Witnessing violence in the home
Note: The data and text for this section is sourced in whole or in part from the following report: Ministry of Social Development (2008), Children and Young People: Indicators of Wellbeing in New Zealand 2008. Wellington: Ministry of Social Development.
Definition
The proportion of secondary students aged 12 to 18 who report witnessing violence committed by an adult towards another adult or child in their home in the last 12 months, as measured by the Youth'07 Survey.
Violence was defined in the survey as yelling or swearing, or hitting or physically hurting another adult or child.
Relevance
Witnessing family violence is associated with a range of poor social and mental health outcomes. Young people who witness family violence are more likely to be both victims of violence and perpetrators of violence. Witnessing violence is also associated with a higher risk of depression, anxiety and greater likelihood of attempting suicide.(1) Frequent violence can affect those who witness it well into adulthood.(2)
Current level
About half (48 percent) of all secondary students in the Youth'07 Survey reported that they had seen an adult in their home yell or swear at other adults at least once during the last 12 months.
A smaller proportion of students (10 percent) witnessed adults in their home physically hurting other adults within that period.
Almost half of all students (46 percent) reported seeing adults in their home yelling or swearing at children during the last 12 months. Around 16 percent of students experienced adults in their home hitting or physically hurting a child.(3)
Proportion of secondary students witnessing violence by an adult in the home in the last 12 months, by frequency and type of violence, 2001
Source: Adolescent Health Research Group (2007), "Violence and New Zealand Young People".
Students who had witnessed adults in their home yelling, swearing, hitting or physically hurting adults or children were asked to rate the severity of the behaviour the last time it happened. Yelling and swearing at adults, and hitting or physically hurting children, were both seen as “pretty bad”, “really bad or terrible” by a third of those who had seen these behaviours. Yelling and swearing at children was rated with the same severity by around a quarter of students who had seen it occur. The type of family violence most likely to be seen as “pretty bad”, “really bad or terrible” was adults hurting other adults, with almost half of students who had witnessed it rating it this way.
Notes
1. Adolescent Health Research Group (2007) Violence and New Zealand Young People (see link at right to Youth2000 research).
2. Martin J, Langley J, Millichamp J (2006) “Domestic violence as witnessed by New Zealand children”, in The New Zealand Medical Journal, 119-1228/1817
3. Adolescent Health Research Group (2007) Violence and New Zealand Young People (see link at right to Youth2000 research).
