Battered Women's Concerns About Their Children Witnessing Wife Assault

Abstract

There is growing evidence that behavioral disturbances, attitudes condoning violence, and a risk of future domestic violence are elevated among children who have witnessed wife assault. This article reports on interviews with 20 assaulted women about their concerns for their children and how these concerns affected the decision to leave the assailant. Fifty-five percent of the women's children had witnessed violence, and 90% had become involved in the physical or psychological abuse in some way, even after separation. Fifty-five percent of the women left because of the risks to their children. Forty-five percent saw wife assault as a learned behavior, which helped to maintain the decision to leave. The implications for expanding interventions available to the children of assaulted women are considered.