The purpose of this report was to
provide an update on the cycle of violence research published in recent years. Research
conducted with children indicates that children who are both witnesses and victims of
abuse have more severe aggressive behavioural outcomes than do those who are solely
victims, who in turn have more difficulties than those who have witnessed violence but
have never been victimized. Investigations conducted with adolescents and adults in the
general population suggest that both witnessing and experiencing family violence in
childhood are associated with violence in the adult family. Research with offenders
indicates that a very high proportion of this population have a history of witnessing
violence or being directly victimized. File review studies reveal that an abuse history is
in turn related to family-directed and stranger directed violence that comes to the
attention of authorities.
It is interesting to note that despite
Widom's (1989b) call for prospective designs in research addressing the "violence
begets violence" hypothesis, the majority of the studies reviewed in this report are
retrospective in nature. Indeed, many of the other methodological shortcomings pointed out
by Widom can be observed in articles published in the five years since her report became
available to the academic community at large11. Based on the few prospective
studies that do exist, numerous reviewers maintain that the majority of abused children do
not continue the cycle of violence as adults. Even in childhood, the proportion of
children who exhibit clinical levels of emotional/behavioural problems as a result of
living with family violence is lower than one might expect: about one-third of boys and
one-fifth of girls are in the clinical range (Cooper, 1992). As discussed earlier,
estimates of the proportion of abused children who then go on abuse their own offspring
are around 30%. Witnessing violence between parents is thought to be only modestly related
to marital aggression in the second generation; about 16-17% of witnesses report
aggression in their own intimate relationships (Widom, 1989b) 12. Nevertheless,
a number of the studies described in this report indicate that the proportion of variance
in violent behaviour accounted for by abuse and/or witness status is significant, thus
further research on protective factors and potentially helpful treatment interventions is
required.
11Given the lag time between data collection and
publication of results, it is probably the case that many studies were designed and
completed in the years prior to Widom's landmark review yet published in the years that
followed. Perhaps an increase in the number of studies that incorporate Widom's design
recommendations will be seen in the near future.
12It is difficult to generate corresponding figures for
the relationship between witnessing violence and later perpetration of child abuse and
between experiencing abuse and later partner abuse since none of the prospective studies
directly addressed these questions.
Although few studies specifically
address the issue of intergenerational transmission of violence among offenders, the
available research suggests that the overlap between childhood victimization and later
violent behaviour in this population is actually quite substantial (Dutton & Hart,
1992a, 1992b; Robinson & Taylor, 1994). As explained earlier, numerous characteristics
of incarcerated populations are mentioned in the literature discussing the attributes of
batterers (Dutton & Hart, 1992b). For example, Hotaling and Sugarman (1986) discovered
in their extensive review of the risk markers for husband to wife violence that witnessing
violence during childhood or adolescence was a consistent risk marker for battering, as
was alcohol use, low assertiveness, low income and educational level and partner- directed
sexual aggression. A criminal arrest record was also (inconsistently) associated with
marital aggression. This correspondence between criminal and family abuser profiles
reinforces the importance of making treatment programs available to offenders. The
Correctional Service of Canada has already taken steps to provide programming for
offenders who have a history of wife assault and/or parenting problems. Given the findings
of recent file review studies, it is important that the programs offered directly address
the concept of the cycle of violence.
The next logical steps
for future research on the cycle of violence include studies exploring the effect of
amount of violence witnessed (Jaffe, Wolfe & Wilson, 1990; Hughes, 1988), more
prospective studies following victimized children into adulthood (Widom, 1989b), and
studies of the factors that may prevent individuals from repeating the abuse that they
have experienced and/or witnessed (e.g. "protective factors;" Garmezy, 1981).
