NCJ Number
169101
Date Published
1997
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Based on the authors' experiences in working with children who have witnessed violence, this paper presents guidance for parents, teachers, and health care providers in providing positive influences and services for such children.
Abstract
The philosophical premise of this paper is that providing individual therapeutic intervention for children who are victims or bystanders to violence is insufficient when addressing a problem of this magnitude. All persons who have influential contact with such children can play an important role in helping the children to interpret and cope positively with their experience with violence. Parents can help children re-establish a sense of order and routine in their lives, as well as understand that what happened is not their fault, and respond to children's fears and worries honestly and with whatever reassurance is possible. Teachers should also be trained to help children who are victims of violence. Such training may be divided into three content areas: information about general child development and the effects on children at differing ages of exposure to violence, the dynamics of resilience and coping in children, and teachers' own reactions to and experiences with violence. Training for medical practitioners who have contact with child victims of violence must include four components. One component is the impact of exposure to violence for children, posttraumatic stress syndrome in children, and the dynamics of domestic violence. The second component should include training about how to ask questions sensitively in a pediatric interview. The third component should contain information about community resources and the legal system. The fourth component should emphasize the importance of active and empathic listening. This paper also discusses multisystem involvement at the community level. 28 references