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FEATURE--COMMUNITY SERVICES-WITNESSING VIOLENCE AND ABUSE ----------------------------------------------------------------- When children witness violence in the home, the effects can last forever and have many repercussions. Dr. Susan Wilson is a clinical psychologist with the Family Court Clinic at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto. She said exposure to violence in the home has both short and long-term impacts on children. In the short-term they perceive incidents as crisis events. If they are taken out of the home and put in a shelter, that represents a crisis for some children because they are separated from their home, friends, toys and, potentially, their school. Children understand events differently than adults. Dr. Wilson said this makes it important to take the time to understand how children have perceived the situation. Sometimes children have "normalized" the violence in the home. If it has gone on repeatedly, and if interventions by the police or other agencies have not resulted in any changes, children may come to accept violence as a normal and natural way of responding to anger or conflict. Dr. Wilson said witnessing the abuse of women can affect boys and girls differently. She said the boys who see violent acts are going to be 17 times more likely to show significant levels of behavioral problems than those who don't. She said girls who see violence are 10 times more likely to show noticeable levels of behavioral problems than girls who don't see violence. "That doesn't mean girls are not equally affected, it just means they are affected in a different way." She said boys are more likely to "act out" their reaction through violent or aggressive behavior, but they will also internalize some feelings and may show signs of anxiety and depression. Dr. Wilson said that, in part, these reactions can be best understood based on what they have seen in the home. She said "barterers" use a variety of methods to assert power and control over their partners. She added that abusers provide models of aggressive and physically violent behavior. A barterer can also model internalized behavior such as dependence on his partner by telling her that he can't live if she leaves him or if she doesn't return to him. Dr. Wilson pointed out that girls tend to show their distress more through internalizing their feelings, appearing anxious or depressed. Girls may show lower self-esteem and may distort what is appropriate in terms of relationships. They may experience particular difficulties in their teen years when they start their own relationships. Children not only see violence in the home but in many cases they are victims of it. Dr. Wilson said that 30 to 40 per cent of men who batter their partners will also physically abuse their children. The American psychologist Honore Hughes referred to this as a "double whammy." Children may put the blame of the turmoil in the house on themselves. She said, "It's very common for children to think of themselves as the cause of the violence." She said some children think it's their responsibility to prevent more violence from occurring or to stop the violence once it has started. It's often in these situations of intervening that children are hurt themselves. Furthermore, 15 to 30 per cent of adolescents who have been wrongly treated will go on to be involved in some kind of delinquent acts compared with "non-maltreated" adolescents. Maltreated adolescents are more likely to start offending at an earlier age and are more likely to be charged with more serious offences such as assault, rather than such things as theft. -30- EDITOR'S NOTE: Dr. Susan Wilson is a keynote speaker at the Prevention of Child Abuse Conference, Thursday Oct. 3 and Friday, Oct. 4, at the Mount Saint Vincent University Mother House, Halifax. She will also present a workshop on helping children who have witnessed violence in their homes. This article was written by John Whidden of Communications Nova Scotia for the Family Violence Prevention Initiative. Contact: John McKee 902-424-3998 trp Sept. 30, 1996 - 1:40 p.m.