[Justification of violence toward the child by mothers victimized by spousal violence]

This study deals with a major social problem, parental violence towards children. It aims to determine whether justification of violence towards children is associated with the use of parental violence in a population at high risk for child abuse. The participants in the study were 41 mothers between the ages of 24 and 46, recruited through a shelter for women who are victims of domestic violence. Results indicate a specific relationship between justification of violence and use of violence towards children, independent of the predictive power of already known risk factors. Among the three dimensions of justification, tolerance appears to be the best predictor: a mother who expresses a higher level of tolerance of violence towards children is more likely to use violence towards her own child. Results of the present study also reflect the already reported high concurrent rates between child abuse and domestic violence. However, contrary to what could be expected, our results reveal that women who suffer the most severe violence from their partners are the ones who use the least severe violence against their children. In all, these results reflect the complexity of the relationship between domestic violence and child abuse.