Children’s actions when experiencing domestic violence

ln this seminar findings from a qualitative research study on children (12-16 yrs) who have experienced domestic violence (DV) will be presented. Earlier research has mainly focused on the woman as the victim and the man as the perpetrator and their actions and coping strategies in regards to DV. This presentation will, by stressing the children’s subject position, focus on the children as victims but also as agents. By analyzing children’s discourses the children’s actions/absence of actions during a DV episode will be investigated. Our aim is to understand more about the strategies the children use during the DV episode and their understandings of these strategies, as well as their perceived strategies in case of a future DV episode.

The empirical data are recorded group therapy sessions and individual interviews with children in Sweden who have grown up experiencing their fathers’violence against their mothers. The analysis shows that the children’s stories contain two aspects of strategies: one related to the actions during the ongoing episode, and one the child perceives as possible/desirable for the future. The findings will be discussed in the light of Lazarus & Folkman’s (1984) theory of coping. ln addition, a short presentation of the research field of children who experience DV will be presented.