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http://www.childtrauma.org/ctamaterials/Vio_child.asp
A Special ChildTrauma Academy WebSite version of:
The Neurodevelopmental Impact of Violence in Childhood
Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D.
The ChildTrauma Academy www.ChildTrauma.org Web Version DRAFT
Perry, B.D. (2001b). The neurodevelopmental impact of violence in
childhood. In Schetky D & Benedek, E. (Eds.) Textbook of child and
adolescent forensic psychiatry. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric
Press, Inc. (221-238)
Violence in Childhood: Scope of the Problem - Violence in the Home
Childhood is a dangerous time. For infants and children, survival is
dependent upon adults, most typically, the nuclear family. It is in
the family setting that the child is fed, clothed, sheltered, nurtured
and educated. Unfortunately, it is in the familial incubator that
children are most frequently manipulated, coerced, degraded,
inoculated with destructive beliefs and exposed to violence.
The home is the most violent place in America (Straus, 1974). In 1995,
the FBI reported that 27% of all violent crime involves family on
family violence, 48% involved acquaintances with the violence often
occurring in the home (National Incident-Based Reporting System,
Uniform Crime Reporting Program, 1999). Children are often the
witnesses to, or victims of, these violent crimes.
Violent crime statistics, however, grossly underestimate the
prevalence of violence in the home. It is likely that less than 5% of
all domestic violence results in a criminal report. Intra-familial
abuse and domestic battery account for the majority of physical and
emotional violence suffered by children in this country (see Koop et
al., 1992; Horowitz et al., 1995; Carnegie Council on Adolescent
Development, 1995). This violence takes many forms. The child may
witness the assault of her mother by father or boyfriend. The child
may be the direct victim of violence - physical or emotional - from
father, mother or even older siblings. Straus and Gelles (1996) have
estimated that over 29 million children commit an act of violence
against a sibling each year. The child may become the direct victim of
the adult male if he or she tries to intervene and protect mother or
sibling. While these all cause physical violence, an additional
destructive element of this intra-familial toxicity is emotional
violence - humiliation, coercion, degradation, and threat of
abandonment or physical assault. http://www.childtrauma.org/ctamaterials/Vio_child.asp |
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