The experience of living with violence for preadolescent children of battered women

Based on in-depth interviews with preadolescents and their mothers, a detailed description is provided of the experience of children who were exposed to violence at home. Findings are organized into five semichronological phases: (a) living with ordinary fights, (b) witnessing violent events, (c) being challenged by mothers' public confrontations of the violence, (d) adjusting to new realities in the long-term aftermath of violence, and (e) living with violence as a history. Discussion centers on the meanings of secret, witnessing, and exposure. Results indicate potential directions for understanding, studying, and intervening with children exposed to women-battering.