychiatric symptoms or psychopathology in school age children. Much more research is needed to better understand outcomes or consequences from a comprehensive perspective (biopsychosocial, developmental). What are the neurobiological consequences of exposure to DV? What brain regions/systems are vulnerable? How is vulnerability affected by age and duration of exposure? How is vulnerability affected by gender? How enduring are the consequences, and how are they affected by treatment? How does plasticity and recuperative ability change with age and duration of exposure? What are the neurophysiological consequences of exposure to DV? What are the short-term and long-term consequences on measures of arousal, sympathetic and parasympathetic function, functional brain activity? Are there enduring effects of exposure to domestic violence on neuroendocrine regulation? What are the mediating effects of sleep impairments? What are the neuromaturational consequences of exposure to DV? Are their alterations in the time course and development of startle inhibition, attentional capacity, regulation of affect, stress reactivity, control of motor activity, executive functions, linguistic and cognitive capabilities? What are the medical / health consequences of exposure to DV? Are there alterations in immune system function that affect vulnerability to infections or increase risk for autoimmune disorders? Are there particular medical / health problems that occur with unusual frequency in children exposed to DV? How is this affected by gender, age and duration of exposure? What are the functional consequences of exposure to DV? How does exposure to DV impact school readiness, school performance, degree of educational achievement, work abilities, job performance? What are the consequences of exposure to DV on the ability to form and maintain relationships? How does exposure to DV affect peer interactions, dating behaviors, attitudes toward the opposite gender, intimate relationships? What factors explain why some males exposed to DV engage in violence as adults while others do not? What are the consequences of exposure to DV on moral development and social responsibility? What is the relationship between exposure to DV and juvenile crime? What are the consequences of exposure to DV on risk for substance or alcohol abuse? How is this affected by age and duration of exposure, gender? How does exposure to DV interact with genetic/familial risk factors? Research is needed that identifies outcome at each developmental stage. There is a particular need for research that identifies consequences of exposure to DV on very young children (preschool children). Careful methodological research is needed that specifically identifies the effects of exposure to DV, recognizing that children exposed to DV are often exposed to other forms of violence, and multiple forms of stress and adversity. What are the additive, synergistic or cumulative effects of exposure to multiple forms of violence? What are the consequences of chronic exposure to relatively low levels of DV (e.g., verbal abuse of a partner)? What are the consequences of exposure to the most extreme forms of DV (homicide, homicide - suicide)? There is a need for theory-guided research on gender differences in the consequences of exposure to DV that provides a meaningful understanding of gender differences in response. There is a need for theory-guided research on factors that help to protect children from the consequences of exposure to DV. It is important to distinguish protective factors from the absence of risk factors. 

 There is a need for theory-guided research on the mediating or moderating effects that culture and socioeconomic status exert on the consequences of exposure to DV. There is a need for further research on resilience to understand intrinsic factors that lead to healthier outcomes in children exposed to DV. There is a need for better instruments that provide a broader degree of assessment and measurement of the consequences of exposure to DV. There is a need for qualitative research studies in all domains to provide more detailed and meaningful characterization of the consequences of exposure to DV, and which also guides and informs quantitative research on protective factors and aspects of resilience.

 Systems Interface 

Children exposed to DV often come into contact with many different systems, such as the healthcare system, mental health system, educational system, and justice system. They can come into contact with police officers, child protective services, shelters, foster care placements, Department of Youth Services facilities, and even researchers. Children exposed to DV often interact with a variety of informal systems that include: relatives, neighbors, friends, religious groups, community groups. There is a need for research that delineates the natural course of contact that children exposed to DV have with these formal and informal systems. There is a need for research to understand the pipeline of system services. There is a need for research that identifies for children exposed to DV the consequence of their interaction with these different formal systems. How is a child’s outcome affected by the pipeline of services that the child is exposed to? There is a need for research that delineates for children and parents the effects of contact with various informal systems. How does exposure to these informal systems affect outcome? There is a need for research that rapidly identifies the consequences of new legislation designed to better protect or to help victims of DV and their children. What is the impact of the legislation? Are there unintended consequences of the legislation? There is a need for research that examines the impact and consequences of media campaigns or educational efforts that are designed to increase awareness about DV. What types of campaigns are successful, and how can success be measured in creative and meaningful ways? There is a need for research that evaluates the impact and success of educational programs designed to increase awareness and understanding of DV of key sentinels (e.g., police, ER personnel, teachers, school nurses, guidance counselors, judges). There is a need for research that enhances the ability of agencies or sentinels to identify children in need of services, and which guide them to making effective decisions for referral or services.