[The fate of children who are victims of domestic violence]

Abstract

Even if the child is not the direct victim of domestic violence, he or she may still suffer the effects of the violence, especially when it occurs during pregnancy. This trauma has three important consequences, of which the child is both a witness and a victim: the experience of catastrophe, which follows the fear aroused by the violence, the process of identification with the victim and the process of identification with the aggressor. This affects the attachment between the supposedly protective parent, usually the mother, and the child.

Keywords: aggressor; agresseur; attachement; attachment; catastrophe; disaster; fear; grossesse; peur; pregnancy; victim; victime.