Children’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and Other ...

1 Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention N AT I O N A L SURVEY OF. Children's Exposure to Violence Jeff Slowikowski, Acting Administrator October 2011. Office of Justice Programs Innovation Partnerships Safer Neighborhoods Children's Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and Other Family Violence A Message From OJJDP. Sherry Hamby, David Finkelhor, Heather Turner, Children are exposed to Violence every and Richard Ormrod day in their homes, schools, and com- munities. Such Exposure can cause them significant physical, mental, and This bulletin discusses the data on ex- and adult household members. These emotional harm with long-term effects posure to family Violence in the National results confirm that children are exposed that can last well into adulthood.

2 Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence to unacceptable rates of Violence in the (NatSCEV), the most comprehensive home. More than 1 in 9 (11 percent) were The Attorney General launched Defend- nationwide survey of the incidence and exposed to some form of family Violence ing Childhood in September 2010 to unify the Department of Justice's efforts prevalence of children's Exposure to in the past year, including 1 in 15 ( per- to address children's Exposure to vio- Violence to date, sponsored by the Of- cent) exposed to IPV between parents (or lence under one initiative. Through fice of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency between a parent and that parent's part- Defending Childhood, the Department Prevention (OJJDP) and the Centers for ner).

3 One in four children (26 percent) is raising public awareness about the Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were exposed to at least one form of fam- issue and supporting practitioners, (see History of the National Survey of ily Violence during their lifetimes. Most researchers, and policymakers as they Children's Exposure to Violence , p. 2). An youth exposed to family Violence , includ- seek solutions to address it. A compo- earlier bulletin (Finkelhor, Turner, Orm- ing 90 percent of those exposed to IPV, nent of Defending Childhood, OJJDP's rod, Hamby, and Kracke, 2009) presented saw the Violence , as opposed to hearing it Safe Start Initiative continues efforts an overview of children's Exposure to con- or Other indirect forms of Exposure .

4 Males begun in 1999 to enhance practice, ventional crime, child maltreatment, Other were more likely to perpetrate incidents research, training and technical assis- types of physical and sexual assault, and that were witnessed than females, with 68 tance, and public education about chil- witnessing community Violence . For more percent of youth witnessing only Violence dren and Violence . information on the survey methodology, by males. Father figures were the most Under Safe Start, OJJDP conducted the see Methodology, p. 5. common perpetrators of family Violence , National Survey of Children's Exposure although assaults by mothers and Other to Violence , the most comprehensive This bulletin explores in depth the caregivers were also common.

5 Children effort to date to measure the extent NatSCEV survey results regarding expo- often witness family Violence , and their and nature of the Violence that children sure to family Violence among children in needs should be assessed when incidents endure and its consequences on their the United States, including Exposure to occur. These are the most comprehensive lives. This is the first study to ask chil- Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), assaults and detailed data ever collected at the dren and caregivers about Exposure to by parents on siblings of children sur- a range of Violence , crime, and abuse in national level on this topic. veyed, and Other assaults involving teen children's lives. As amply evidenced in this bulletin series, children's Exposure to Violence is pervasive and affects all ages.

6 The Access OJJDP publications online at research findings reported here and Learn more about the Attorney General's Defending Childhood in the Other bulletins in this series are Initiative at critical to informing our efforts to protect Find out more about OJJDP's Safe Start Initiative at children from its damaging effects. Background Exposure to IPV is distressing to children History of the National Survey of Children's and is associated with a host of mental Exposure to Violence health symptoms both in childhood and Under the leadership of then-Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder in June 1999, the in later life. The best documented mental Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) created the Safe Start health effects include symptoms of post- Initiative to prevent and reduce the impact of children's Exposure to Violence .

7 As a part of traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety this initiative and with a growing need to document the full extent of children's Exposure (Kitzmann et al., 2003; Lang and Stover, to Violence , OJJDP launched the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence 2008; Wolfe et al., 2003). Exposure to seri- (NatSCEV) with the support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ous IPV as a child is also associated with NatSCEV is the first national incidence and prevalence study to comprehensively ex- offending as an adult. For example, one amine the extent and nature of children's Exposure to Violence across all ages, settings, study found that, among a sample of IPV and timeframes. Conducted between January and May 2008, it measured the past-year offenders, those who had as a child seen and lifetime Exposure to Violence for children age 17 and younger across several major a parent use a weapon were more likely to categories: conventional crime, child maltreatment, victimization by peers and siblings, commit an offense involving a weapon as sexual victimization, witnessing and indirect victimization (including Exposure to commu- an adult (Murrell et al.))

8 , 2005). Despite the nity Violence and family Violence ), school Violence and threats, and Internet victimization. well-documented adverse consequences This survey marks the first comprehensive attempt to measure children's Exposure to of IPV Exposure and a growing discussion Violence in the home, school, and community across all age groups from birth to age 17, of the appropriate policy responses to IPV and the first attempt to measure the cumulative Exposure to Violence over the child's life- Exposure (Jaffe, Crooks, and Wolfe, 2003; time. The survey asked children and their adult caregivers about not only the incidents of Nixon et al., 2007), surprisingly little infor- Violence that children suffered and witnessed themselves but also Other related crime and mation is available about how often such threat exposures, such as theft or burglary from a child's household, being in a school Exposure occurs in the general population.

9 That was the target of a credible bomb threat, and being in a war zone or an area where Such information is important for deter- ethnic Violence occurred. mining the extent of the problem, assess- The study was developed under the direction of OJJDP and was designed and conducted ing the need for services, and establishing by the Crimes Against Children Research Center of the University of New Hampshire. a baseline for evaluating progress. It provides comprehensive data on the full extent of Violence in the daily lives of chil- dren. The primary purpose of NatSCEV is to document the incidence and prevalence of Previous Efforts To Estimate children's Exposure to a broad array of violent experiences across a wide developmental Children's Exposure to spectrum.

10 The research team asked followup questions about specific events, including Family Violence where the Exposure to Violence occurred, whether injury resulted, how often the child was exposed to a specific type of Violence , and the child's relationship to the perpetrator More than 20 years ago, in the second Na- and (when the child witnessed Violence ) the victim. In addition, the survey documents tional Family Violence Survey (conducted differences in Exposure to Violence across gender, race, socioeconomic status, family in 1985), Straus and Gelles asked adults structure, region, urban/rural residence, and developmental stage of the child; speci- whether they had witnessed IPV during fies how different forms of violent victimization cluster or co-occur; identifies individual, their childhood; they obtained a rate of family, and community-level predictors of Exposure to Violence among children; examines 13 percent for total childhood Exposure associations between levels/types of Exposure to Violence and children's mental and (Straus, 1992).