Violence as a Legacy: Impact of Witnessing Parental Violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has negative spillovers on other family members. In particular, children are at risk in various ways. This chapter treats witnessing IPV as an adverse childhood event that has long-term consequences on the behaviour of the children. Specifically, this chapter examines how witnessing spousal physical violence in childhood affects the likelihood of IPV victimization in adulthood. A major methodical issue in analysing this effect is the stigma associated with victimization. We use non-parametric methods to generate interval estimates for the impact of witnessing IPV as a child. Variations in the interval estimates are analysed across socio-demographic correlates and forms of violence.