The study suggests the reverse – that women who have experienced childhood violence are far more likely to reject violence as a parenting “solution” when they become mothers themselves.
The researcher – Bendigo social worker Ms Kathy Mendis – interviewed nine regional women who had experienced various forms of family violence during childhood - including physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, and witnessing violence between parents.
She collected stories of their childhoods and their subsequent mothering experiences, shedding new light on the impact of their experience of violence as children.
Ms Mendis conducted the research as part of her Masters degree in Social Work at La Trobe University’s Bendigo campus.
She said the research challenged the theory that the victims of parental violence would grow up to become violent parents themselves.
“All of the women interviewed demonstrated a determination that what they had experienced would never happen to their own children, and had gone to great lengths to ensure this,” Ms Mendis said.
The study did reveal that the women’s mothering was affected by their childhood exposure to family violence in several ways, including direct emotional impacts such as experiencing anxiety and stress when placed in a situation that drew back memories of their childhood experiences.
“One woman found it difficult to attend family outings at hotels or restaurants because of the overwhelming anxiety she experienced if she saw other people getting drunk or even speaking loudly because of the memories it provoked of her violent alcoholic father. Another could not bathe her children in the bathroom because of a traumatic childhood experience with her father,” she said.
Ms Mendis said the research also revealed indirect impacts of conceptualisations of parenting formed in the light of childhood experiences.
“Some of the women spoke about how they had gone to great lengths to ‘keep peace in the household’ to ensure their children were not exposed to parental arguments or violence. For some that behaviour had contributed to communication and marriage breakdown.
Others who had experienced physical or sexual abuse as a child had difficulty with intimacy in their marriage.”
Ms Mendis said all of the women were quite emotional when talking about their childhood and still felt the trauma of those experiences even after 50 years.
“For some of the women, this study was the first time in their lives that they had opened up and actually fully reflected on their childhood experiences and the impact those experiences have had on their adult lives,” she said.
The findings encouraged social workers and health care personnel to appreciate that woman exposed to family violence in childhood do have specific issues with their mothering, and there is a need to address these.
“Assistance such as a program or service where they can seek help and discuss their issues may be beneficial," Ms Mendis said.
Ms Mendis said she hoped the research would add to the existing knowledge of the long- term impacts of childhood exposure to family violence on subsequent mothering, as well as emphasising the long-term consequences of children’s exposure to family violence.
For further information see The School of Social Work and Social Policy at La Trobe University, Bendigo: www.latrobe.edu.au/socialwork
Wednesday, 13 June 2007Research challenges cycle of violence theory on parentingA Bendigo social research study is challenging the weight given to the widely accepted ‘cycle of violence theory’ - which hypothesises that children who have experienced violence at the hands of their parents tend to grow up to become violent parents themselves.For further information contact:
Sally Routledge, La Trobe University, Bendigo: 03 5444 7374