Child Exposure to a Batterer’s Violence:
A Proposal for Research
Melanie Dowling & Sandra van den Bosse
University of Minnesota - Duluth
Advanced Research, SW 8102
Dennis Falk
July 17, 2007
Introduction
Although child exposure to domestic violence is quite prevalent, a review of academic literature reveals few studies focused on the experiences of children living with a batterer’s violence. The search did not reveal any studies that focus on how children experienced an intervention by the child welfare community. Further research is needed to provide a voice for the victims and fill the information gap that currently exists.
This research study will focus on the lived experiences of children exposed to domestic violence and the interventions, if any, they received. The intervention might have come from a child protection worker, a teacher, or a shelter program advocate. Uncovering this information will provide useful considerations for current and future interventions. Ultimately, it can lead to determining best practices. An intervention should be “just right” for each specific child and reduce any further trauma. Additionally, the intervention should allow the child to have a better understanding of domestic violence, provide more safety, encourage resiliency, and strengthen the bond with the non-offending parent, who is a victim as well. By interviewing adults who were exposed to a batterer’s violence as a child, but later decided to enter the child welfare profession, this research study will provide informative detail about interventions that are both helpful and available in our community today.
Literature Review
Prevalence of a child’s exposure to domestic violence
Children who are living with the violence of a batterer are often called silent victims.
Edleson et al (2006) tell us that none of the existing measures of children’s