Hello, benfranklin-ga!
It is a pleasure to answer another of your questions. I believe I
have covered most of the points you inquired about. As Tutuzdad stated
in his comment, there is conflicting evidence about the nature of the
abuse cycle. I think there is enough compelling evidence to show,
however, that there is a perpetuation of abuse to considerable degree.
I have excerpted a great deal of information from articles that cite
research studies. Unfortunately, I do not have access to the journals
and books cited, so I have provided the full citations from portions
of the articles I have excerpted. This way you can reference them to
read in full if you have the time or the access. Many of the articles
also have a more extensive citation list that may interest you
further.
I hope I have not overwhelmed you! I felt it was better to post
relevant excerpts so you can decide whether you want to read the
article in full, rather than merely post the links.
If you need further clarification, please let me know and I will try
to help if I am able!
umiat-ga
=============================
EVIDENCE FOR A CYCLE OF ABUSE
=============================
From "Banishing the Ghosts of Abuse," by Dr. Deborah Jacobvitz.
Discovery. The University of Texas at Austin. (1997)
http://www.utexas.edu/admin/opa/discovery/disc1996v14n3/disc-abuse.html
"Nearly every parent wants to provide their children with the best
care possible. Interviews by University of Texas researchers with
first-time mothers reveal that all but four of the forty-seven women
who described having experienced physical or sexual abuse during
childhood vowed to raise their children differently than they had been
raised. Each of these mothers with a six-month-old infant was
determined to provide her child with the safe and loving home that she
had never had."
"Why, then, over the next three years of their children's lives, did
70 percent of these mothers re-enact the maltreatment? Why are
relationship patterns learned early in life so difficult to change?
Why do some parents break the cycle of abuse and provide adequate care
for their children while others do not? These issues have been the
focus of several ongoing studies following families over time at The
University of Texas at Austin."
=====
From "Abusive Parenting and Childrearing Practices." Juvenile Justice
Bulletin (November 2000)
http://www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/2000_11_1/page3.html
"Of all primary prevention strategies tested, parenting education for
adults and adolescents before they become parents is often identified
as the strategy most likely to prevent initial injuries to children.
This belief is based on the theory that children learn abusive
parenting practices from observing their parents and experiencing
abuse during the process of growing up. Learned patterns of abusive
parenting are transmitted from parent to child and are replicated by
the child when he or she becomes a parent. Steele and Pollock (1968)
and Martin (1976) observed the perpetuation theory of child abuse and
neglect at work in their clinical cases. Steele, Pollock, and Martin
required parents charged with child maltreatment to participate in
psychiatric programs to remediate their "abusive" personality traits.
Clinicians found that abusive parents commonly referred to their own
histories of childhood abuse. Similar clinical findings reported
subsequently by other professionals across the country have added
increased support to the perpetuation theory of abuse.
==
"In addition, children who see and experience recurrent episodes of
serious violence in their own families learn and believe violence is a
useful way to solve problems. On becoming parents, these children tend
to punish their own children more severely. Thus, abused children
often become abusive parents (Straus, 1991).
==
"Parents Anonymous," by Maritza Antu. JGallery.
http://www.utexas.edu/coc/journalism/SOURCE/jgallery/npaper/mantu.html
"Children who have abusive parents learn from experience that abuse is
part of the parenting process from the minute they are born, according
to Keetch's report. Therefore, if children learn at home that abuse is
okay, they too will become abusive parents. The report concluded that
the relationship between child abuse and domestic violence turns into
a hard-to-break cycle that can continue for generations."
(Could find no other reference to the report mentioned in the article
- "A 1999 report by Jance Keetch, public information officer of the
Texas Department of Regulatory Services in the Austin area".)
=======================================================
CONTRADICTIONS IN EVIDENCE PROMOTING THE CYCLE OF ABUSE
=======================================================
From "Cycle of Sexual Abuse: Research Inconclusive About Whether Child
Victims Become Adult Abusers. A Summary of Twenty-five Studies." U.S.
General Accounting Office. Reprinted From: Interacting with People
with Disabilities. (11/96)
http://www.casanet.org/library/abuse/abuse-cycle-study.htm
"In a report to congress on the "Cycle of Sexual Abuse: Research
Inconclusive About Whether Child Victims Become Adult Abusers," the
General Accounting Office identified 25 studies that provided
quantitative information relevant to the question of whether persons
who were at heightened risk of becoming sexual abusers of children in
adulthood."
"The two prospective studies concluded that the majority of victims of
sexual abuse during childhood did not become sex offenders as adults.
Therefore, childhood sexual victimization would not necessarily lead
to adult sexual offending. In addition, the majority of retrospective
studies concluded that most adult sex offenders against children did
not report that they were sexually victimized as children. Therefore,
childhood sexual victimization would probably not be sufficient to
explain adult sexual offending. While some studies indicated that
sexual victimization in childhood may increase the risk that victims
will become sexual offenders as adults, other studies found that many
other conditions and experiences might also be associated with an
increased risk. For example, one prospective study we reviewed found
that children who were neglected were even more likely than children
who were sexually abused to commit sex offenses as adults.
==
Also read the following lengthy treatise:
"Intergenerational Transfer of Abuse," by Tara Beauchamp. Carleton
University
http://chat.carleton.ca/~tdbeauch/homepg.html
The discussion brings up discrepancies in the research"
http://chat.carleton.ca/~tdbeauch/disscuss.html
====================================================
ABUSE SURVIVORS AND PROBLEMATIC ADULT RELATIONSHIPS
====================================================
While none of the following articles deal specifically with divorce,
all point to the emotional problems faced by suvivors of abuse once
they enter an adult relationship. It might be assumed that many of
these marriage relationships likely end in divorce.
==
"Disrupted Relationships And Couple Therapy: Treating Female Survivors
Of Child Sexual Abuse And Their Partners," by Jill M. Serafin. NCP
Clinical Quarterly 6(2): (Spring 1996)
http://www.ncptsd.org/publications/cq/v6/n2/serafin.html
"Many women who have a history of CSA describe their couple
relationships as dissatisfying and turbulent (12). Survivors tend to
experience more fear and distrust of others (13), and often have
problems with assertiveness and effective communication (14-15).
Several studies indicate that survivors experience a range of sexual
problems, including decreased sexual satisfaction and desire,
increased sexual dysfunction, and a tendency to engage in multiple,
short-term sexual relationships (16-17). Moreover, women who have a
history of CSA appear to be more vulnerable to physical and sexual
revictimization in their adult relationships when compared to
nonabused women (18-19)."
"CSA occurs in an interpersonal context often characterized by both
emotional and sexual intimacy, a combination which closely resembles
traditional expectations for adult couple relationships. Consequently,
it is not uncommon for survivors to experience intense ambivalence
about forming close, trusting relationships in adulthood, or to have
skills deficits which make it difficult for them to sustain intimate
and fulfilling relationships (3). In fact, survivor couples may
experience decreased emotional expressiveness within their
relationships, and report more difficulties with emotional
communication and feeling connected to each other (23).
"It is not uncommon for survivors to be involved in relationships
characterized by physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, and these areas
should be routinely assessed. Many women who have experienced a
history of CSA have also learned to associate their intimate
relationships with being dominated or even tortured. This learning
history, in combination with the intense feelings of inadequacy often
experienced by survivors, often leads this population to value
relationships which would be described as intolerable by traditional
standards."
"Issues of intimacy and closeness are frequently identified as primary
problems by survivors of CSA. Not surprisingly, many survivors report
seeking out partners who are not likely to demand uncomfortable levels
of intimacy in their relationships. However, over time, many couples
report conflict between partners over the level of closeness desired
in their primary relationships, and this discrepancy is often a
presenting complaint for couple therapy (44).
"There is tremendous support for the common sense notion that CSA has
a significant and aversive impact on later sexual adjustment (46).
Many female survivors experience uncomfortable reminders of the abuse
during sexual activity, including intrusive thoughts, memories, or
flashbacks (17). Furthermore, it is not uncommon for CSA survivors to
attempt to minimize these experiences by avoiding sexual activity
directly, engaging in compulsive sexual behavior, or by dissociating
during stressful sexual encounters. Survivor couples are more likely
to experience sexual dysfunctions, including low sexual desire,
inorgasmia, and impotence (17, 47), and often describe their sexual
relationships as unfulfilling."
"While survivors may experience problems across social roles, there
are many reasons to believe that the most profound disruptions will be
observed in survivor couple relationships."
References cited in exerpts:
3. Briere, J. (1992). Child Abuse Trauma: Theory and Treatment of the
Lasting Effects. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
12. Herman, J. L. (1981) Father-daughter Incest. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
13. Briere, J., & Runtz, M. (1987). Post sexual abuse trauma: Data and
implications for clinical practice. Journal of Interpersonal Violence,
2(4), 367-379.
14. Dilillo, D. K. & Long, P. J. (1995). Adult relationships of
childhood sexual abuse victims: Measures of satisfaction, trust, and
communication. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the
Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Washington DC.
15. Van Buskirk, S. S., & Cole, C. F. (1983). Characteristics of eight
women seeking therapy for the effects of incest. Psychotherapy:
Theory, Research, and Practice, 20(4), 503-514.
17. Maltz, W., & Holman, B. (1987). Incest and Sexuality. Lexington,
Massachusetts: Lexington Books.
18. Russell, D. E. (1986). The Secret Trauma: Incest in the Lives of
Girls and Women. New York: Basic Books.
19. Wyatt, G. E., Guthrie, D., & Notgrass, C. M. (1992). Differential
effects of women's child sexual abuse and subsequent sexual
revictimization. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60(2),
167-173.
23. Waltz, J. (1993). The long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse
on women's relationships with partners. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation. University of Washington, Seattle.
44.Christensen, A. (1988). Dysfunctional interaction patterns in
couples. In P. Noller & M. A. Fitzpatrick (Eds.), Perspectives on
Marital Interaction. Avon, England: Multilingual Matters.
47. Graber, K. (1991). Ghosts in the Bedroom: A Guide for Partners of
Incest Survivors. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications.
===
From ""Abusive Parenting and Childrearing Practices." Juvenile Justice
Bulletin (November 2000)
http://www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/2000_11_1/page3.html
"Ackley (1977) states that potential abusers both seek and shun
intimate relationships. They may seek intimacy to obtain what is
missing in their relationship with their parents, which leads them to
define a close relationship as one in which, similar to a child, they
can obtain emotional support and warmth without giving much in return;
and depend on their partners to solve the problems of living that
adults are called on to solve. Alternately, they may shun intimacy
because their earliest childhood attempts at intimacy with their
parents were seen as failures. The early failures at achieving
intimacy may suggest that close relationships are dangerous, doomed to
produce disappointment, and a threat to self-esteem because people
cannot be trusted.
"According to Ackley, the behavioral outcome of this complex set of
feelings is that potential abusers replicate their earlier childhood
experiences and marry individuals who are less able than most to
provide emotional support and then expect their children to give them
the love they have been missing all their lives."
==
From "Adult Sequelae of Child Sexual Abuse," by Dr Jane Barker. MedAU
Clinical.
http://www.medicineau.net.au/clinical/psychiatry/SexualAbuse.html
Defects in Interpersonal Relationships:
"Women victimised as children are more likely to become victims as
adults and are more likely to be physically or sexually abused."
"Men who have been abused as children are more likely to become the
perpetrators of abuse and this may be so of a small number of women
survivors."
==
(There is hope for stable relationships in adulthood)
From "Banishing the Ghosts of Abuse," by Dr. Deborah Jacobvitz.
Discovery. The University of Texas at Austin. (1997)
http://www.utexas.edu/admin/opa/discovery/disc1996v14n3/disc-abuse.html
Mothers abused in childhood who managed to form a close and
supportive relationship, either with an adult family member (other
than the abusive one) or a therapeutic professional, were
** more likely to enter into a stable and satisfying relationship
with a romantic partner during adulthood. **
These mothers were then able to provide sensitive and responsive care
for their own children."
=============================================
THERAPY CAN HELP TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF ABUSE
=============================================
From "Breaking the Cycle of Abuse," by Paige Bierma.CONSUMER HEALTH
INTERACTIVE. (8/2001)
http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/depabuse2
Excerpts follow:
"German psychiatrist Alice Miller first wrote about it (the cycle of
abuse) in the 1980s. Her books, Prisoners of Childhoood: The Drama of
the Gifted Child and For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in
Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence broke new ground by expanding
on a theory of the roots of violence both in families and in Western
society as a whole."
"The "unconscious compulsion to repeat," Miller writes, will continue
until an adult survivor of child abuse consciously relives his or her
traumas. An intellectual understanding -- that hitting or belittling a
child is wrong, for example -- may not be enough to prevent abuse,
simply because the drive to repeat occurs on an unconscious level.
Survivors are compelled to replay abusive scenes from their own
childhood in an unconscious effort to regain the power they once lost
to their own parents, Miller writes."
"In some cases, an adult survivor won't repeat abuse his children or
other victims, but instead will turn the anger and frustration inward
and become depressed. These types of survivors, Beeman says, are more
likely to neglect their children than abuse them, and they show an
alarming inability to detect when their child may be suffering abuse
at the hands of someone else."
"They can't see the behavioral changes" in their own children, Beeman
says. "It's like there's a blind spot because they haven't worked
through their own history."
Adult survivors may be blind to abuse because they've repressed their
own memories of it. Some experts call this "betrayal trauma," and
explain that the cruelties a victim is most likely to forget may not
be the most terrifying, but the ones that involve being betrayed by
someone they love and trust. "Humans can be exquisitely sensitive
detectors of betrayal and cheating," writes Jennifer Freyd in her
book, Betrayal Trauma: The Logic of Forgetting Childhood Abuse. "But
they can also be remarkably blind to betrayal or cheating that may
seem obvious to an outside observer."
===
Achieving trust and intimacy in relationships is often one of the most
difficult hurdles for survivors of child abuse. Beeman says she
married "a mean, emotionally immature, narcissistic man" because
that's what she thought love was.
But it was the birth of Beeman's first child that created her biggest
challenge. "I thought, 'Uh-oh, I'm pregnant and I'm having a girl,'
and I went right back into therapy," she says. Her daughter's
"terrible twos" tested Beeman's mettle and further convinced her of
the importance of therapy for survivors. Even though she knew that her
daughter's defiant behavior was perfectly normal for a two-year-old,
Beeman found that the urge to strike her daughter was still a
difficult impulse for her to resist.
Luckily, Beeman, like countless others who have sought help, was able
to break the cycle. "The study of child abuse confronts us with the
astonishing fact that parents will inflict the same punishment or
neglect on their children as they experienced themselves in their
early lives," writes Alice Miller. "It is not until they are in
therapy -- supposing they are given any -- that it transpires that
they have been reenacting what they went through as children. As long
as the anger directed at a parent or other first caregiver remains
unconscious or disavowed, it cannot be dissipated. It can only be
taken out on oneself or stand-ins and scapegoats like one's own
children."
======
"Breaking the cycle." News Tips. University of Minnesota (1997)
http://www1.umn.edu/urelate/tips/1-13-97...1-19-97.html
"How does child abuse travel across generations? To answer that
question, researchers at the U's Institute of Child Development
studied a group of mothers who were abused and maltreated as children,
some of whom grew up to abuse their own children and some who did not.
The U researchers found that the abusive mothers tended to
disassociate their own memories of abuse, discounting or even
forgetting specific childhood incidents. Mothers who had clear
recollections of and even anger about their childhood abuse were more
likely to break the cycle. "Many people believe that if you are abused
as a child, you are at risk for abusing your own children," says child
development professor Byron Egeland, who co-wrote the study with
colleague Amy Susman-Stillman. "Children who were abused are not
destined to grow up to abuse their children. Mothers who broke the
cycle of abuse had integrated their childhood experiences into their
sense of self." Other factors that contributed to successful parenting
following abuse, Egeland adds, included the presence of a supportive
adult during an otherwise traumatic childhood, psychotherapy or
counseling, and a supportive, loving relationship or marriage."
==
From "Effectiveness of Therapeutic Techniques in Preventing the
Continuation of the Cycle of Child Abuse."
http://tynkrrbell29.tripod.com/childabuse.htm
"Researchers have discovered that approximately two-thirds of the
children abused will grow up to become abusers themselves either as a
direct or indirect result of the abuse they suffered (Kaufman &
Ziegler, 1989). This phenomenon is referred to as the
intergenerational transmission of child abuse, or the "cycle of child
abuse." Current research indicates that "maltreatment in childhood is
associated with aggressive and criminal behavior and a wide range of
clinical syndromes and personality disorders in adulthood."
(Neugebauer, 2000). The psychological and behavioral problems created
by childhood abuse increase the likelihood that adults who were abused
as children will continue the cycle of abuse by abusing their own
children.
" Another issue leading to the continuation of the child abuse cycle
is that of modeling. Children learn how to parent from their parents.
When the method of punishment utilized by a parent incorporates
corporal punishment, abusive behaviors are factored into the parenting
style. Children who were "taught" that this is the correct way to
parent then models this style when they grow up, with their own
children
References cited:
Kaufman, Joan and Ziegler, Edward. "The intergenerational transmission
of child abuse." In Child Maltreatment, edited by Dante Cicchetti and
Vicki Carlson. New York: Chambridge University Press, 1989.
Neugebauer, Richard (2000). Research on Intergenerational Transmission
of Violence: The Next Generation. Lancet, 355, 1116-1118.
=======================================================
FEMALE VICTIMS OFTEN FAIL TO PROTECT THEIR OWN CHILDREN
=======================================================
* It is important to note that the statement from the following
article has no research citation for backup!
From "Curbing Child Sexual Abuse Will Help To Reduce Crime, Save Money
And Protect Children," by Attorney General Jim Doyle.
http://wppa.com/Oldarticles/childabusedoyle.htm
"A number of recent studies show that 33 to 40 percent of women who
are on welfare have been childhood victims of sexual abuse. The
research shows a strong link between childhood sexual abuse and
welfare dependency. Victims of childhood sexual abuse often have
problems with substance abuse, depression and chronic unemployment as
adults. Many cannot lead productive lives and maintain good jobs.
Instead, they are forced to rely on the welfare system for financial
support."
***
"Unfortunately, the problem doesn't end there. Adults who are still
suffering from the trauma of child sexual assault often are less able
to protect their own children from becoming victims of abuse."
***
==
From "Facts About Domestic Violence." Women's Center.
http://www.womenscenterinbrevard.org/facts_about_dv.htm
"Nationally 75% of battered women say that their children are also
battered." (Giles-Sims, J. (1985). "A Longitudinal Study of Battered
Children of Battered Wives." Family Relations. XXXIV, April, p. 205).
==
From "Evaluation of a Protocol for Identification of Woman Abuse in
Families with Allegations of Child Abuse or Neglect," by Randy Magen,
PhD
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/csswp/journal/newsfall94/evaluation.html
"Fifty-six percent of Giles-Sims' (1985) sample of battered women
recounted using violence against their children. These women reported
that 63% of their abusive partners had engaged in child abuse.
Significant in Giles-Sims ' study was that abuse toward the child was
six times more frequent from abusive men than from battered women."
"Straus and his colleagues (e.g., Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz, 1980)
are the only investigators who have conducted studies focused on the
coexistence of woman abuse and child abuse in non clinical samples.
Their national surveys show that in families where women are subjected
to violence, child abuse is double that of families with no violence.
When woman abuse becomes more severe and more frequent, the rate of
child abuse also seems to double."
Cited:
Straus, M A., Gelles, RJ. and Steinmetz, S K. (1980). Behind Closed
Doors: Violence in the American Family New York: Doubleday/Anchor.
==
Risks posed to children from violent homes:.
1. Child abuse.
"Men who batter their wives are likely to assault their children. The
battering of women who are mothers usually predates the infliction of
child abuse (Stark & Flitcraft, 1988). At least half of all battering
husbands also batter their children (Pagelow, 1989). The more severe
the abuse of the mother, the worse the child abuse (Bowker, Arbitell,
and McFerron, 1988).
"Daughters are more likely than sons to become victims of the
battering husband (Dobash and Dobash, 1979). Woman abuse is also the
context for sexual abuse of female children. Where the mother is
assaulted by the father, daughters are exposed to a risk of sexual
abuse 6.51 times greater than girls in nonabusive families (Bowker,
Arbitell, and McFerron, 1988). Where a male is the perpetrator of
child abuse, one study demonstrated that there is a 70 percent chance
that any injury to the child will be severe and 80 percent of child
fatalities within the family are attributable to fathers or father
surrogates. (Bergman, Larsen, and Mueller, 1986). Data gleaned by
PCADV from newspaper clippings in 1990 reveal that every three days a
woman or child is killed in the Commonwealth by a batterer/father
(Yupcavage, 1991).
"Mothers who are battered may be more likely to physically abuse their
children than are non-battered women (Walker, 1984; Roy, 1977;
Gayford, 1975).
References cited:
==================
Stark, E. & Flitcraft, A. (1988). "Women and Children at Risk: A
Feminist Perspective on Child Abuse." International Journal of Health
Services, 18, (1), 97-118.
Pagelow, M. (1989). "The Forgotten Victims: Children of Domestic
Violence." Paper prepared for presentation at the Domestic Violence
Seminar of the Los Angeles County Domestic Violence Council.
Bowker, L.H., Arbitell, M., & McFerron, J. R. (1988). "On the
Relationship Between Wife Beating and Child Abuse." In K. Yllo and M.
Bograd (Eds.), Perspectives on Wife Abuse. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Dobash, R. E. & Dobash, R. P. (1979). Violence Against Wives. New
York: Free Press
Bergman, A., Larsen, R.M., and Mueller, B. (1986). "Changing spectrum
of Serious Child Abuse." Pediatrics, 77 (1).
Yupcavage, J. (1991). "Clippings Report on Domestic Homicide."
Harrisburg: PCADV
======
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