Growing up in a violent home is one of the most terrifying and traumatic experiences a child can go through. It’s an experience that a child will not forget and can affect every aspect of a child’s life, growth and development. Between 3.3 and 10 million children are exposed to domestic violence each year and forty-five to seventy percent of these children are physically abused themselves.(1) Boys who witness domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners and children when they become adults.(2) Studies indicate that eighty percent of prisoners in the United States were abused as children or raised in violent homes. The fact that the majority of domestic violence is a learned behavior means that the perpetrator's behavior can be changed. Most individuals can learn not to batter if there is sufficient motivation for changing that behavior. By creating awareness and educating the public, we can promote community and social responsibility – we can break the cycle of violence.
1 "The overlap between child maltreatment and woman battering." J.L. Edleson, Violence Against
2 (Strauss, Gelles, and Smith, “Physical Violence in American Families: Risk Factors and Adaptations to Violence” in 8,145 Families. Transaction Publishers 1990) Women, February, 1999.