Alisic Eva, Groot Arend, Snetselaar Hanneke, Stroeken Tielke, van de Putte Elise
Monash University Accident Research Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
Psychotrauma Centre Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2017 Oct 4;12(10):e0183466. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183466. eCollection 2017.
In the context of violence against women, intimate partner homicide increasingly receives research and policy attention. Although the impact of losing a parent due to intimate partner homicide is intuitively obvious, little is known about the children involved. We aimed to identify all children bereaved by parental intimate partner homicide in the Netherlands in the period 2003-2012, describe their demographics and family circumstances, and assess their exposure to prior violence at home and to the homicide itself.
We cross-examined 8 national data sources and extracted data about children's demographics and circumstances prior to, and during the homicide. Our primary outcomes were prior violence at home (child maltreatment, neglect or domestic violence) and homicide witness status (ranging from being at a different location altogether to being present at the scene). During the decade under study, 256 children lost a biological parent due to 137 cases of intimate partner homicide. On average, the children were 7.4 years old at the time of the homicide (51.1% were boys; 95% CI 47.3-54.7) and most lost their mother (87.1%; full population data). Immigrant children were overrepresented (59.4%; 95% CI 52.8-66.0). Of the children for whom information about previous violence at home was gathered, 67.7% (95% CI 59.7-73.7) were certainly exposed and 16.7% (95% CI 11.3-22.2) probably. Of the children who had certainly been exposed, 43.1% (95% CI 41.1-60.9) had not received social services or mental health care. The majority of the children (58.7%; 95% CI 52.1-65.3) were present at the location of the homicide when the killing took place, with varying levels of exposure. Homicide weapons mostly involved cutting weapons and firearms, leading to graphic crime scenes.
Care providers need capacity not only to help children cope with the sudden loss of a parent but also with unaddressed histories of domestic violence and exposure to graphic homicide scenes, in a culture-sensitive way. Future directions include longitudinal monitoring of children's mental health outcomes and replication in other countries.
在针对妇女的暴力行为背景下，亲密伴侣杀人案越来越受到研究和政策关注。虽然因亲密伴侣杀人案失去父母的影响直观上很明显，但对涉案儿童却知之甚少。我们旨在确定2003年至2012年期间荷兰所有因父母亲密伴侣杀人案而成为孤儿的儿童，描述他们的人口统计学特征和家庭情况，并评估他们在家中先前遭受暴力的情况以及对杀人事件本身的接触情况。
我们交叉审查了8个国家数据源，并提取了关于儿童在杀人案之前和期间的人口统计学特征和情况的数据。我们的主要结果是在家中先前遭受的暴力（儿童虐待、忽视或家庭暴力）以及杀人案目击者身份（范围从完全在不同地点到出现在现场）。在研究的十年中，256名儿童因137起亲密伴侣杀人案失去了亲生父母。杀人案发生时，这些儿童的平均年龄为7.4岁（51.1%为男孩；95%置信区间47.3 - 54.7），大多数失去了母亲（87.1%；全人群数据）。移民儿童占比过高（59.4%；95%置信区间52.8 - 66.0）。在收集了关于家中先前暴力信息的儿童中，67.7%（95%置信区间59.7 - 73.7）肯定遭受过暴力，16.7%（95%置信区间11.3 - 22.2）可能遭受过暴力。在肯定遭受过暴力的儿童中，43.1%（95%置信区间41.1 - 60.9）没有接受过社会服务或心理健康护理。大多数儿童（58.7%；95%置信区间52.1 - 65.3）在杀人发生时出现在杀人现场，接触程度各不相同。杀人凶器大多涉及刀具和枪支，导致犯罪现场惨不忍睹。
护理人员不仅需要有能力帮助儿童应对父母的突然离世，还需要以文化敏感的方式帮助他们应对未得到处理的家庭暴力史和接触惨不忍睹的杀人现场的情况。未来的方向包括对儿童心理健康结果的纵向监测以及在其他国家进行重复研究。
