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Related Literature Review: Family And Violence

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Review of Related Literature
Family and violence
The term parent-child relationship refers to the unique and enduring bond between a caregiver and his or her child, and a healthy parent-child relationship is essential to an individuals’ development. The primary caregivers of children are their parents; the other key caregivers may be the child’s other relatives or the friends of the child’s parents. Most of the time, the attachment working models of the relationships with parents and other key caregivers is established in infancy and childhood should be the foundation for attachment representations throughout life (Dinero, Conger, Shaver, Widaman, & Larsen-Rife, 2008). Whilst the term child maltreatment is the maltreatment or abuse that includes …show more content…

In addition, their life circumstances are often more difficult: including lower socioeconomic status, and less available social support (Letourneau, Fedick, & Willms, 2007). Given these problems, it is unsurprising that there are researchers who have found that their parenting is negatively affected. Specifically, these mothers have been found to be at higher risk to abuse their children, and are more likely to report using harsh parenting methods such as psychological aggression, physical aggression, and neglectful behaviors (Kelleher, Hazen, Coben, Wang, McGeehan, Kohl, & Gardner, 2008). Mother-to-child maltreatment, or specifically physical abuse, is a consistent predictor of intimate partner violence (Fritz, Slep, & O’Leary, 2012; Hendy, Weiner, Bakerofskie, Eggen, Gustitus, & McLeod, 2003; Moretti, Obsuth, Odgers, & Reebey, 2006). An explanation for this is that mothers are the primary attachment figures for their children (Doherty, & Feeny. 2004), and that they therefore play an influential role in their child’s interpersonal and conflict-resolution skills (Moretti, et. al., 2006). A number of developmental theories along with social learning theory, object relations theory, and attachment theory propose that individuals construct expectations of self, others, and relationships through observing, modelling, and …show more content…

al (2003) provided information on the relationship between childhood exposure to abuse and violence increases the risk of intimate partner violence in later adult life. Their analysis is focused solely on examining the risk of intimate partner violence as an adult who has been exposed to abuse and violence in their childhood. Attachment patterns are also closely shaped by the family-of-origin patterns and knowledge in early childhood and these patterns continue to exert a substantial influence over the years. Behavioral observations of interactions between parents and their early adolescent child predicted important features of the child’s interactions with their intimate partner during their early adulthood (Dinero, et. al., 2008). The quantity of evidence suggests that there is a positive relationship between childhood maltreatment and intimate partner abuse perpetration, with research indicating that both males and females with a history of childhood maltreatment are at greater risk for engaging in intimate partner abuse (Bevan & Higgins, 2002; White & Widom, 2003; Wolfe, Wekerle, Scott, Straatman, & Grasley, 2004; Gratz, Paulson, Jakupcak, & Tull, 2009). The mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear, despite the fact that it is clear that childhood maltreatment increases the risk for later intimate partner abuse perpetration. Furthermore, although several mediators of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and intimate

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