What effect does battered woman syndrome have on children? An authoritative study states that children who witness domestic violence but are not abused themselves show behavioral and emotional problems similar to those physically abused children experience and may also suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome later on. One study states that witnessing violence between parents is a more predictive of future violence than being a victim of child abuse.
Children find this behavior acceptable to their most important role models. Children learn that abuse is a way to influence loved ones without being exposed to more constructive alternatives. As children grow older, they tend to identify with their parents and lose respect for their mother or feel guilty for not being able to protect her.
Domestic violence becomes a factor in custody cases. Psychological studies have shown three reasons why the battered woman is more likely to be a better custodial mother than her abusive spouse:
- Abuser violence harms children’s emotional health
- Placing children with the abuser perpetuates the cycle of violence
- The mother’s parenting skills are probably better, as she was likely the main mother.
We have all heard of cases where the abused mother failed to protect her children from abuse by the abuser. In one case, the expert described battered woman syndrome as “a breakdown in a woman’s self-confidence and self-respect to a point where she no longer knows whether or not she is crazy.” BWS was used to show that the mother did not have the ability to protect her child from the sexual abuse of the father.
Once out of the abusive relationship, a woman can overcome the feelings of inadequacy and helplessness that were brainwashed while in an abusive relationship. The courts have granted a modification of a consent decree to change custody from the father to the mother when the mother was later able to show that the consent decree was signed under duress, that the father abused her during the marriage, and used inappropriate discipline with the kids.
Even when children are not physically harmed by domestic abuse, the negative effects are complicated and long-lasting.
