Should childhood exposure to adult domestic violence be defined as child maltreatment under the law?
Abstract
A growing body of research has revealed that many children are affected by exposure to adult domestic violence. Increased public attention to this issue has led at least one state to define childhood exposure to domestic violence as a form of child maltreatment and to respond to it as such. This article reviews the research on childhood exposure to domestic violence and emerging laws aimed at protecting these children. Greater caution and more creative thinking is needed as public agencies and programs attempt to develop public policy for children exposed to domestic violence. The author concludes with an argument against assuming that childhood exposure to violence is automatically a form of child maltreatment and suggests the need to modify child protection services and the expansion of primarily voluntary community-based responses to these children and their families. (Author Abstract)
Description
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Book chapter
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Keywords
child abuse, domestic violence, intimate partner violence, family violence, law, child witness, legal, exposure to violence
Citation
Edleson, J. L. (2004). Should childhood exposure to adult domestic violence be defined as child maltreatment under the law. In P. G. Jaffe, L.L. Baker, & A. Cunningham (Eds.), Protecting children from domestic violence: Strategies for community intervention (pp. 8-29). New York: Guilford Press.