The effects on children of witnessing violence: implications for social work practice

Abstract

The study adopted a retrospective design to understand the effects of witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV) on children during their childhood and later in their adult life. The study was based on in-depth interviews with 12 adults from Hong Kong who had witnessed violence in their childhood. The respondents were chosen using an available sampling method. Thematic content analysis was used for data analysis. The findings of this study suggest that long-term adverse effects of witnessing violence are not caused simply by exposure to IPV in childhood, but the effects are associated with the social construction of victim identity.

Keywords::

• social construction
• victimisation
• child abuse
• witness violence
• intergenerational violence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

^1. A new immigrant woman and her two daughters were abused and killed by her husband, arousing heated debate in Hong Kong that subsequently led to policy changes.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by City University of Hong Kong, Strategic Research Grant [grant number 7002656]

Notes on contributors

Lai-ching Leung

Lai-ching Leung is an associate professor in the Department of Applied Social Sciences of the City University of Hong Kong. Her research interests are gender studies, social work and social policy.