Exposure to Domestic Violence as Child Abuse?
The new issue of Child Maltreatment has a provocative article arguing for treating exposure to domestic violence as a form of child abuse. This argument is gaining credibility in the mental health circles, in light of so many studies showing how children who only witness domestic violence exhibit many of the same symptoms as children who are direct victims.
The article is worth purchasing simply for the list of research studies showing the effects of witnessing domestic violence. Any attorney or expert working on cases involving alleged or proven abuse should be familiar with that research. As I noted in my post about a study released last fall, competent experts must be able to rule out domestic violence as an alternate cause of symptoms and/or damages in litigation.
