14 DAY TRIAL // A recent report carried out by researchers at the University of Washington and University of Indiana found that most children who witness home violence become bullies themselves. Therefore, parental violence gives rise to children violence. Offspring who are exposed to intimate partner aggression in their homes copy the physical and relational aggression of their parents and are very likely to exhibit the same kind of violent behavior at an early age.
Lead researcher Dr. Nerissa Bauer explained why the bullying "phenomenon" is very likely to occur: "Children learn from seeing what their primary caregivers do. They are very attuned and very observant about what goes on in a household. Parents are very powerful role models and children will mimic the behavior of parents, wanting to be like them. They may believe violence is OK and they can use it with peers. After all, they may think, 'If Daddy can do this, perhaps I can hit this kid to get my way.' When parents engage in violence, children may assume violence is the right way to do things."
Washington and Indiana University scientists investigated bullying kids, in order to find out if they have been previously exposed to aggressive and hostile behavior in their homes. They found that 34% of the children interviewed could be described as "bullies" and witnessing aggression in their own homes was the key-factor which determined their hostile behavior towards other children. Of the bully children, 73% admitted to have been exposed to parental violence in the previous year. All in all, 97% of the children bullies confessed to have been bullying victims in their turn.
"This study supports the idea that parental violence can lead to violence between children and their peers. Children develop a mindset when they see how parents deal with problems. It is a script based on early observations in the home," noted Todd Herrenkohl, co-researcher of the study.