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Affiliation
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Institute for Social Research and the Department of Sociology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Ill.; Department of Social Science, Spring Hill College, Mobile, Al. |
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Abstract
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This paper analyzes the coexistence of aggressive relations reported by 888 intact child-rearing families using the National Survey of Physical Violence in American Families. The existence of spousal violence in the family of origin increased the likelihood that the respondent, whether husband or wife, was the target of aggression from his or her spouse. Aggression between parent and child in female respondents'' families of origin increased the likelihood that females behaved aggressively toward their children. Among these families, no pervasive pattern of sex-specific learned perpetration was found. Instead, vulnerability to aggression was transmitted more than the learned role of perpetrator. The analysis differs from earlier studies in that all of the patterns of family aggression are analyzed simultaneously, thereby taking into account current family interactions as well as historical ones.
VioLit Summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this paper by Cappell and Heiner was to analyze the coexistence of aggressive relations among intact child-rearing families in order to examine how levels of aggression in the respondent's current family were associated with the presence or absence of violence in the respondent's family of origin. It was based within a conceptual framework of the "intergenerational transmission of violence" theory.
METHODOLOGY:
A quasi-experimental, cross-sectional design was employed, using secondary analysis of the National Survey of Physical Violence in American Families. Of the 2143 randomly selected married or cohabitating couples interviewed in the survey, a non-probability sub-sample was taken of 888 respondents (487 females, 401 males) involved in rearing a child between 3 and 17 years of age. Aggression in the family of origin was measured by questions concerning whether the respondent was hit by mother or father during the teen years, or witnessed or knew of parents hitting each other. The 16-item Conflict Tactics Scale was used to measure incidence of aggression in the respondent's current family. Loglinear analysis and multivariate models of association were used to examine the relationships between the different forms of violence in the two generations of the sample families.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
Aggression between spouses in the family of origin was found to be associated with aggression between parents and respondents, and if respondents were hit by their parents, they were more likely to report hitting their own children. Aggression between husband and wife in the current family increased the likelihood of aggression directed toward the children in that family. Sex of respondent was found to be related to parent-to-respondent aggression - males reported that they had been hit by their parents in their families of origin more frequently than did females. Females were more likely than males to report hitting their children in their current families, and spousal aggression in families of origin was associated with increased likelihood of wife-to-husband aggression in the current family - an association holding more for males than for females. From these findings the authors concluded that women did not learn the role of perpetrator of aggression in the families of origin. Rather, after witnessing spousal agression in their families of origin, women were more likely to report being targets of aggression from their husbands - learning or inheriting vulnerability from their original families. For males, witnessing spousal aggression in families of origin did not increase the likelihood of husband-to-wife aggression, but there was an association between spousal aggression and wife-to-husband aggression - as with females, males did not learn the role of perpetrator, but rather the role of vulnerability.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors examined the implications of their findings in relation to domestic violence prevention. They claimed that knowing whether aggressive relations were present in an individual's family of origin would be more useful in predicting whether the respondent would be the target of aggression than in predicting whether the respondent would be the perpetrator of aggression. Especially for women, being the target of parental aggression in the family of origin can lead to acts of aggression against their own children in their current family. The authors emphasized the need to examine historical patterns of aggression as well as current behaviors in order to fully understand the dynamics of the situation. Future research, it was argued, must address factors in addition to the presence or absence of spousal violence in the family of origin, in order to develop a full explanantion of spousal aggression.
EVALUATION:
The authors employ good logic in the development of this study, and use sophisticated techniques of analysis to cover a wide variety of variables that could possibly have an effect upon the outcomes. Whilst alternative explanations for the findings are not addressed, the discussion and implications of the results are well presented and thoughtful, and interesting directions for further research are suggested. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Domestic Violence Effects
KW - Domestic Violence Causes
KW - Child Abuse Victim
KW - Child Abuse Effects
KW - Child Abuse Causes
KW - Witnessing Spouse Abuse
KW - Witnessing Violence Effects
KW - Spouse Abuse Effects
KW - Childhood Victimization
KW - Child Victim
KW - Child Witness
KW - Intergenerational Transmission of Violence
KW - Theory
KW - Juvenile Victim
KW - Juvenile Witness
KW - Adult Victim
KW - Adult Violence
KW - Adult Offender
KW - Spouse Abuse Causes
KW - Victim to Offender
KW - Family of Origin Violence
KW - Domestic Violence Offender
KW - Domestic Violence Victim
KW - Child Abuse Offender
KW - Spouse Abuse Offender
KW - Spouse Abuse Victim
KW - Violence Against Women
KW - Partner Violence
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