International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

 Considering the limitations of existing surveys, direct investigation offers the best hope for defining, substantiating, and understanding children’s exposure to domestic violence and assessing risks and impacts over time . However, as echoed elsewhere, future progress is predicated on standard definitions and data collection, with broader and more inclusive definitions of violence, assessments of risks and history, short- and long-term impacts, and connections to services and follow-up. Population-based surveillance systems that have standard protocols and take a developmental and cultural approach are critical. Too much of what is known comes from children in shelters, thus limiting our ability to generalize. Future research directions should include building a rigorous scientific capacity in partnership with strategic sentinels across municipalities. Researchers cannot adequately assess the impact of violence, including domestic violence, obtain quality information, or de...

Responses Laura McCloskey, Ph.D., Harvard University. Dr. McCloskey commended Dr. Fantuzzo’s five-city study for its usefulness in understanding epidemiological problems that need to be investigated further and for setting future priorities. She then discussed a number of research gaps, noting that not enough research has focused on preschool children. Despite the challenges of working with this age group, this is an important area to develop. Referring to the work of her colleagues, Dr. McCloskey also talked about the impact of domestic violence on mothers. Many studies have shown that abuse over time causes maternal depression leading to child and parenting problems. In addition, if the perpetrator is the father, and he is chronically violent, children miss out on child support and paternal investment. Thus, it is important to assess the long-term economic and psychological impact on the father-child relationship and the child’s perception of the father. Conceptual models appropriate...

Dr. Wolfe began his discussion on the consequences of domestic violence by discussing the “children’s paradox.” Children are often torn between a sense of loyalty to their parents and a sense of fear and apprehension in the face of domestic violence . They want to stop the violence but they also want to belong to a family; affection and attention may coexist with violence and abuse. Ironically, children often perceive abuse as a short-term act but the intensity of violence tends to increase over time. There are a number of consequences for children exposed to domestic violence . Unfortunately, most of what is known comes from children in shelters, thus limiting our ability to generalize. Reactions to domestic violence vary and change over the developmental life course. For instance, infants and toddlers may experience listlessness, failure to thrive, and problems with trust while preschool children may react through behaviors such as aggression, cruelty to animals, or clinging. F...

 A. Prevalence John Fantuzzo, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania  Dr. Fantuzzo discussed research on the prevalence of children exposed to domestic violence, opening his presentation with the following question: “We see through the glass dimly and is the glass half empty or half full?” In doing so, he was referring to the substantial amount of information lacking in the field, particularly regarding violence prevention and intervention. He cautioned, however, that we should not try to obtain data too quickly, explaining that this can lead to tensions among researchers, advocates, and practitioners, and ultimately leave the field with no standard definitions, no systematic way of substantiating violence or exposure, no organized network of sentinels, and no national prevalence data. Despite the challenges of conducting population-based inquiry , several national reports and databases are attempting to address the data inadequacy problem. These resources include National Crime R...