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Court Review: Volume 39, Issue 2 -The Parenting of Men Who Batter
Abstract
The published research on children’s exposure to domestic violence focuses largely on two aspects of their experience: the trauma of witnessing physical assaults against their mother, and the tension produced by living with a high level of conflict between their parents. As important as these factors are, they reflect only one aspect of many complex problems that typically pervade the children’s daily lives. The bulk of these difficulties have their roots in the fact that the children are living with a batterer present in their home. The parenting characteristics commonly observed in batterers have implications for the children’s emotional and physical well-being, their relationships with their mothers and siblings, and the development of their belief systems. All of these issues need to be examined in making determinations regarding custody and visitation in cases involving histories of domestic violence.
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This article reports data on allegations of domestic violence in two samples of high-conflict families in child custody disputes. It delineates five basic types of interparental violence and corresponding patterns in parent-child relationships. The findings should be viewed as preliminary exploratory hypotheses, which, if confirmed in future research, suggest that differential assessment of domestic families is important when helping divorcing parents make custody and visitation plans.
This paper discusses the clinical implications of our current knowledge about children exposed to violence. It highlights a number of typical case scenarios in which mental health professionals have responded inadequately to the issue of violence. Alternative strategies for assessing and treating children exposed to violence are offered which have both therapeutic and preventative value. Finally, a family based assessment and treatment approach, which may be appropriate in a number of cases, is suggested.