ABSTRACT
This research explored whether witnessing spouse abuse influences children's use of violent and peaceful behavior in conflicts with peers. Sixty-two child witnesses were compared with 53 non-witnesses across five types of childhood conflicts: limited resources, exclusion, aggression, intimidation, and jealousy. Each conflict was presented in two formats: (1) hypothetical conflicts, and (2) simulated conflict situations. For both, most children, and particularly non-witness males, were consistently peaceful. However, male witnesses were inconsistent and violent in both conflict formats. Female witnesses proposed peaceful strategies in hypothetical conflicts, but were inconsistent and violent in simulated conflicts. Female non-witnesses were consistent and peaceful in simulated conflicts, but were inconsistent and more violent in hypothetical conflicts. Group differences wereprimarily due to subsets of children.
