Research shows that children who were raised in violent families have a significantly higher rate of creating a violent family system as adults. This is the "cycle of violence" hypothesis. However, not all children raised in violent families become abusive spouses or parents. The following is a list of factors that research has found that minimizes or breaks the "cycle of violence."
| 1. | People who were not in denial as to what happened to them as children--did
not idealize their past--they got angry about what happened to them and rejected their past parenting |
|
| 2. | Had more social supports--were not socially isolated. | |
| 3. | Had physically healthy babies. | |
| 4. | Had few ambivalent feelings about their child. | |
| 5. | Were not abused by both parents. | |
| 6. | Had a supportive relationship with one parent. | |
| 7. | Had fewer "stressful events" in their lives. | |
| 8. | Had experienced less severe and shorter periods of maltreatment. | |
| 9. | Had positive school experiences during childhood. | |
| 10. | Had received some form of therapy. |
To learn more about family violence and the factors that can potentially break "the
cycle of violence" read Gelles and Loseke, 1993, Current Controversies on Family
Violence, Falshaw, et al. 1996 "Victim to Offender: A Review" in
Aggression and Violent Behavior, Vol.1 No.4, pgs.389-404, or Egeland, Jacobvitz,
or Stroufe, 1988, "Breaking the Cycle of Abuse," Child Development, Vol.
59:1080-1088 .
To learn more about child sexual molestation read the following online report click here.