A National Profile of Children Exposed to Family Violence: Police Response, Family Response and Individual Impact

This study involves interviews with caregivers and children about the experiences of a nationally representative sample of 525 children all of whom have been exposed to family violence in the previous year, including about 140 in which the episode was known to police. The key goals of the study are to: 1) Describe the law enforcement response, service system response and family response to the episodes of family violence as they relate to the exposed children; 2) Analyze the childrens and caregiving parents judgment about the positive and negative features of law enforcement and service system response; 3) Analyze from a developmental perspective whether law enforcement, service system and family system responses were associated with higher or lower levels of current distress among the exposed children. This study capitalizes on a unique opportunity to piggy-back onto an existing large study about crime and victimization in the lives of a nationally representative sample of 4500 children and youth. The questionnaire will cover information on the response of the justice system, social service system and family system to the episodes as well as children and caregivers evaluative judgments about the these responses.ca/ncf