Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
J Interpers Violence. 2021 Dec;36(23-24):NP12756-NP12782. doi: 10.1177/0886260520903132. Epub 2020 Feb 5.
The literature has shown that including children's perspectives in intimate partner violence (IPV) field research will improve our understanding of this violence and its impact on the well-being of victims. Furthermore, the literature suggests that children are not passive witnesses. Rather, they use a variety of strategies to cope with IPV. The aim of this research is to understand the experiences and coping strategies of children who have lived through IPV between their parents/caregivers. The participants of this study were nine children between the ages of 8 and 12 years (five girls and four boys). These participants were recruited from a specialized program in Chile focused on the maltreatment of children. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and a thematic narrative analysis was used to identify recurring themes from the interviews. The results showed that children used a variety of coping strategies when an episode of violence was occurring. The aim of these coping strategies included the following: (a) emotional and behavioral self-regulation, (b) seeking social support, (c) avoiding emotional reactions related to IPV episodes, (d) escaping violent episodes, and (e) intervening to stop the IPV and protect their mothers. Along with these coping mechanisms, the results reveal that children often not only have to confront IPV when it is present in their families but are also potentially subjected to other types of victimization. The findings of this study highlight that children are active subjects with agency in response to episodes of IPV and respond through a range of actions and coping mechanisms. The researchers emphasize the relevance of integrating and validating the voices of children in research, given that children are direct victims of IPV and a high-risk group for other types of child victimization.
文献表明，将儿童视角纳入亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）领域研究，将有助于增进我们对这种暴力及其对受害者福祉影响的理解。此外，文献表明，儿童并非消极的旁观者，而是会采用各种策略来应对 IPV。本研究旨在了解经历过父母/照顾者之间发生 IPV 的儿童的体验和应对策略。本研究的参与者是 9 名 8 至 12 岁的儿童（5 名女孩和 4 名男孩）。这些参与者是从智利一个专门针对儿童虐待问题的项目中招募的。我们进行了半结构化访谈，并采用主题叙事分析来识别访谈中的反复出现的主题。结果表明，当发生暴力事件时，儿童会采用多种应对策略。这些应对策略的目的包括：（a）情绪和行为自我调节，（b）寻求社会支持，（c）避免与 IPV 事件相关的情绪反应，（d）逃避暴力事件，以及（e）干预以阻止 IPV 并保护他们的母亲。除了这些应对机制外，结果还揭示了，儿童不仅经常在家庭中面临 IPV，而且还可能遭受其他类型的受害。这项研究的结果强调，儿童是具有能动性的积极主体，他们会对 IPV 事件做出反应，并通过一系列行动和应对机制来应对。研究人员强调，鉴于儿童是 IPV 的直接受害者，且是其他类型儿童受害的高风险群体，因此，将儿童的声音纳入研究并加以整合和验证具有重要意义。
