Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T01:40:21.784Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Witnessing adults' violence: the effects on children and adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Dora Black
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Children, like adults, can directly experience or be witness to interpersonal violence either within or outside the family, on one or repeated occasions. Intra-familial violence may result in the death or serious disablement of a parent or child, or may be experienced as child sexual abuse or chronic domestic violence. Non-familial violence includes urban violence now endemic in some communities, war and civil conflict, and vicarious violence such as in films and on television. Traumatic events can also occur by natural forces, for example, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes. This review will focus mainly on the effects on children of witnessing severe or repeated violence, sometimes resulting in death, occurring to a member of their family, perpetrated either by a parent, step-parent or cohabitee or by a person or persons unrelated to them, although it will draw on studies of other traumatic experiences where relevant.

Type
Research Article
Information
Advances in Psychiatric Treatment , Volume 4 , Issue 4 , July 1998 , pp. 202 - 210
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 1998 

References

Allen, T. (1991) Disasters: Planning for a Caring Response. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Amick-McMullan, A., Kilpatrick, D. G. & Resnick, H. S. (1991) Homicide as a risk factor for PTSD among surviving family members. Behaviour Modification, 15, 545–559.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edn) (DSM–IV). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Applebaum, D. R. & Burns, G. L. (1991) Unexpected childhood death – post-traumatic stress disorder in surviving siblings and parents. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 20, 114–120.Google Scholar
Bisson, J. I., Jenkins, P. L., Alexander, J. et al (1997) Randomised controlled trial of psychological debriefing for victims of acute burn trauma. British Journal of Psychiatry, 171, 78–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Black, D., Wolkind, S. & Harris-Hendriks, J. (1991) Child Psychiatry and the Law (2nd edn). London: Gaskell.Google Scholar
Black, D. & Newman, M. (1995) Television violence and children. British Medical Journal, 310, 273–274.Google Scholar
Black, D. & Newman, M.– (1996) Children and domestic violence: a review. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1, 79–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, D. & Young, B. (1995) Bereaved children: risk and preventive intervention. In Handbook of Studies in Preventive Psychiatry (eds Raphael, B. & Burrows, G. D.) pp. 225–244. Oxford: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Emanuel, R. & Mendelsohn, A. (1997) Psychodynamic psychotherapy. In Psychological Trauma: A Developmental Approach (eds Black, D., Harris-Hendriks, J., Newman, M. et al), pp. 287–293. London: Gaskell.Google Scholar
Emery, R. E. (1982) Interparental conflict and the children of discord and divorce. Psychological Bulletin, 92, 310–330.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goenjian, A., Pynoos, R. S. & Karayan, I. (1997) Outcome of psychotherapy among pre-adolescents after the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 536–542.Google Scholar
Hall, V. (1997) Domestic violence and contact. Family Law 27, 813–818.Google Scholar
Harris-Hendriks, J., Black, D. & Kaplan, T. (1993) When Father Kills Mother: Guiding Children Through Trauma and Grief. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hester, M. & Radford, L. (1996) Domestic Violence and Child Contact Arrangements in England and Denmark. Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Home Office (1993) Criminal Statistics: England and Wales. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Home Office (1994) Criminal Statistics, England and Wales. London: Research and Statistics Directorate.Google Scholar
Jaffe, P. G., Wolfe, D. A. & Wilson, S. K. (1990) Children of Battered Women. Newbury Park: Sage.Google Scholar
Jensen, P. S. & Shaw, J. (1993) Children as victims of war: current knowledge and future research needs. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 697–708.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendall, P. C. (1991) Child and Adolescent Therapy: Cognitive–Behavioral Procedures. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Lee, D. & Turner, S. (1997) Theoretical models of post-traumatic stress disorder: cognitive–behavioural models of PTSD. In Psychological Trauma: A Developmental Approach (eds Black, D., Harris-Hendriks, J., Newman, M. et al), pp. 64–77. London: Gaskell.Google Scholar
Marans, S. & Cohen, D. J. (1993) Children and inner city violence: strategies for intervention. In Psychological Effects of War and Violence on Children (eds Leavitt, L. & Fox, N.) pp. 281–301. Hove: Laurence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Masten, A., Best, K. M. & Garmezy, N. (1990) Resilience and development: contributions from the study of children who overcome adversity. Development and Psychopathology 2, 425–444.Google Scholar
McIvor, R. (1997) Theoretical models of post-traumatic stress disorder: physiological and biological mechanisms. In Psychological Trauma: A Developmental Approach (eds Black, D., Harris-Hendriks, J., Newman, M. et al), pp. 55–60. London: Gaskell.Google Scholar
Mitchell, J. T. (1983) When disaster strikes: critical incident stress debriefing. Journal of Emergency Medical Services, 8, 36–39.Google ScholarPubMed
Najaran, L. M. Goenjian, A. K., Pelcovitz, D. et al (1996) Relocation after a disaster: Post-traumatic stress disorder in Armenia after the earthquake. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 374–383.Google Scholar
Newman, M. (1997) Psychopharmacology. In Psychological Trauma: A Developmental Approach (eds Black, D., Harris-Hendriks, J., Newman, M. et al), pp. 294–304. London: Gaskell.Google Scholar
Osofsky, J. D. (1995) The effects of exposure to violence on young children. American Psychologist, 50, 782–788.Google Scholar
Parry-Jones, W., Barton, J. & van Beinum, M. (1995) Psychological Support Programmes and Mental Health Services for Vulnerable Children and Young People in FYR Macedonia. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Perry, B. D., Pollard, R. A., Blakley, T. L. et al (1995) Childhood trauma, the neurobiology of adaptation and “use-dependent” development of the brain: how “states” become “traits”. Infant Mental Health Journal, 16, 271–291.3.0.CO;2-B>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pynoos, R. S. (1992) Grief and trauma in children and adolescents. Bereavement Care, 11, 2–10.Google Scholar
Pynoos, R. S. & Nader, K. (1988) Children who witness sexual assaults on their mothers. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 567–572.Google Scholar
Pynoos, R. S., Steinberg, A. M. & Aronson, L. (1997) Traumatic experiences: the early organization of memory in school-age children and adolescents. In Trauma and Memory: Clinical and Legal Controversies (eds Applebaum, P. S. & Uyehara, L. A.) pp. 272–289. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Raphael, B. & Meldrum, L. (1995) Does debriefing after psychological trauma work? British Medical Journal, 310, 1479–1480.Google Scholar
Ressler, E., Boothby, N. & Steinbock, D. (1988) Unaccompanied Children: Care and Protection in Wars, Natural Disasters and Refugee Movements. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Richman, N. (1993a) Children in situations of political violence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 34, 1286–1302.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richman, N. (1993b) Communicating with Children: Helping Children in Distress. London: Save the Children.Google Scholar
Robinson, R. C. & Mitchell, J. T. (1993) Evaluation of psychological debriefings. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 6, 367-332.Google Scholar
Scheeringa, M. S., Zeanah, C. H., Drell, M. J. et al (1995) Two approaches to the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder in infancy and early childhood. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 191–200.Google Scholar
Shapiro, F. (1995) Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Siegel, D. (1997) Memory and trauma. In Psychological Trauma: A Developmental Approach (eds Black, D., Harris-Hendriks, J., Newman, M. et al), pp. 44–53. London: Gaskell.Google Scholar
Skuse, D. & Bentovim, A. (1994) Physical and emotional maltreatment. In Child and Adolescent Psychiatry – Modern Approaches (eds Rutter, M., Taylor, E. & Hersov, L.) (3rd edn), pp. 209–229. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific.Google Scholar
Smith, M. & Bentovim, A. (1994) Sexual abuse. In Child & Adolescent Psychiatry – Modern Approaches (eds Rutter, M., Taylor, E. & Hersov, L.) (3rd edn), pp. 230–251. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific.Google Scholar
Straus, M. A., Gelles, R. J. & Steinmetz, S. (1980) Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the American Family. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor.Google Scholar
UNICEF (1995) Children of Rwanda. Kigali: UNICEF.Google Scholar
Van der Kolk, B. A. & Fisler, R. E. (1995) Dissociation and the fragmentary nature of traumatic memories: overview and exploratory study. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 8, 505–525.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Velsen, C. (1997) Theoretical models of post-traumatic stress disorder: psychoanalytical models. In Psychological Trauma: A Developmental Approach (eds Black, D., Harris-Hendriks, J., Newman, M. et al), pp. 61–63. London: Gaskell.Google Scholar
Warner, B. S. & Weist, M. D. (1996) Urban youth as witnesses to violence: beginning assessment and treatment efforts. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 25, 361–377.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1992) The ICD–10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Young, B. & Black, D. (1997) Bereavement counselling. In Psychological Trauma: A Developmental Approach (eds Black, D., Harris-Hendriks, J., Newman, M. et al), pp. 250–263. London: Gaskell.Google Scholar
Yule, W. & Gold, A. (1993) Wise Before the Event: Coping with Crises in Schools. London: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.