Children Who Witness Domestic Violence: The Invisible Victims

s the incidence of violence in the UnitedStates has soared in recent years, so con-cern has grown about its effects on chil-dren. Children are being exposed to violence at analarming rate—either as direct victims or as wit-nesses to it. The Children’s Defense Fund pointsout that homicide is now the third leading cause ofdeath among elementary school children(Kochanek & Hudson, 1995). And countlessother children whom we never hear about are wit-ness daily to widespread violence in their homesand in their neighborhoods. These latter are the