Exposure to domestic violence: Profile of children reported to child welfare and response to families needs
The present study concerns the profile of the children exposed to the domestic violence reported to the child welfare services in Quebec as well as on the answer to the needs for help of families. It aims at giving a new perspective by distinguishing the exposure to the physical and psychological domestic violence as well than direct and indirect forms of the exposure. The study is based on the use of a representative sample of the children under age 18 reported to the child welfare services in sixteen centers youth of Quebec. The findings indicate that children who have been exposed to domestic violence are more often victims of others forms of maltreament than other children. Their family environment is also more affected by parental difficulties. The situation is particularly complexe in the case of exposure to the domestic psychological violence. The fact that the majority of the families where there is domestic violence are not oriented to social services adapted to this problem is worrisome. The intervention with these families requires that is not only taken into account the needs for the children, but also those are related to the victimization of the mothers and to the violence of the spouse.