Bridges to Adulthood: Understanding the Lifelong Influence of Men’s Childhood Experiences of Violence

This report explores the prevalence and nature of violence against children as well as its potential lifelong effects. Using the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) data from six countries - Brazil, Chile, Croatia, India, Mexico, and Rwanda - the report expands understanding of these issues by examining data from low- and middle-income countries, by analysing men’s reports of experiencing and perpetrating violence, and by examining broad categories of lifelong effects. The IMAGES dataset is co-coordinated by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and Instituto Promundo. The report is from ICRW and Promundo, funded by Bernard Van Leer Foundation.

As stated here: "Adult men who were victims or witnesses of domestic violence as children, for instance, likely come to accept violence as a conflict resolving tactic not only in intimate partnerships but also in their wider lives. Experiences of violence as children can also significantly influence how men relate to their partners and children and whether they show more or less gender equitable attitudes. Men who experience violence as children are also consistently more likely to report low self esteem and regular experiences of depression."

Findings of the study show the need to provide psycho-social and peer support for men and boys who have experienced and witnessed family violence during childhood, in order to prevent them from becoming abusers themselves as a result of the negative mental health effects of the violence they had experienced. "Comprehensive family and community violence prevention approaches that combine gender equality messages, engage mothers and fathers, and seek to reduce the multiple stresses that low-income families with children often face are promising. In particular, parental training interventions and home visitation programs that include nonviolent childrearing strategies should be given more priority than they are currently given in social policy and child protection.

Secondary prevention strategies that offer men and boys opportunities to disclose and find psychosocial support for the multiple forms of violence they have witnessed and experienced during childhood are essential....Such strategies should not stigmatize men who have witnessed violence as children but instead should help, in ethical and confidential ways, provide additional support and help break the intergenerational transmission of violence.

More efforts to encourage and support men to be involved, nonviolent fathers and communicative and equitable partners in their intimate and co-parenting relationships are needed. Such efforts should also include specific, targeted approaches that promote men’s involvement as nonviolent partners and fathers. Ways to implement such approaches inevitably vary by context, but could include: school-based education for boys on relationship and caregiving skills; prenatal courses for fathers (and mothers); and premarital courses for men."