Transgenerational Transmission of Violence among Parents of Preschool Children in Croatia

• Published in: Acta Clinica Croatica
• Main Authors: Rikić, Josipa, Beljan, Petrana, Milošević, Milan, Miškulin, Ivan, Miškulin, Maja, Mujkić, Aida
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sestre Milosrdnice University hospital and Institute of Clinical Medical Research 2017
• Subjects: Child abuse; Physical abuse; Child; preschool; Violence – prevention and control; Croatia; Dijete; zlostavljanje; Fizičko nasilje; predškolsko; Nasilje – prevencija i kontrola; Hrvatska; sami
• Online Access: http://hrcak.srce.hr/191647; http://hrcak.srce.hr/file/282617

Th e aim of this study was to determine whether there is a transgenerational transmission of violence within the family on a sample of parents of preschool children in Croatia, and to identify the factors that increase the likelihood of child abuse. Th e Child Abuse Questionnaire was self-administered to the sample of 118 parents of preschool children (91 mothers and 27 fathers) during February 2013. Th ere were 7.7% of mothers and 3.8% of fathers who answered that they slapped their child, while 15.4% of the fathers answered that they even hit their child with a fi st. We found the subjects who were psychologically and/or physically abused in childhood by their parents to have a higher probability of following the exact model of violence on their children. So, children suff er physical violence in larger families from parents who, in turn, suff ered physical violence in childhood from their fathers, controlled for all other factors in the model. Children suff er psychological violence from parents who experienced psychological violence from their own parents during childhood, controlled for all other factors in the model. We also found the higher number of family members in a household to be a risk factor for abuse. Th e study has confi rmed that additional interventions are necessary to break the model of transmitting violence from generation to generation. Cilj ovoga istraživanja bio je utvrditi postoji li transgeneracijski prijenos nasilja u obitelji na uzorku roditelja djece predškolske dobi u Republici Hrvatskoj te identifi cirati čimbenike koji povećavaju vjerojatnost zlostavljanja djece. Upitnik o zlostavljanju djece samostalno je ispunjavalo 118 roditelja djece predškolske dobi (91 majki i 27 očeva) tijekom veljače 2013. godine. Bilo je 7,7% majki i 3,8% očeva koji su odgovorili da su ošamarili svoje dijete, dok je 15,4% očeva odgovorilo da su čak i udarili svoje dijete šakom. Otkrili smo da su ispitanici koje su bili psihički i/ili fi zički zlostavljani u djetinjstvu od strane vlastitih roditelja imali veću vjerojatnost slijediti takav model nasilja prema svojoj djeci. Istraživani model prijenosa nasilja u obitelji pokazao je kako su djeca češće doživjela fi zičko nasilje u većim obiteljima, i to od roditelja koji su, pak, pretrpjeli fi zičko nasilje u djetinjstvu od svojih očeva, kontrolirano za sve ostale čimbenike u modelu. Model prijenosa nasilja u obitelji pokazao je nadalje kako su djeca češće pretrpjela psihičko nasilje od roditelja koji su sami pretrpjeli psihičko nasilje od vlastitih roditelja u djetinjstvu, kontrolirano za sve ostale čimbenike u modelu. Također je otkriveno da je veći broj članova obitelji čimbenik rizika za zlostavljanje djece. Istraživanje je pokazalo kako su potrebne daljnje intervencije kojima bi se razbio utvrđeni model prijenosa nasilja iz generacije u generaciju.