Children's Meaning‐Conciliation of their Fathers' Violence Related to Fathers and Violence in General

Abstract

Exposure to a father's violence against the mother during childhood entails a risk for emotional and behavioral problems and for reproducing violent behavior. More knowledge about how children make sense of the contradictory aspects of fathers' violence may help us understand variations in children's reactions. This qualitative study aims to contribute to theoretical development by identifying patterns in how children can relate general conceptions of fathers to general conceptions of violence to create conciliated meaning about their own father's violence against their mother. Ten children, aged 8 to 12, were interviewed using a semistructured format. Analysis of their abstractions and generalizations of concepts crucial for meaning‐conciliation resulted in the identification of three patterns of meaning: 1) acknowledging the violent father as one kind of father, 2) acknowledging the father's violent behavior as one part of his multifaceted personality, and 3) distancing violence from fathers' relative goodness. Implications of the findings for social theory and child welfare praxis are suggested.

Keywords:

• Children
• Domestic violence
• Family violence
• Fathers
• Meaning