How to End the Cycle of Domestic Violence: Policies Focused on Children

There is an alarming amount of people who witness childhood domestic violence, and when children are exposed to domestic violence, they are subjected to a cycle of violence and trauma that exists in families for generations.1 However, society does not focus on trauma-exposed children to help break the cycle of domestic violence, even though child witnesses and victims become future abusers and prison inmates. This paper explains the cycle of domestic violence and its traumatic effects, examines the problems and limits of the law in respect to family intervention, and concludes with policy solutions focused on assisting children exposed to domestic violence in order to break the detrimental cycle. Just by witnessing domestic violence in their homes, children are subject to traumatic experiences and can become future abusers and victims because they fall into the cycle of domestic violence. What if society’s solutions focused on the children?

The next generation? The seeds of the cycle?