Generational damage

• Published date: 04 May 2021

Of these callouts, officers say there is a heartbreakingly high number of children forced to watch cruel acts of emotional, physical, psychological and sexual abuse within their families — often linked to alcohol and drugs.

Despite the general perceptions of family violence in the north, research shows Te Taitokerau youth are significantly less likely to witness family violence than those in Auckland or Waikato.

But those children who are forced to be involuntary onlookers can become key contributors to the pockets of youth violence a Whangārei mother wants calmed.

Dr Terryann Clark (Ngāpuhi) — a registered comprehensive nurse with extensive experience in youth health, youth mental health, Māori health and a University of Auckland associate professor — said young witnesses to family violence become drawn into intergenerational cycles of abuse their families are lost in.

“I think violence begets violence. Children learn violence from families and actually families have learnt violence from cycles with all sorts of factors.”

These factors included colonisation, racism, discrimination, poverty, equity, housing, and a long-running lack of hope.

Children who are exposed to family violence within their homes were more likely to be younger students — with no real Pacific, Asian or other ethnic descent when compared to Pākeha and other European youth, according to the government-funded Youth19 survey completed every four to five years.

Young people living in poorer neighbourhoods were also more likely to witness family violence.

A downward trend was recorded in the number of young people across Northland, Auckland, and Waikato who witnessed adults hitting other children.

Instead, they reported a slight increase in the number of young people who say they see adults hitting each other.

Clark said research showed them that violence in the home also impacted families “irrespective of ethnicity or how much they earn”.

Family violence muddies the messaging around appropriate behaviour for kids, who are often told not to hit others only to go home at the end of the day to a household where abuse is deemed a solution.

“We’re expecting a young child to make sense of ‘it’s not okay to hit’ but it happens at home,” Clark said. “They’re thinking when my family gets annoyed at me they hit me but I’m not supposed to do that when I get annoyed at other people.”

Police believe the true magnitude of children witnessing family harm in Northland — and nationwide — stretches well...