The Overlap Between Child Maltreatment and Woman Battering

Thirty-five studies conducted over the past 2½ decades that mentioned an overlap between child maltreatment and adult domestic violence in the same families were identified and their strengths and weaknesses were identified.

Abstract

Societal responses to child maltreatment and to woman battering have developed in separate and sometimes conflicting ways. It is only in recent years that greater attention has been devoted to the possible overlap between child maltreatment and woman battering in the same families. Thirty-five studies conducted over the past 2½ decades that mentioned an overlap between child maltreatment and adult domestic violence in the same families were identified. These studies are reviewed and their strengths and weaknesses identified. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications these findings have for practice, policy, and research.