The effects on children of witnessing violence: implications for social work practice

The study adopted a retrospective design to understand the effects of witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV) on children during their childhood and later in their adult life. The study was based on in-depth interviews with 12 adults from Hong Kong who had witnessed violence in their childhood. The respondents were chosen using an available sampling method. Thematic content analysis was used for data analysis. The findings of this study suggest that long-term adverse effects of witnessing violence are not caused simply by exposure to IPV in childhood, but the effects are associated with the social construction of victim identity.