The Experience of “Nothingness” Among Children Exposed to Interparental Violence

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the experience of children exposed to their father’s violence against their mother in the context of daily family life. More specifically, it focused on children’s perceptions of themselves, their father, mother, and siblings, and the interactions among them in their routine daily lives as reflected through narratives and drawings. The sample included 27 children, 13 boys and 14 girls, aged 7 to 12. They came from families in which intimate partner violence was reported to centers for the treatment and prevention of violence across Israel. The children were interviewed using a semistructured interview format. In addition, they were asked to make a drawing to describe their lives at home. Findings indicate that an experience of nothingness prevailed in children’s descriptions of their daily lives. This experience is defined by negative emotions, which include existence in a vacuum, meaninglessness, helplessness, confusion, and loss of control. Such feelings are crystallized in light of comparisons made by the children between normative expectations and the conditions in which they live. The implications of the findings for theory development and practice are discussed in light of the complexities of the exposure to violence.

Keywords:

• Intimate partner violence
• children
• family interaction
• experience

Disclosure statement

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Notes

1 The term interparental violence has been chosen over the more commonly used intimate partner violence due to the author’s belief that it is critical to emphasize that such interactions influence and involve the entire family, including the children.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yifat Carmel

Yifat Carmel, PhD, is an education consultant. She is an expert in the field of children who have experienced domestic violence and has published several articles on this subject. As part of her clinical consulting work, she served as the head of therapy for children exposed to interparental violence in a battered women's shelter and a center for the prevention and treatment of family violence, where she developed intervention and knowledge on the subject. She disseminates this knowledge field among social workers, therapists, educators, health care professionals, judges, and law enforcement authorities in Israel. Her activities as a researcher include the development of an art-based program for this child population.