The Prevalence of Exposure to Domestic Violence Among High School Students in Tehran

Homeira Sajadi,Hassan Rafiey,Hossein Rahimy,Meroe Vameghi

doi:10.5812/ircmj.13246

Abstract

Background:Domestic violence appears to be a major social problem. Researches in the last 10 years have uncovered multiple effects of witnessing domestic violence on children, ranging in severity from little or no effect to sever psychological harm.Objectives:This study aimed to measure the prevalence of exposure to domestic violence among high school students in Tehran.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional survey was conducted on high school students of Tehran in the school year 2011–2012. The “Children’s Exposure to Domestic Violence Scale” was administered to a total cohort of 1,212 students (615 males and 597 females) selected by the stratified sampling method.Results:Approximately one-half of the participants (44.3%) had been exposed to their fathers’s violence against their mothers at least sometimes in their lives, the most common form of which was preventing the mother from doing something (28.5%) and the least common, hurting the mother with sharp or deadly tools (9.6%). A substantial proportion of the students (90.6%) had been exposed to violence in the community or at school, the most common kind would be being heard from someone calling another person names or making fun of them (81.7%) and the least common, being injured a child in the community or at school (31.8%).Conclusions:Exposure to violence is a widespread problem among children in Tehran. It encompasses a wide range and children were exposed to violence in different ways and forms.

Highlights

Domestic violence appears to be a major social problem
The terms “witnesses” and “observers” of violence have been frequently used (6), but these terms are replaced by an expanded terminology referring to child “exposure” to domestic violence
This study aimed to describe the prevalence of exposure to domestic violence in Iranian children by demographic characteristics, and to compare males’ with females’ frequency of exposure to violence using subscales of the questionnaire

Summary

Introduction

Domestic violence appears to be a major social problem. Researches in the last 10 years have uncovered multiple effects of witnessing domestic violence on children, ranging in severity from little or no effect to sever psychological harm. Objectives: This study aimed to measure the prevalence of exposure to domestic violence among high school students in Tehran. A substantial proportion of the students (90.6%) had been exposed to violence in the community or at school, the most common kind would be being heard from someone calling another person names or making fun of them (81.7%) and the least common, being injured a child in the community or at school (31.8%). Conclusions: Exposure to violence is a widespread problem among children in Tehran. It encompasses a wide range and children were exposed to violence in different ways and forms. In the U.S, approximately three million families experienced extreme violence at least once during a year. Edleson (3) considered the concept of children’s exposure to domestic violence beyond the home environment, and in a comprehensive scale introduced any kind of violence in the surrounding environment, including school, community, movies, and video games, within a general implication of domestic violence

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Conclusion