NCJ Number
190803
Date Published
February 2001
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This overview summarizes some of the salient findings regarding Australian young people's experience of violence in their own relationships, their experience of witnessing adult domestic violence, and their attitudes toward violence.
Abstract
Up to one-quarter of youth in Australia have witnessed an incident of physical or domestic violence against their mothers or stepmothers. These findings came from a survey of 5,000 Australians between the ages of 12 and 20 from all States and Territories in Australia. The rate of witnessing violence varied considerably depending on the nature of household living arrangements; for example, the witnessing of male-to-female parental violence ranged from 14 percent for those youth living with both parents to 41 percent for those living with "mum and her partner." Young people of lower socioeconomic status were about one and a half times more likely to be aware of violence toward their mothers or fathers than those from upper socioeconomic households. Indigenous youth were significantly more likely to have experienced physical domestic violence between their parents or between parents and their partners. In the case of male-to-female violence, the rate was 42 percent compared to 23 percent for all respondents, and for female-to-male violence, the rate was 33 percent compared to 22 percent. The findings in relation to the effect of witnessing domestic violence on both attitudes and experience give support to the "cycle of violence" thesis, i.e., witnessing parental domestic violence is the strongest predictor of perpetration of violence in young people's own intimate relationships. 2 figures, 2 tables, and 7 references