Jay Silverman, assistant professor in the Department of Health and Social Behavior and director of Violence Prevention Programs at the Division of Public Health Practice, has co-authored the first book about the impact of the parenting of men who abuse their female partners.

"This is an emerging area in which people are beginning to understand the broader impact of domestic violence on the entire family–beyond separation from the abuser," said Silverman.

His co-author is Lundy Bancroft, a counselor and child abuse evaluator whose work has involved more than 2,000 domestic violence cases. The book deals exclusively with male batterers in heterosexual relationships. Extensive clinical experience of the authors, findings from a three-year investigation funded by the Ford Foundation and an exhaustive and critical review of the literature are the basis of the work.

The Batterer as Parent: Addressing the Impact of Domestic Violence on Family Dynamics sets out to debunk myths about the short and long-term impacts of batterers on children. It is intended as a guidebook, with detailed recommendations for domestic violence professionals, therapists, custody evaluators, court personnel, child protective personnel and educators.

More than 10 percent of women in relationships in the US experience violence each year, and often these assaults are witnessed by children, leading to an estimated three million or more children being exposed to domestic violence each year, Silverman and Bancroft write.

Two decades ago, the field was focused on the effects of domestic abuse on women, as well as the ramifications of physical and sexual abuse on children. The psychological impact on children and on the family as a whole was not well understood. Although some progress has been made, legal and clinical practice related to the implications of battering for parenting remains largely uninformed, often resulting in women and children being placed at increased risk for further abuse by the very systems charged with their protection, said Silverman.

Battering and Incest

The Batterer as Parent is the first book to provide an analysis of the documented overlap between battering and incest perpetration. Children, particularly girls, who have batterers in their lives are at a significantly increased risk of becoming victims of incest. Studies indicate that a batterer is at least four times more likely than a non-batterer to perpetrate incest, with some studies estimating the risk at nine times or more.

Silverman and Bancroft address batterers and incest perpetrators as both separate and related concerns. "We took pains to gather the known studies together and analyze their implications," said Silverman, who with Bancroft, offers suggestions for professionals on how to approach the issue of incest in the context of battering, including looking at the broader pattern of intimidation and manipulation as opposed to specific acts.

Battering and Family Court

Batterers sue more often than non-batterers for custody of their children or for extensive visiting rights–and often prevail in family courts, said Silverman. He explained that such maneuvering is frequently an attempt by batterers to maintain control over their partners.

Jay Silverman

The Batterer as Parent offers guidance on assessing risk to children from visitation with batterers, as well as risks of having a batterer as a custodial parent. Silverman added that more education and enforceable guidelines for practice are needed within the family court setting.

Battering and Reform

One of the most difficult assessments for a domestic violence professional to make is measuring how much an ostensibly reformed batterer has truly changed his ways. Silverman and Bancroft cite studies that indicate that lengthy periods of time may pass between violent episodes, sometimes at intervals of more than two years, giving the wrong impression that the batterer is no longer violent.

Assessment may be further complicated through batterers’ tactics with ill-informed professionals. Abusive men can often gain trust and sympathy from such individuals by speaking analytically of their childhood, describing painful life episodes or talking about guilt, insecurities or fears, said Silverman.

In The Batterer as Parent, Silverman and Bancroft identify steps necessary for batterers to become better and safe parents. In evaluating change, Silverman and Bancroft suggest that professionals use the steps to examine batterers as parents. They also offer other methods to assist professionals in assessing the risk to children from men who batter.

"Unfortunately, there is a tremendous need for syntheses of work done in fields related to domestic violence that could provide information for professionals in a position to affect the safety of abused mothers and their children," said Silverman. "We hope the material in The Batterer as Parent can aid the work of those dedicated to this critical public health concern."