How Does Domestic Violence Affect Children?
by: Texas RioGrande Legal Aid - Austin
Domestic violence can affect children in many ways. Young people may witness terrible acts of violence against their parents or caregivers. Some children may never see the violence, but they may feel the tension, hear the fighting, and see the injuries left behind. Young people may be physically injured themselves if they try to intervene to stop the violence. Children may be asked to call the police or to keep a family secret. No matter the details of a family's situation, children and young people bear the burden of domestic violence, too.
Children react in many different ways to violence in their homes. Individual children may respond differently even within the same family. Some children may become violent themselves, while others may withdraw. Some may "act out" at home or at school, while others constantly try to act like the perfect child.
Although domestic violence impacts children tremendously, it is only recently that domestic violence has been taken into account when determining child custody in families where domestic violence has occurred. The laws regarding child custody in families with domestic violence histories are still different from state to state. Even when a violent relationship has ended, the abuser may continue to have contact with the children. It is important to plan for the safety of the children and adults in the family at all times.
Last Reviewed On: 03/22/03
Information Not Legal Advice. This web site has been
prepared for general information purposes only. The information on this
web site is not legal advice. Legal advice involves the application of
legal knowledge and skills by a licensed attorney to your specific
circumstances.
Also, court rules vary from county to county as well as from state to
state, so some information on this web site may not be correct for where
you live. Laws also change frequently so the information contained in
this web site is not guaranteed to be up to date.
Therefore, the information contained in this web site cannot replace the
advice of a competent attorney licensed in your state.
Lawyer Advertising. In some jurisdictions this web site
may be considered lawyer advertising. The hiring of a lawyer is an
important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements.
Any listing of an attorney does not constitute a recommendation of the
attorney. Before hiring any attorney, you should investigate the
attorney's reputation and qualifications.
Links. This web site contains links to other resources on the
Internet. Those links are provided as citations and aids to help you
identify and locate other Internet resources that may be of interest,
and are not intended to state or imply that we sponsor or are affiliated
or associated with the persons or entities who created such site, nor
are the links intended to state or imply that we are legally authorized
to use any trade name, registered trademark, logo, legal or official
seal, or copyrighted symbol that may be reflected in the links.
E-mail. Viewing this Web site , or transmitting an
e-mail message through this Web site, does not create an attorney-client
relationship. Sending e-mail to an attorney mentioned in this site does
NOT create an attorney-client relationship between you and the attorney.
Unless you are already a client of the attorney, your e-mail may NOT be
protected by the attorney-client privilege. Moreover, unless it is
encrypted, e-mail can be intercepted by persons other than the
recipient. Deadlines are extremely important in most legal matters. You
may lose important legal rights if you do not hire an attorney
immediately to advise you. Many people do not check their e-mail daily,
and some attorneys do not respond to unsolicited e-mail from non-clients.
If you are in need of legal assistance and you are not low-income, please contact your local lawyer referral service or call the State Bar of Texas Lawyer Referral Information Service, Mon.-Fri. from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1-800-252-9690 or 1-877-9TEXBAR.
The Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to open some documents on this site. (If you have questions about screen reader ability to access PDFs, please visit the Adobe Accessibility Page or the Adobe Acessibility Blog for more information.)
