Family Violence, co-occurrence of forms

Common Risk and Protective Factors

An ecological or integrated framework suggests that individuals who commit or who are victims of violence face a number of common personal, socioeco-nomic, and environmental challenges. Common risk markers found among perpetrators of child maltreatment and adult domestic violence include poor impulse control and a lack of empathy for others, often stemming from their own early exposure to violence or victimization as children. Living in poverty and resource-poor communities and associating with peers who support the use of violence are also common risk markers in studies of all forms of violence among family members. Such environments can create a state of stress and uncertainty that encompasses all aspects of daily living, making it difficult to approach child rearing or relationship building in a measured and nonviolent manner. Although it is not universal, it is often the case that those engaged in violent behaviors have a history of poor performance in other domains, such as school, social relationships, and the workplace, failures that further isolate them from formal and informal systems that might modify their behaviors.

In addition to sharing common risk factors, at-risk individuals also share a variety of personal, familial, and cultural conditions that serve to minimize levels of family violence. Adults who have a strong sense of self and feel rewarded in their personal and work relationships are better able to manage the inevitable setbacks and disappointments in life without resorting to violent coping strategies. Strong family and friendship ties that reinforce respect for the opinions and needs of others also reduce the likelihood for violence. Communities with strong educational systems, employment opportunities, and a range of recreational and supportive services provide families and individuals ready access to the types of assistance that can bolster an individual's resistance to violence.

Over and above these shared risk and protective factors, a more coordinated examination of family violence is justified by the frequent co-occurrence of these problems within individual families. Most community mental health, child welfare, and juvenile court caseloads include a large proportion of clients who struggle with myriad problems. Within the context of violence, a number of reviews document the co-occurrence of child maltreatment in families where adult domestic violence is also occurring. Over 30 studies of the link between these two forms of violence show a 40% median co-occurrence of child maltreatment and adult domestic violence in the families studied. Similarly, children involved in mistreating their siblings often have experienced or observed violence by their parents. Adult children who physically or emotionally abuse their elder parents may do so, in part, because of how they were cared for as children.

One challenge in building on these commonalities in advancing practice and policy reforms is the tendency for those working in these domains to become more focused on their specific concerns, resource requirements, and professional training. In the absence of direct communication and shared learning, the efforts on each issue run the risk of becoming more self-contained and competitive. While recognizing the uniqueness of each form of violence and the reality that there is no perfect correlation among the causal patterns, impacts, and response systems associated with each form of violence, meaningful progress on each issue might best be realized by advancing coordinating reforms that cut across one or more of these problems.

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