The Children of Patriarchal Terrorism

The questions asked were: what are the violent experiences of these children? What, from the children’s perspective, is the nature of the violence? A thematic analysis of the interviews with the 10 children identified six themes: a high degree of coercive control and exposure to ‘bizarre acts’, severe and repeated violence, perceived impossibility of physical interventions during the violent acts, violence permeating everyday life, strong feelings of fear and a constant state of readiness, and descriptions of life starting after the abusers leave the family. The results urges researchers, clinicians and policymakers to better distinguish between children who experience domestic violence in order to better target support and intervention.