Effects of family violence on preschool children

Abstract

Children exposure to family violence has attracted the increased attention of practitioners and researchers. Family violence is harmful for everybody, especially children exposed to it. It is considered that exposure to violence in one's family is connected to a variety of problems a child might have: increased aggressiveness, emotional and cognitive problems, social maladjustment. Therefore it is necessary to identify the cases of children exposed to family violence and timely intervene. The factors related to children exposure to family violence cannot be reliably identified according to the existing assessment methods. Kindergartens teachers who work with a child should be able to detect the symptoms implying possible problems with family violence and give child's mother an advice to ask for professional help and support. The paper shows the results of some studies pointing to negative effects on children who are exposed to family violence. The aim of the paper is also to draw the attention of researchers, policy makers, professionals and broader public to dedicate themselves to issues of greatest importance for the development and future of these children.

Izloženost dece nasilju u porodici sve više zaokuplja pažnju praktičara i istraživača. Nasilje u porodici nanosi štetu svima, a posebno deci koja su izložena nasilju. Smatra se da je izloženost nasilju u porodici povezana sa različitim problemima deteta: povećana agresivnost, emocionalni i kognitivni problemi, socijalna neprilagođenost. Zbog toga je važno da se identifikuju slučajevi dece koja su izložena nasilju u porodici i interveniše na vreme. Postojećim metodama procene se ne mogu pouzdano identifikovati faktori koji su povezani sa izlaganjem dece nasilju u porodici. Vaspitači koji rade sa detetom bi trebalo da budu u stanju da detektuju simptome koji ukazuju na moguće probleme sa nasiljem u porodici i pruže savet majci da zatraži stručnu pomoć i podršku. U ovom radu su prikazani rezultati nekih istraživanja koji ukazuju na negativne efekte po decu koja su izložena nasilju u porodici. Cilj rada je, takođe, da poveća interesovanje istraživača, kreatora politike, stručnjaka i široke javnosti da se posvete pitanjima koja su od najvećeg značaja za razvoj i budućnost ove dece.