what-when-how

In Depth Tutorials and Information

Intergenerational Transmission of Violence

The notion that family violence persists across generations is pervasive among clinicians, researchers, and the general public.
Although many people expect consistent intergenerational transmission of violence (ITV), many scholars have questioned the
supposed inevitability of transmission. Phenomena such as partner violence and child abuse clearly lead to myriad negative
outcomes for many victims, including subsequent victimization due to involvement in relationships with violent partners, as well as
perpetration of violence toward others, including partners and children. Estimates of the likelihood of ITV across generations vary
widely, and researchers have found several risk and protective factors that alter the rates of transmission. Ultimately, the majority of
people exposed to family violence during childhood are not involved in partner violence or child abuse as adults.

Transmission of family violence across generations may occur via several mechanisms. Social learning theory indicates that
children learn to be perpetrators and/or victims of violence through exposure to their parents’ expressions of violence. According to
attachment theory, child abuse leads to insecure attachment between parents and children; changes in the child’s internal working
model result in later relationship difficulties and inadequate care for one’s own children. Another possible explanation is that family
violence during childhood results in increased stress and negative life events; during adulthood, high stress and limited resources
lead people to use violence. Assortative mating suggests that people select mates similar to themselves, increasing the risk of
becoming involved in partner violence for people who are already predisposed. Some researchers point to features with genetic
components shared by parents and children that predispose both to family violence, such as antisocial traits, alcoholism, and
impulsivity. Some traits shared by parents and children may not be passed genetically but instead may be learned during childhood,
such as violence approval, poor emotion regulation, deficits in social information processing, and hostile attributions about
interpersonal relationships.

ITV research typically employs one of three methodologies, with inclusion of control samples varying among studies. First,
many researchers examine the rates of violence in the childhoods of adults currently involved in family violence as perpetrators or
victims. Alternatively, researchers begin with a sample of adults who experienced violence in their families of origin, then investigate
rates of family violence during adulthood. Less commonly, researchers take a sample of children with varying family violence
histories and follow them into adulthood. This latter prospective approach avoids reliance on retrospective recall of participants,
which can be prone to error and bias. However, prospective studies are costly in terms of money, time, and researcher effort.
Typically, retrospective studies result in higher estimates of transmission rates than prospective studies. Use of self-report measures
produces much higher rates of violence than reliance on substantiation by government agencies, which can result in large variations
in transmission rates.

Joan Kaufman and Edward Zigler illustrated how the same transmission data can be presented in different ways, resulting in
substantially different estimates of transmission. For example, using parents’ abuse histories as the starting point, a 1979 study by
Rosemary Hunter and Nancy Kilstrom found an 18% rate of transmission; that is, of parents with an abuse history, only 18% abused
their own infants. If current abuse had been the starting point instead, these same data would have shown a 90% transmission rate
because 9 of the 10 parents currently abusing their infants had been maltreated as children.

Transmission of Partner Violence

Sandra Stith and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of marital ITV, combining the results of 39 separate studies. They
found an average correlation of r = .18 between witnessing partner violence as a child and perpetrating partner violence as an adult;
this link was stronger for men (r = .21) than women (r = .11), indicating that boys who witness partner violence are more likely than
girls to become perpetrators. There was a small correlation (r = .14) between witnessing partner violence and becoming the victim
of partner violence as an adult; this link was stronger for women (r = .18) than men (r = .09), suggesting that girls who witness
partner violence are more likely than boys to become victims. Although not included in that meta-analysis, evidence from other
studies is mixed as to whether adults resemble their same-sex parent more than their opposite-sex parent in terms of violence
perpetration and victimization. Because the base rate of violence is higher in dating relationships than in marriages, the
transmission rate may be somewhat higher as well, but there have been no meta-analyses to date that compare dating and married
couples. Among the factors that can increase likelihood of partner ITV are antisocial behavior, receipt of harsh parenting during
childhood, experiencing abuse as a child, depression, substance abuse, attitudes condoning violence, and general relationship
conflict.

Transmission of Child Physical Abuse

Kaufman and Zigler estimated that one third of abused children grow up to become abusive parents. Subsequent studies have
found both higher and lower rates ranging from less than 10% to more than 40%, depending on factors such as study samples,
methodology, and definitions of abuse and violence. Regardless of exact rates, the bulk of the literature is clear that having a history
of child abuse consistently increases the likelihood of later perpetration of child abuse, but the majority of people abused as children
do not go on to maltreat their own children. Researchers have looked for factors that cause some parents to break the cycle of
violence and others to continue the cycle. Several protective factors have been found to decrease the likelihood of violence
transmission, such as stable relationships, nonviolent partners, receipt of emotional support, involvement in psychotherapy, and
stable home environments. Risk factors that increase the likelihood of violence transmission include young parental age, mental
illness including depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, child illness or disability, poor parenting, financial
stress, and other forms of violence in the home. In addition, children who experience more severe abuse, more frequent acts, and
more injuries are more likely to go on to abuse their own children.

Transmission of Child Sexual Abuse

Because most perpetrators of sexual abuse are men, transmission studies have focused on men as perpetrators and women as
mothers of sexually abused children. The largest longitudinal study following sexually abused boys into adulthood found that less
than 12% became perpetrators of sexual abuse against children (most of the victims were outside their families). Looking
retrospectively at known child sexual abusers, studies have found an average of 28% were sexually abused as children. One of the
largest risk factors that appears to increase risk of transmission is exposure to other forms of family violence. In terms of female
victims, there is a higher rate of sexual abuse among children of sexually abused mothers than those of nonabused mothers.
Contact with the mother’s abuser appears to increase children’s risk of being sexually abused, indicating that in many families, the
same person may be responsible for transmission across generations.

Multiple Forms of Family Violence

The 2000 meta-analysis by Stith and colleagues found that witnessing partner violence and experiencing child abuse in the family of
origin had similar impacts on subsequent adult partner violence. In terms of child physical abuse and sexual abuse, extant research
indicates that all forms of family violence do appear to lead to some increase in child maltreatment in the next generation. The
extent of the increased risk is modest, however, and there are numerous factors that can increase and decrease the likelihood of
ITV.

Transmission Over Time

Although a history of family violence is one of the greatest risk factors for perpetration and victimization as an adult,
intergenerational transmission is far from certain. The majority of people exposed to violence as children later break the cycle of
violence. It should also be noted that the rates of violence found to date may not hold true for future cohorts; as the rates of family
violence decline over time, the rates of ITV may also change in future generations.

Next post: Intensive Family Preservation Services

Previous post: Intermittent Explosive Disorder

Related Links

Interpersonal violence

Abolitionist Approach to Prostitution

Abandonment

Academy on Violence and Abuse

Abusive Behavior Inventory

Abuse-Focused Therapy

:: Search WWH ::

Search
Custom Search

Help Unprivileged Children ¶ Careers ¶ Privacy Statement ¶ Copyright Information