Understanding the Developmental Impact of Domestic Violence and Adverse Experiences in Childhood across the Life-Course

Foster, Celeste; Gardner, Leigh

Abstract

This chapter explores the impacts of experiencing and bearing witness to domestic abuse in childhood. A developmental perspective is used to support the reader to understand how growing up in households where relationships are characterised by coercive control and aggression interacts with children's relational, emotional, and neuropsychobiological development, producing complex patterns of resilience, vulnerability, and defence. Using a dynamic life-course approach, the ways in which developmental disruptions of this kind can precipitate mental distress in adolescence and continue to colour and influence well-being and relationships in adulthood, are outlined. The challenges and implications of providing effective psychological approaches to recovery for survivors of coercive relationships or environments in childhood are elaborated. The influence of formative relationship experiences upon future relationship patterns, including the therapist-client relationship, is explored. Strategies to enhance client engagement are outlined, including use of creative, expressive-play approaches to help people of all ages be in touch with and process trauma in a safe, contained way. The chapter builds on knowledge gained in previous chapters, to enhance understanding of the profound impact that traumatic experiences can have on children, including the importance of appreciating the skills, tenacity, and resilience developed by survivors in highly adverse circumstances.

Citation

Foster, C., & Gardner, L. (2023). Understanding the Developmental Impact of Domestic Violence and Adverse Experiences in Childhood across the Life-Course. In J. Roddy (Ed.), Working with Client Experiences of Domestic Abuse (117-132). Taylor & Francis (Routledge). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003253266-9

• Online Publication Date: Jun 30, 2023
• Publication Date: May 11, 2023
• Deposit Date: May 25, 2023
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Pages: 117-132
• Book Title: Working with Client Experiences of Domestic Abuse
• Chapter Number: 9
• ISBN: 9781003253266
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003253266-9