DOMESTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE: VOICES OF YOUTH

Researchers: Dr. Maria Amélia Azevedo Full Professor of IPUSP Coordinator of LACRI /PSA-IPUSP

Dr. Viviane Nogueira de Azevedo Guerra Researcher of LACRI /PSA-IPUSP

LACRI − CHILD STUDIES LABORATORY IP − INSTITUTE OF PSYCHOLOGY USP − UNIVERSITY OF SÃO PAULO

Voices of Youth

Oil on canvas, Julian Trigo, 1998.

Yout h is in t he cent er where new t hings are born, w rote Walter Benjamin, in 1914. He soon added: once again t here is a new generat ion t hat want s t o overcome t he crossroads, but t he crossroads are nowhere. [Metafísica della giov entu. Scritti 1910-1918. Turim:

Einaudi, 1982] F ROM: LEVI , G. & SCHMITT, J.C. (1996). História dos jovens. São Paulo: Cia. das Letras. Vols. 1/2.

And all men kill the thing they love By all let this be heard Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word, The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword!

(Oscar Wilde − The Ballad of Reading Gaol)

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RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS I.

II.

TEAM THAT C OLLECTED DATA 1.

Ana Maria Gonzales Takahashi

2.

Celso Aparecido Florêncio

3.

Cristiano da Silveira Longo

4.

Daniela Schwartzmann

5.

Izilda Mari

6.

Marisa Feffermann

STATISTICAL PROCESSING AND A NALYSIS OF DATA Myrian Bizzocchi Statistician from the Fundação Carlos Chagas

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SUMMARY Page

I.

I NTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 05

II.

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH : HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS .......................................... 07

III.

A.

Brief incursion through the History of Childhood ................................................ 07

B.

Brief incursion through the History of Youth ....................................................... 13

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS ................................................................................. 21

IV.

DOMESTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE: A CONTROVERSIAL CONCEPT ..................... 25

V.

DOMESTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE − VOICES OF YOUTH : RESEARCH S CENARIO 40

VI.

A.

Preliminary considerations: RECOVERED V OICES ................................................... 40

B.

Referential framework: RELINQUISHED V OICES ........................................................ 42

C.

Methodological notes: FORGOTTEN V OICES ............................................................ 47

D.

Subjects: RECUPERATED V OICES ............................................................................ 52

E.

Results: REVEALING V OICES ................................................................................... 56

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................ 115

VII. APPENDIX ..................................................................................................................... 126 INSTRUMENT ................................................................................................................. 126 INDEX OF T ABLES .......................................................................................................... 129 INDEX OF CHARTS .......................................................................................................... 131 INDEX OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... 132

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I INTRODUCTION

This research was carried out in the Pluriannual Integrated Program of Research for the period 2000-2005, under the auspices of the Child Studies Laboratory (LACRI) − Psychology Department of Learning, Development and Personality (PSA) − Institute of Psychology of the University of São Paulo (IPUSP)1. Figure 1 shows the structure of the Program. The main objective of this Program is to answer the following key question: 

WHAT IS THE STATE OF KNOWLEDGE REGARDING MINORIZED2 BRAZILIAN CHILDHOOD?

A discussion of the Research DOMESTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE: VOICES OF YOUTH follows, both from the view point of its historical and theoretical considerations as well as from those which refer to the specific methodology used and to the results obtained.

1 2

The complete version of this program can be found in the files of LACRI, CNP q and FAPESP . It is important to point out that by “minorized childhood” we mean, along with Adorno (1991:78), the child who is deprived of his/her fundamental rights. These rights are outlined in article 227, Chapter VII, Title VIII of Brazil’s Constitution, published on October 5, 1988. This article states that it is the duty of society, of the family and of the State to ensure that the child and adolescent have the right to life, nourishment, education, to a profession, culture, dignity, liberty, leisure and respect, as well as safeguarding them from all forms of negligence, discrimination, exploitation, violence, cruelty and oppression… It can be ascertained that the “minorized” child is precisely the one whose rights are denied, one way or another… the one whose fundamental rights are neglected. This denial occurs either because there are rights that are not endorsed to all children, remaining a class privilege (right to education, to health, to play, etc.) or because there are rights which are not systematically defended for some (right to physical, psychological, sexual integrity, etc.). For this reason, at the heart of what is understood as “minorized childhood” is also the understanding that this deleterious condition results from VIOLENCE among SOCIAL CLASSES as well as violence within SOCIAL CLASSES . In the first case, we have “ POOR CHILDHOOD” with its variation as to ethnic group and gender (Indian children, Negro children, prostituted children, etc.). In the second case we have VICT IMIZED CHILDHOOD IN T HE HOME (or in other so-called institutes of protection). 5

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FIGURE 1 Structure of LACRI’s Pluriannual Research Program (2000-2005)

CHILDHOOD A ND VIOLENCE IN BRA ZIL: S TA TE OF KNOWLEDGE Key Question WHA T IS THE STA TE OF KNOWLEDGE REGA RDING MINORIZED CHILDHOOD IN BRA ZIL ?

A

B

Childhood, victim of violence within SOCIAL CLASSES (Victimized Childhood in the HOME)

Childhood, victim of violence among SOCIAL CLASSES (“Poor Children”)

Modules

Modules

Project I − Childhood and Fatal Violence in the Family: First ++++ approximations in Brazil

Project 1 − Abandonment of Children in Brazil +

Project II − Memories of the Past: Childhood and adolescence in the ++ life of Brazilian writers Project III − Relationship between Family Violence and Socialization +++ of Children Project IV − Voices of Childhood: What children and adolescents say +++++ about domestic corporal punishment

Proj ect V − Domestic Psychological Violence: Voices of Youth L EGEND: + − Doctoral thesis defended in June 1998 at IPUSP (approved with Distinction − 10,0). ++ − Doctoral thesis defended in August 1998 at IPUSP (approved with Distinction − 10,0), to be published in book → OLIVEIRA, M.H. Lembranças do passado: a infância na vida dos escritores brasileiros. Bragança Paulista, S P : USF, 2001. +++ − Report totally completed. ++++ − Report totally completed. Published through the Projeto Multimídia, integrated by: a. AZEVEDO, M.A. & GUERRA, V.N.A. (1998). Infância e Violência Fatal em Família: primeiras aproximações ao nível de Brasil. São Paulo: Iglu. [book] b. AZEVEDO, M. A. & GUERRA, V.N.A. (1998). Réquiem para as pequenas vítimas PEQUENAS. São Paulo: LACRI /IPUSP . (cd-rom) c. AZEVEDO, M.A. & GUERRA, V.N.A. (1998). Crônicas de morte anunciada. São Paulo: LACRI /IPUSP . (video) +++++ − Report totally completed. Published through the Projeto Multimídia that includes: 1. AZEVEDO, M.A. & GUERRA, V.N.A. (2001). Mania de bater: a punição corporal doméstica de crianças e adolescentes no Brasil. São Paulo: Iglu. [book] English version: AZEVEDO, M.A. & GUERRA, V.N.A. (2001). Hitting mania: domestic corporal punishment of children and adolescents in Brazil. Translation Ann Puntch, Sergio Cataldi. São Paulo: Iglu. 2. AZEVEDO, M.A. & GUERRA, V.N.A. (2001). Vozes da Infância: a palmada deseduca. São Paulo: LACRI /IPUSP e Núcleo de Cinema de Animação de Campinas. [video] 3. AZEVEDO, M.A. & GUERRA, V.N.A. (2001). Palmada já era! São Paulo: LACRI /IPUSP . [Guide for parents and children] 6

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II C HILDHOOD AND YOUTH : HISTORICAL C ONSIDERATIONS

The introduction of an emerging approach that is still in the process of construction in terms of studying childhood and youth, has been observed from a scientific point of view, especially in the last decade of the 20th Century. What, in fact, is innovative about this kind of approach? a.

That childhood and youth must be understood as social constructions: the prematurity of children and young people is a biological fact in the passage of the ages of life of individuals, but the way in which this “prematurity” is understood and takes on meaning is a cultural fact, which may vary from one society to the next, making, therefore, childhood and youth social institutions;

b.

that childhood and youth are not universal and sole phenomena; there is a variety of childhoods and youths that must be understood, for instance, in relation to class, gender, ethnic group, etc.;

c.

that the relationship of childhood and youth with Culture and Society must be studied from the particular perspective of childhood and youth and not from an adult vision;

d.

That children and young people must be seen as subjects in constructing and determining their own lives. They are not solely objects within a social structure.

Of course, this new perspective in the analysis of childhood and youth did not arise spontaneously. Several areas of knowledge contributed towards this end. History was one of them. Some notes on the SOCIAL HISTORY OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH follow.

A.

Brief incursion through the History of Childhood

Although there are concrete obstacles in following and retrieving the path of childhood from Antiquity to today, due to lack of specific documentation, some authors have risen to this task, despite difficulties encountered. The scientific work of two of them will be emphasized, since their work also provides relevant contributions towards understanding the phenomenon of domestic violence against children and adolescents. The first author is Philippe Ariès, who in his seminal treatise História Social da Criança e da Família (1978) [L’enfant et la vie familiale sous l’Ancien Regime (1973)], sustains the thesis that medieval society did not perceive childhood. He states: 7

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In the Middle Ages, in the beginning of modern times and for a long time in the low er classes, children mix ed w ith adults as soon as they w ere able to stay on their own without their mothers or nannies − a few y ears after a late w eaning − that is, w hen they w ere about 7 years old. From this time on they entered immediately into the great community of mankind, participating w ith their y oung or older friends, in the ev ery day activ ities of w ork and play. The mov ement of collectiv e life threw together in the same current, ages and social conditions, w ithout leav ing any one w ith time for solitude and intimacy . In these dense and collectiv e ex istences there w as no place for a priv ate sector. Ariès states that, at this time, the socialization of the child was not assured nor

controlled by the family. The child soon left his parents and by mingling with other adults learned things which it should know, helping these same adults to do them. Ariès records the existence of a superficial feeling towards the child that he calls “paparicação” (to be

babied) – reserved to small infants in their first few years of life when they are still cute little things. People played with the child as if it were a little animal, a shameless little monkey . If it died – which was not rare –

another child would substitute it. At the age of 7, the child began living in another house. Ariès tells us that, in this period, the feeling between parents and children, between husband and wife, was not necessary to the existence and equilibrium of the family: if it existed, so much the better. In reality, the exchanges of affection and social communications occurred, therefore, outside the family, in a dense and warm environment, made up of neighbors, friends, nannies and servants, young and old, women and men (...) The family unit was diluted in this environment . The community prevailed over the family. Ariès notices, however, – as of

the end of the 17th Century – a brutal modification in this state of affairs. Bestowing childhood to a separate state coincides with the transition from feudalism to capitalism, because the growing middle classes wanted their children to be educated in a special way, so that they would be prepared to carry out the activities required of them as adults, as well as being able to adequately stand up to the power of aristocracy. All this led to a school system and to the modern concept of childhood. The child no longer mixed with adults and nor learnt about life through direct contact with them. The schooling process begins whereby children were kept far away – cloistered in schools – a type of quarantine, as stated by Ariès. Sending children to schools – one of the expressions of the great movement of moralization promoted by Catholic and Protestant reformers – could not be done without the family’s approval. As stated by Ariès, this family transformed itself, it became the place of necessary affection between parents themselves, and between parents and their children, something which did not exist before. This affection was revealed, above all, through the importance given to education. But another

problem arose from this differentiated educational process of the previous period:

both family and school yanked the child away from adult society. The attentions of the family, of the Church and of moralists and managers yanked away the freedom that the child enjoyed until then, among adults. They introduced it to the cane (...), in other words, the punishment usually reserved for convicts from the lower strata of society . From these developments, Ariès does not support the thesis that the growing perception in the special nature of childhood forcibly led to the creation of a better world for children; in reality, he argues to the contrary: that the development of the concept of childhood came together with the most severe methods of education (Pollock, 1990).

Other authors support Ariès way of thinking in this sense, saying that the concept of childhood brought about an idea of subordination, of dependency and that, during the 17th Century, punishment against children became even more barbaric. This increase was due to the first

results of a greater attention given to children, a by-product of an increased interest in the moral and academic 8

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enhancement of children and also of the doctrine of Original Sin (Pollock, 1990)3. In the 17th Century, attention was given to biblical sayings, especially by the Puritans4: He that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes (Proverbs 13:24); Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die (Proverbs 23:13); Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell (Proverbs 23:14). Besides the support found in biblical

quotations in favor of corporal punishment of children, at the domestic level, there was another saying: Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying (Proverbs 19:18). In fact, if on the one hand there was a tacit assumption of corporal punishment as a disciplinary method, on the other hand, this could not lead to the loss of a child’s life. Some of these historians provide proof in the sense that during the 17th Century it was common to break the will of a child, and corporal punishment was the best means of achieving this (Pollock, 1990).

Lastly, it is important to emphasize that institutional development acceptance of formal

education in schools with the consequent isolation of children from adult society was a pre-requisite for the appearance of sociological and psychological concepts of childhood (Pollock, 1990). Ariès further states

that the evolution of the family (open to the outside world, to friends etc., that was associated with it), to its present nuclear form, had important consequences in the development of the concept of childhood, which in turn, is not separate from that of the family: the interest in childhood (...) is nothing more than a form, a particular expression of this more general feeling, the feeling of family (Pollock, 1990). Actually, the thesis in which Ariès furthers is that in most societies children integrate themselves very early on in adult society and that their segregation process (which he considers essentially undesirable) is a particular trait of the bourgeoisie. The second author that we would like to highlight is Lloyd deMause (1975). In the introduction of the book which he organized, he states: the history of childhood is a

nightmare from which we have only recently begun to awaken. The further back in history one goes, the lower the level of child care, and the more likely children are to be killed, abandoned, beaten, terrorized and sexually abused. Lloyd deMause is considered to be a psycho-historian5 and his work is seen as

the history of childhood, or more precisely, as the history of childcare in the western world. As from ancient times, he shows a smoothening of parent–child relationships which date back from periods when children were abandoned, exposed, badly treated and uncared for, up to the present, when parents sacrifice themselves for their children. He tries to discover, through what he calls psychogenic theory of history, how these transformations in the adult-child relationship came about, saying 3 4

5

The Church, on the one hand, considered children innocent beings, who on the other hand, carried the weight of the Original Sin. This concept of the Original Sin allowed children to be treated with severity to “cure” their inherent iniquity. Greven (1992) tells us: Jesus never advocated corporal punishment. Nowhere in the New Testament does Jesus approve of the infliction of pain upon children by the rod or any other such implement, nor is He ever to have recommended any kind of physical discipline of children by any parent. Therefore, for this author the key text of the New Testament which values corporal punishment of children is Hebrews, attributed to the Apostle Paul and which at present is contested by experts, who define this text as anonymous. Catholics and many other religious groups have equally sustained traditions of using physical punishments both in families and in schools. But so far, very little has been written by or about Catholics concerning their attitudes toward and practice of corporal punishment. The subject of discipline among Catholics and Jewish people needs to be further explored. For the psycho-historian the why of history refers necessarily to a psychological why. From this viewpoint, history is made by men; to understand why men have done what they have, one must examine deeply the motives, no more, no less (…) One must question people and listen to them carefully, without taking their words literally (…) The historical why begins where the explanations end (…) Where the psycho-historian is situated is the terrain of the unconscious psychic determination of all human actions and omissions which make up history (Binion, 1986). 9

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that in reality parents regress to the psychic age of their children and work through the anxieties of that age in a better manner the second time they encounter them than they did during their own childhood (1975). In a more recent article, this author (1995) states that: Through my psy cho-historical study of childhood and of society I conclude that the history of humanity w as founded on the practice of v iolence against children. In the same w ay that family therapists hav e today discov ered that the purpose of domestic v iolence against children is to maintain families united as a means of solv ing their emotional problems, also that the routine of v iolence against children has been the most effectiv e w ay society has found of maintaining its collectiv e emotional homeostasis. Many families throughout history practiced infanticide, hitting and incest. Many States sacrificed and mutilated their children to allev iate the parent’s guilt. Ev en now aday s w e continue killing, mutilating, and submitting our children to hunger through our social, military and economic activ ities 6.

The work of deMause is quite polemical in that one could question the value of a psycho-historical construction supporting a parent-children interaction that changes through its own nature, without taking into account outside aspects, such as social, economic and political ones. On the other hand, he developed his theory from scattered information that may or may not be as reliable or may not allow conclusions that he himself reached. It is our belief, however, that already in 1995, having received criticism, this author tried incorporating some debates of a socioeconomic order which correct certain problems in his theoretical construction. His works demonstrates other frailties: treating phenomena such as sexual and physical domestic violence as a whole, without going into specifics, aside from working with several problems relating to childhood and adolescence such as infanticide, going off to war, etc., without separating them in a more coherent way, as if all violence directed towards childhood could be grouped together. By making a parallel between the theses of Ariès and deMause, it can be seen that the first author maintains that the traditional child was happy, and mixed with adults. From the moment that a special condition – childhood – was invented, bringing about a tyrannical concept of family that destroyed sociability and deprived children of freedom, confinement and severe punishment was inflicted upon them. deMause, on the other hand, departs from a contrary thesis whereby he shows that the situation of children improved considerably throughout the centuries. With reference to domestic corporal punishment, he says that there is an evident decrease of this practice as of the 17th Century, but it was the eighteenth century which saw the biggest decrease. The earliest lives I have found of children who may not have been beaten at all date from 1690 to 1750. It was not until the nineteenth century that the old-fashioned whipping began to go out of style in most of Europe and America, continuing longest in Germany, where 80% of German parents still admit to beating their children, a full 35% with canes (1975). deMause points out, however, that as corporal

punishment began to decrease, other educational substitutes were found such as, for example, locking children in dark rooms, a practice found in bibliographies of the 18th and 19th Centuries. He reports on the little Bastilles (fortresses) found in houses, where children were locked up for hours, days, with only bread and water, trying in

6

Here the author severely criticizes the North American international policy which recruited many young people to the Gulf War, as well as its mechanisms of exploitation which left many children in various continents hungry and deprived. Therefore, a belligerent and exploitative policy taken to extremes. 10

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this way to correct behavior which was considered to be unsuitable by the parents7. He divides into periods, the relationship between parents and children, beginning in Antiquity up to the 20th Century, and passes through the stages of infanticide, of abandonment, ambivalence, intrusion, socialization, until the helping stage belonging to our century is reached, where parents are very much involved in the process of bringing up and educating their children. However, deMause could not answer why parental violence against children came to be, and today there are so many cases of this even though there is a type of relationship between parents and children which he considers to be satisfactory and encompassing. In reality, deMause also states that the farther back we go, to the beginning of the history of humanity, the more parents we find, who were not much involved with the care of their children and that if today we are shocked at the number of children who are victims of violence, just imagine how much larger this number would be, the farther back we go into History. That is why he says the following: the evidence which I have collected on the methods of disciplining children leads me to believe that

a very large percentage of the children born prior to the 18th Century were what would today be termed “battered children” (1975). He further states that of the over 200 (two hundred) documents of

advice on child-rearing that he examined, prior to the XVIII century, many approved of beating children severely, sanctioning it under the most varying circumstances, excluding documents by Plutarch, Palmieri and Sadoleto. The instruments used in these beatings included whips, rods, sticks, pieces of bamboo, of iron, etc. According to him, century after century, violent punishment was allowed, and public protesting was rare. Even humanists and teachers, with a reputation for gentleness, such as Petrarch, Ascham, Comenius and Pestalozzi approved of beating children. Milton’s wife complained that she hated to hear the screams of his nephews when he beat them. Even nobility was not immune to beatings, as can be seen from the childhood of Louis XIII. A whip was kept at his father’s side at the table, and when he was 25 months, regular whippings began, often on bare skin. He had frequent nightmares about his whippings that were meted out in the mornings when he awakened. After he became king, he still awoke at night, terrorized with the expectation of his morning whipping. Even on the day of his coronation he was whipped8.

It is important to remember, as an addendum, that Perrot (1993) shows us that Century French society, the so called habit of beating children was present in all in social classes, although it took on different functions and characteristics according to these same classes: among the bourgeoisie, more than in the aristocracy, children no longer were beaten so 19th

often at home. Here and there some whips and lashes made of string exist, but they are becoming more and more rejected. (...) In the country and among the lower classes of the city and among the small bourgeoisie

7

8

It is interesting to note the many ghost-like figures used to frighten children throughout the ages, that were uncovered by deMause: the ancients had their Lamia and Striga who ate children raw (…) witches and demons in medieval times (…) After the Reformation (...) many children’s stories told of the tortures that God had in store for them in Hell (...) When religion was no longer the focus of the terrorizing campaign, figures closer to home were used: the werewolf will gulp you down; Blue Beard will chop you up (…) Boney (Bonaparte) will eat your flesh, the black man or the chimney sweeper will steal you away at night(…). (1975) Louis XIII, son of Henry IV (assassinated in 1610) was crowned king at the age of 9. In 1624, Louis XIII gave the task of governing the kingdom to Cardinal Richelieu, who became president of the Royal Council. The policies established by Richelieu were: to internally break the power of feudal aristocracy, establishing an absolute monarchy, and externally to fight the Habsburgs so as to give France the hegemony of Europe. When Richelieu died in 1642, the road to despotism was already set. 11

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beatings rain (sic) down. Beatings and whippings are fully admitted, as long as they do not exceed certain limits (...).

The opposing theses of Ariès and deMause, especially opposing because one emphasizes that children’s nightmare began with the concept of childhood, and the other one that this nightmare is retreating into the history of humanity, show us that the true history of childhood has serious obstacles to overcome from the viewpoint of its reconstruction, since theoretical differences regarding it stand out. However, these differences show us how far we are in terms of being able to affirm that this or that period of history brought more or less violence to the parent-child relationship. Doubts still exist, and the only certainty we have is that upon reaching the new millennium we are still confronted with this phenomenon and the numbers are alarming. Certainly it can be said that Philippe Ariès’ work caused great impact, in that it questioned the universality of childhood. Yet Lloyd deMause upheld the notion of this universality, saying that childhood is the same; it is the parents who changed (James & Prout, 1990). The debate among historians continues and what we can glean from it is that modern childhood is, without a doubt, historically specific. Another support for the idea of the social construction of childhood comes from anthropological studies on culture and personality. Although discussing the variability of the concept of childhood in different cultures, these studies are still tainted by a conventional perspective in that they maintain that socialization is a process molded by adults, giving little attention to the fact that childhood is a phenomenon in itself and that children can be active participants of their own educational process. In Psychology, the area dealing with children has grown, especially with the contributions of theoreticians on human development. More recently, in the context of Psychology, although the focus has remained on the individual, accepting the idea that childhood is socially constructed led to a heightened awareness of the importance of the social context within which psychological processes take place. In Britain, the publication in 1974 of a collection edited by Martin Richards, and a similar North American one, edited by Kessel and Siegel (1983), are w idely regarded as landmarks of the new approach. The underpinnings of this w ere later described by Richards as: the criticism of a psy chology based on univ ersal law s that w ere supposed to hold good across all societies and at all historical times. It w as argued that such terms as ‘the mother’ and ‘the child’ not only conv ey ed a meaningless generality but also misrepresented the relationship betw een indiv idual and social w orlds and portray ed social relationships as if they w ere fix ed by laws of nature. (James & Prout, 1990)

Different contributions arising from different disciplines brought about the discussion on the concept of the social construction of childhood. But we must not forget that many social movements have contributed towards this, such as the women’s movement, those against psychiatry, those relating to human rights, etc.

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However, the emergence of a new paradigm for studying childhood as a social construction has encountered a series of obstacles that arise from various areas of knowledge. First, it has to be recognized that the still dominant concepts of ‘dev elopment’ and ‘socialization’ are ex traordinarily resistant to criticism. They persist despite all that has been said against them. Richards (1986:3), for ex ample, laments that despite w idespread discussion of the need for cognitiv e and dev elopmental psy chology to locate itself w ithin a social and cultural contex t, only a minority of recently published empirical research ev en faintly considers this a possibility . Similarly , in sociology , the concept of socialization continues to dominate theory and research about children. The lack of change here stands out sharply in, for ex ample, the sociology of the family . Whilst thinking about w omen and the family has been rev olutionized by feminist critiques, thinking about childhood remains relativ ely static, like the still point at the center of a storm. (James & Prout, 1990) 9

These authors also point out the contribution of some female American sociologists who attribute these obstacles in the area of sociology, for example, to the fact that this area is dominated by men and that, consequently, they do not value child care, much less the activities produced by them. James & Prout (1990) bring our attention also to the fact that notions such as

socialization, for instance, are registered in the practice of social assistants and teachers and that this gives rise to some difficulties regarding a more consistent criticism, making this attitude be seen not only as a question of habit, of convenience, of false awareness, but very much related to what Foucault calls the regimen of truth (1977): he suggests that this operates rather like a self-fulfilling prophecy: ways of thinking about childhood fuse

with institutionalized practices to produce self- conscious subjects (teachers, parents and children) who think (and feel) about themselves through the terms of those ways of thinking. The’ truth’ about themselves and their situation is thus self-validating. Breaking into this to achieve a new ‘truth’ (produced by another way of thinking about childhood) may prove difficult . (James & Prout, 1990)

And finally, this new way of thinking about childhood, using as a basis the development of new studies allows that these new studies enlighten the policy on childhood. Furthermore, these studies are attempts to give voice to children and adolescents, who, up until now, have seen measures taken in view of their best interest, without being consulted.

B.

Brief incursion through the History of Youth

Just as in the case of childhood, the HISTORY OF YOUTH is still far from being known and, according to some theoreticians, perhaps even of being known. This happens because there are various obstacles to overcome. The first is the lack of homogeneity regarding the vocabulary dealing with this topic. 9

Sociology, especially functional sociology, also emphasized a view that underestimates the value of a child compared to the value attributed to an adult. Davis’ words are eloquent: The most important functions carried out by the individual for society are those done when adult, not when immature. Thus the treatment that society offers the child is fundamentally preparatory (…) Any doctrine which considers the necessities of children as priorities and those of organized society as secondary is a sociological anomaly (Davis, 1949). From this perspective, a large part of the theory and research on childhood resulting from this orientation centralizes its attention in the institution of the family, as well as in the educational processes and socialization, a focus whereby childhood is not even a unit of observation, nor a category of independent analysis (Pilotti & Rizzini, 1995). 13

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According to Levi & Schmitt (1996): The w ord boy can appear in a chanson de geste to designate a y oung w arrior (we thought of Infanzie del Cid), in that the Roman or mediev al notion of juventus shifts the limit w ithin w hich w e today place y outh, further dow nw ards. To the contrary , w hen the terms remain apparently immutable, their semantic contents do not stop renov ating. In this manner, if w e compare the conceptual subdiv isions of Antiquity w ith our representations, w e could also obtain approx imate correlations (deep dow n, w e alw ay s adopt the same terms: childhood, adolescence, y outh), but w e hav e to recognize that these w ords don’t hav e the same meaning any more.

This is why it is necessary to refuse another temptation that usually provokes historians, making their work difficult. It has to do with a simplification which was also pointed out by Levi & Schmitt (1996): the illusion (...) of a linear history that develops according to continuous modules and in a regular rhythm from a hypothetical beginning until a completely inscribed conclusion in its premises. Over this rule a regular process of evolution can be imagined, starting from the youth of traditional societies, which is defined by its ritual roles and costumes, to a “modern” youth, liberated from any constraints, free of all taboos, which abolished all differences between both sexes from behavior, from ways of dressing (let’s say, for example, unisex jeans) and from the possibilities of professional options . Much to the

contrary, the History of Youth is not characterized by a continuity in development, nor by a homogeneity in content. The reason is that, just like with childhood, youth – aside from being an age of life – is also a social construction. As with other periods of life, and perhaps, even more accentuated, youth is a cultural and social construction, which is characterized by its marked character of limits. In fact, it situates itself inside the moveable margins between childhood dependency and adult autonomy, in that period of pure change and unrest where the promise of adolescence happens, between sexual immaturity and maturity, between the development and flourishing of mental abilities, between the lack of and the acquisition of authority and power. In this sense, no physiological limit can analytically identify a phase of life which can be better explained by the cultural determination of human societies, according to the way in which they try to identify, to give order and sense to something which seems typically transient, that is, chaotic and disorderly. This period of life can not be clearly bound by demographical quantifications, nor by juridical definitions, that is why it seems to us substantially useless trying to identify and establish clear limits, as others have done. On the contrary, what is interesting, is exactly this marginal or borderline character of youth, the fact that it is something that cannot be given a stable and concrete definition. Otherwise, it is precisely its transitory nature that charges this cultural construction with symbolic meanings, with promises and threats, with potentialities and frailties, which in all societies is looked upon ambiguously, yet at the same time with caution and full of expectations. In this ambivalent and crosseyed way of looking, where attraction and suspicion are also involved, societies have always constructed youth as an intrinsically unstable social fact that is irreducible to the rigidities of demographic and legal data, or, better yet, as a cultural reality with 14

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endless values and symbolic uses, and not only as a simple social fact, which can immediately be analyzed. Besides, it must be pointed out that, within the principles that serve as a basis for classifying people, age has a specific and clear characteristic: from the individual’s viewpoint, it is, by definition, a transitory condition. Belonging to a specific age group − most particularly to youth − represents for each individual a provisional condition, contrary to placing the individual within the framework of a social class (which is very difficult to break out of, unless the individuals can fulfill, in certain cases, their hopes of social mobility) and contrary to the sexual definition (which is unequivocal, fixed once and for all). More appropriately, individuals do not belong to age groups, they cross them. It is precisely this essential character of being on the threshold, which is typical of youth, together with a longer or shorter time in the condition of being young, which, in the final analysis, characterizes youth (however, in different ways according to different societies), determining not only social attitudes, the attitudes of others on their behalf, but also the vision that young people have of themselves. Mindful of this, it must be remembered that nothing is unchangeable or universal. In a cold society, or a structurally static society, certain legal and symbolic processes will have the tendency of underlining predominantly the elements of continuity and of reproducing the roles attributed to youths. On the other hand, a hotter society, more predisposed towards recognizing the value of change, will more easily admit the necessarily conflicting character of the transition from one age period to the next and of the transmission of the set of rules among generations. Therefore, there is no HISTORY OF YOUTH, but HISTORIES that concern YOUTH and, above all, YOUNG PEOPLE who are part of the mesh of specific social relations, linked to contexts and to distinct historical periods. Just like childhood, youth is also a concrete condition of existence. Just as one cannot talk about the infantile nature10, one also cannot talk about the juvenile nature. There are many ways of being a child and many ways of being young, depending on the historical context and on the socio-economic, political, cultural and psychological conditions. A brief incursion through the History of Youth will allow us to identify how youths have been treated differently according to the image that societies have of them and according to their social roles. Consequently, throughout the ages, young people (as well as children) have been seen both with hostility – when they are thought to be the source of disorder 10

The condition of being a child The idea of child nature remits to traits which have an absolute and universal value: the child, in itself, is wild, submissive to its will, innocent, spontaneous, undisciplined, etc. The idea of a child condition refers to a specific situation of childhood without defining, however, qualities or behaviors that would inevitably be found in all children. The child is a being in process of growth, whose personality is undergoing formation, and who lives in a social environment made up of adults and to which it is not immediately adapted: these observations are valid for all children in any civilization; regardless of the social class they belong to and are what one can call as the condition of being a child. But growth, the formation of the personality and social adaptation occur in a social environment that is not the same for all children. They turn into varying social behaviors. All children grow up, but each one experiences growing up in a different way, socially and psychologically. Growing up is not the same for the child who wants to escape from an oppressive family situation and for those who increasingly liken themselves to their parents who they admire. By the same token, the first born of large families who grow up with responsibilities frequently too heavy for them, and children who are over protected by their parents, do not experience growing up in the same way. It is necessary to psychologically understand children in function of their life conditions, that is, both in their condition as children, and in their true social condition. (Charlot, 1977) 15

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and aberration – as well as benevolence – when exalted as saviors of the Nation or of Humanity. That is why, as in the case of childhood, the HISTORY OF YOUTH brings many SCENARIOS OF VIOLENCE, some of which are transcribed in the following paragraphs. They are examples and are in the form of historical fragments seen in the context of time and period, because after all, a history of youths exists only if inscribed in a history of politics, religion, family, law and even of feasts and sports11.

GREEK YOUTH C RETAN SEXUAL I NITIATION The Cretans have a very peculiar custom when it comes to amorous relationships. In effect, it is not through persuasion that lovers achieve what they so avidly seek, but rather through abduction. Three days before the event, the lover announces to his friendsthat he plans to abduct his intended. Hiding the desired adolescent or not letting him proceed along the intended route of the abduction would be, from the lover’s point of view, the biggest of insults because it would appear, in everyone’s eyes, that the adolescent isnot worthy of belonging to a lover of such a high standing as himself. In this manner, the friends unite and certify that the abductor is equal or superior to the adolescent in all aspects, in particular, regarding class, and they pursue him and take the adolescent gently away from him, all in a friendly manner and only to give continuity to the custom, and then they happily return him so that he can be taken definitively. If, on the contrary, the abductor does not seem to have sufficient class, the young man is seriously taken away and no longer returned. Whatever the outcome, the chase isonly over when the abducted is taken to the abductor’s andria. It is not the most handsome young man who is worthy of being loved, but rather the one who has distinguished himself through courage and uprightness. After welcoming giving him presentsthe lover leaves the city with the young man and leads him to a place of his choice. All those who took part in the abduction accompany them, celebrating and hunting with them for two months − the law does not allow an adolescent to be retained for longer − after which they return to the city. The adolescent is then allowed to leave, but not before receiving military equipment, an ox, and a vessel, as determined by the law, aside from many other valuable presents. The lover’s friends tend to band together and help share the heavy expenses the lover has to face. As to the young man, he offers sacrifices to Zeus and a banquet to those that brought him back. Then, he makes a public declaration about his relationship, whereby he states if he has any complaints or not, because the law determines that if he was a victim of violence during the abduction he can ask for reparation and be removed from under the lover’s power. On the other hand, it is considered infamous for a well-educated adolescent, of high standing, not to arrange a lover, because otherwise he would be considered as having some kind of shortcoming. Contrary to this, honors await the parastátal, name give to those who were the object of an abduction: the best placesin public meeting areas and in stadiums are reserved for them, and they have the right to stand out from others by primping themselves with clothes provided by the lover. This right is not only restricted to the period of his adolescence, because when he reaches adulthood, he continues to use a particular clothing to show that he was once a kleimós, a term which among Cretans means eròmenos, while the lover is known as philétor. Both in the Spartan model, as in the Cretan one, education of adolescentsinvolved some form of pederasty.

11

It’s what some historians understand as “total social fact”, the main lesson of M. Mauss’ work, Dumézil’s great teacher. 16

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JEWISH YOUTH IN EUROPE In Nuremberg, at the end of the XV century, 24% of all Jew ish men had some kind of job (either servants or teachers) in other people’s houses, and fourteen out of fifteen homes sheltered one of these persons. In Alessandria, the number of servants (including clerks and apprentices) that lived in other people’s homes remained relatively constant at 7%, betw een 1734 and 1761. In Jewish homes with at least one servant it varied betw een 20% and 30%. In Trieste, in 1769,domestic servants w ere 10% of the entire Jew ish population, and almost one fourth of all Jew ish homes had at least one male or female servant. In some cases, like the small Piedmont community of Ivrea, w hose ten homes w ere headed, in 1791, in great part by merchants and bankers, 70% had maids or servants, w hich comprised 14% of the local Jew ish population. The numbers were considerably low er in the case of Polish Jew s. In the area of Lublin, according to the 1764 census, about 7% of Jew ish families, both in the countryside and in the city, had Jew ish maids that lived under the same roof. In the relatively small Jew ish community of Opatow , the number of homes w ith servants of either sex w as, during the 1760 decade, above 8%... No study on the life of these servants, w ho w ere for the most part not only young, but single as w ell, can ignore the sex ual element that frequently molded their relationship w ith their employers. In the Polish community of Opatow,a welldocumented record has survived of tw o cases betw een 1759 and 1778,involving sex ual ex ploitation of domestic maids by men other than the employers. Ex ploitation by the employers themselves w as much more commonplace and, unless it resulted in pregnancy, it generally w ent unnoticed. In Casale, one of the Piedmont communities (…), a head of family called Yedidiah Luzzatto, member of a devout brotherhood, w as accused by his maid, Rachel Foa, of being the father of her child after having seduced her on various occasions in the spring and beginning of summer in 1715, including the first night of Easter!

THE F LOWER OF EVIL : MEDIEVAL I TALY THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN YOUTH AND C HILDREN

Above all, even outside this mechanical relationship, the giovani have the word and, when possible, invade the public scene of which they are generally separated from.It is what happens in Venice at night as described in statements. It is what happens in Florence in the time of Savonarola. When the preacher declares that the reformation of society falls upon children, a fight between fanciulli and giovani is unleashed. The task of rooting out the city of all its sins, of purging Florence of all its licentiousness is handed over to the children. Throughout the city and the countryside, they carry out their task with such zeal, that no one is able to resist them. Taverns are closed, card and dice games are forbidden, all pomp, vanity and luxury – not only women’s hairdos but books and pictures as well – are condemned by these zealous agents of God. The time for repenting begins precursor to the reign of a new Jerusalem. Gamblers flee, women dress themselves decently, all avoid sin and, above all, detestable vice. These bands of children who are prepared to act with violence, place all their habitual arms in God’s service; stone fights and forced collections during Carnival are practiced here on behalf of the poor. Grouped according to neighborhood and organized into four associations, the fanciulli del frate establish a reign of terror in their surroundings and, on days established by Savonarola, march in procession all dressed in white and carrying an olive branch – a public image of innocence. The children sing and it is believed they can hear the voice of the Lord. Against them rise the giovani, scelerati, giovanastri dissolutissimi et di ribalda vita, persone da fare ogni 17

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male… Groups are organized around some noble youths. And these compagnacci, these arrabiati [possessed] make another kind of music. Shouts, insults and bell ringing at night, shouting and bells also during the sermons. Putrefying donkey skin, blessing the faithful with an onion speared on a sword, and many other ways of bringing bad smells into sacred places, of perverting the rites and of causing the reign of Christ to fall into ridicule.

All these historical fragments show us that − contrary to childhood as victim of violence − youth is normally more demanding and, for this reason, it is not uncommonly viewed as being potentially more dangerous: children – differently from youths – would be more easily colonized, domesticated… Perhaps that is why the COLOR GREEN has been considered the COLOR OF YOUTH.

T HE COLOR OF Y OUTH In the novels of chivalry, a “green” knight, that is, one whose coat of arms, banner and saddlecloth are green, is always a young, impetuous person, whose arrival or appearance in a specific episode will inevitably bring about disorder. Green can assume a negative or positive meaning, because, like any color, it is ambivalent. In encyclopedias, allegorical literature and treatises on heraldry it is not only the color of youth but also of hope, of love, (usually of unfaithful love) and of luck. In a negative sense, green evokes licentiousness, disorder, misfortune, sickness, poison, and sometimes the devil. If associated to yellow it symbolizes madness or hypocrisy. Evidently the idea of a forest, of nature in full growth, makes green the color of youth. And, since it is the color of youth, it is also the color of hope, of love, of disorder and inconstancy. However, no matter what techniques, pigments or paints used, medieval painters always had difficulty dominating green colors. These colors are the most unstable; they penetrate the fibers of cloth, parchment, and molten glass or metal less easily. It was difficult to fix them, densify them, make them lighter, more limpid, luminous. That is why, maybe, there is a possible link between chemistry and ideology: the instability of the pigment could correspond to a symbolic instability. Just like green hues, young people are voluble, unstable, and at times, dangerous. If the color green is rare in western imagery, it is not, nonetheless, absent. The fact that it is rare can favor its use dense with meaning. In the Iluminura, the 12th to the 14th Century, green is often used as a peripheral color, a color for margins, contrary to red and blue, which were central colors. That is why it is used to emphasize the subordinate condition or depreciatory character of the subjects who are dressed in green. That is why there is also a spatial approximation between this color and young people, who are also peripheral or marginal. The coding of images and the symbolism of colors are joined together to associate green and youth. Color minor juventuti inferior!

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III DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST C HILDREN AND A DOLESCENTS: THEORETICAL C ONSIDERATIONS

In the words of Adorno (1988): Violence is a form of social relationship; it is inex orably attached to the w ay mankind produces and reproduces social conditions of ex istence. In this light, v iolence ex presses standards of sociability , w ay s of life, updated models of current behav ior in a society at a specific moment of time of its historical process. Understanding its phenomenology cannot prescind references to social structures: it also cannot prescind reference to the subjects which promote it w hile a social ex perience (...) At the same time that it ex presses relationships among social classes it also ex presses interpersonal relationships (...) it is present in intersubjectiv e relationships that arise betw een men and w omen, betw een adults and children, betw een professionals of different categories. Its most v isible result is the conv ersion of subjects into objects, becoming things (...) Violence is simultaneously the denial of v alues considered to be univ ersal: freedom, equality , and life. If w e understand, like classical political philosophy did, that freedom is essentially ability , w illingness, determination and man’s natural right, then v iolence as a manifestation of subjection and turning humans into objects can only go against the possibility of building a society of free men (...) v iolence is not necessarily a death sentence, or, at least, this does not fulfill its ex clusiv e meaning. Its reference is life, how ev er, a reduced life, placed w ithin bonds, alienated; not life in its fullness, in its manifestation of complete liberty . Violence is a permanent menace to life due to its constant allusion to death, to suppression, annulment, to the end.

Domestic violence is related to structural violence (violence among social classes, inherent to unequal societies). However, it has other determinants that are not only structural. It is a type of violence that permeates all social classes while violence of an interpersonal nature. While inter-subjective, domestic violence also consists of a: a.

transgression of the disciplining power of the adult, converting the age difference adult-child/adolescent, into an inequality of inter-generation power;

b.

denial of the value of freedom: it demands that the child or adolescent be an accomplice to the adult, in a pact of silence;

c.

victimization process by constraining the will and desire of the child or adolescent, submitting them to the adult’s power, so as to satisfy the interests, expectations and passions of this adult.

That is why the abuse-victimization process is one that consists of objectifying the child or adolescent, of reducing it to an object of VIOLENCE. To synthesize, domestic violence against children and adolescents: 21

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→ → → → →

→

is an interpersonal violence; is an abuse of the disciplinary and coercive power of parents or persons responsible for taking care of the child/adolescent; is a victimization process which sometimes prolongs itself for months and even years; is a process wherein the victim becomes subjugated and objectified; is a form of violation of the essential rights of the child and adolescent as people and, therefore, a denial of the fundamental human values such as life, freedom, security; has its privileged ecology in the family. Since the family belongs to the private sphere, domestic violence is covered up with the traditional characteristic of secrecy.

Therefore, domestic violence against children and adolescents represents all acts or omissions practiced by parents, family members or responsible people against children and/or adolescents which – being capable of causing pain and/or physical, sexual and/or psychological harm to the victim –on the one hand it involves a transgression of the power/duty of protection of the adult and, on the other hand, it involves making the child an object, that is, denying the right which children and adolescents have of being treated as subjects and people in a peculiar period of their development. There are five kinds of known domestic violence: neglect, and physical, sexual, psychological and fatal violence12. We will focus exclusively on psychological violence. A T ALE OF P SYCHOLOGICAL V IOLENCE FREUDI AN Four we were, the daughters of my mother. Among them I alway s held the worst place. Two preceded me – they were beautif ul, pampered. I should hav e been the last, howev er, Another came, who became the y oungest. When I was born, my elderly Father agonized, Soon af ter, he died. I grew up, a daughter without a f ather, Second in a batch of sisters. I was sad, nerv ous and ugly . Jaundiced, pale f ace Wobbly legs, f alling f or nothing. Those who saw me – said: − This little girl is a picture of her old sick father. I was scared of stories that I heard, so, to tell: ghost stories, werewolv es, she-mules with no head. 12

For a more profound study of neglect and fatal familial violence, see Azevedo, M.A., and Guerra, V.N.A. (1996). Infância e Violência Fatal em Família – Primeiras Aproximações ao nível de Brasil. São Paulo: Iglu. For a deeper approach to the study of domestic sexual violence, see Azevedo, M.A (1991). Infância e Violência Sexual Doméstica: um tabu menor de um Brasil menor. São Paulo: IPUSP . (Thesis for Full Professor). To learn more about domestic physical violence, see Azevedo, M.A. & Guerra, V.N.A. (2001). Hitting Mania: Domestic Corporal Violence of Children and Adolescents in Brazil. São Paulo: Iglu. 22

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Af f licted souls of the nether world and of the dev il. I had wobbly legs And continually scraped knees, Cut, grazed. From f alling so much. I f ell carelessly . I f ell on the steps I f ell on the pav ing around the house. I cried, I annoy ed. From within the house they ordered − Get up, wibbly-wobbly. My wobbly legs didn’t help. I cried, I sobbed. Inside the house they would answer: − Get up, dumb-bell. I f ell carelessly … I fell on the steps I f ell on the pav ing around the house. I cried, called, complained. From within the house impatiently : − Get up, wobbly legs… And wibbly -wobbly , dumb-bell, wobbly legs would get up on her own. My toy s… Little coconuts. Rag dolls. Bits of crockery . Forked twigs. Unending v oy ages… My imaginary world Blended with reality . And the house cut me up: Tattle-tale! Unwanted company – alway s ready to go out with my sisters, y ou should’v e seen the lengths they would go to and the stories told, to go out together and leav e me alone, alway s at home. The street… ah, the street!… (Play f ul attraction, wish of a child, suggestiv e world f ull of marv elous discov eries) − f orbidden to girls of my times. Rigid f amiliar prejudices, abusiv e educational norms − Walled in. The street. The bridge. Passers-by , ev en the stream, f lowing beneath the window, I saw it through a broken pane, of a warped window. In the ghostly quiet of the house, It was f orbidden, it annoy ed, the loud v oice, the guf f aws, the sudden shrieks, the turbulent activ ity of children. Containment… motiv ation… Curbed behav ior, Limiting, checking excitements, Stepping on f eelings. Valiant deeds within me… A heroic world, sublimated Super-imposed, unsuspecting, Mixed with reality . And the house alienated, unf oreseen gestation, Acrimoniously repeating: – Tattle-tale! 23

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the repulsion of the ablativ e burned. Intimidated, diminished. Misunderstood. Imposed attitudes, f alse, counterf eit. Brutal reprehensions, humiliating. And the f ear of speaking ... And the certainty of alway s being in the wrong .. Learn to shut up. Idiot girl, listening without answering. Hence, at the end of my lif e, This ash that cov ers me… This obscure, bitter, anarchical desire of hiding my self , of changing being, not being, to v anish, to disappear, and reappear as an anony mous creature without class or f amily commitment. I was sad, nerv ous and ugly . A cry baby . Jaundiced, pale f ace, With wobbly legs, f alling f or nothing. An old uncle, who saw me so would say : − This daughter of my niece is an idiot. Better if she hadn’ t been born! Better not to hav e been born… Ugly , scared and sad. Brought up the old f ashioned way , − scolds and punishments. Scorned, dominated. How much work I gav e to twist and retwist, to measure and unmeasure. To make me so another, dif f erent, than what I should be. Sad, nerv ous and ugly . Jaundiced, swollen f ace. Wobbly legs, f alling f or nothing. The picture of an old man. Unwanted among the sisters. Without a Mother’s lov e. Without a Father’s protection… − better not to hav e been born. I nev er achiev ed any thing in lif e. Inf eriority alway s restrained me. And thus, without a f ight, I settled down to the mediocrity of my destiny .

F ROM:

CORALINA, Cora (1985). Poemas dos becos de Goiás e estórias mais. São Paulo: Global.

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IV DOMESTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE: A CONTROVERSIAL CONCEPT

The concept of DOMESTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE against Children and Adolescents is controversial in various aspects.

A.

The concept

Historically, the constructo13 DOMESTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE was coined by feminist literature as part of the struggle by women to make public everyday violence suffered by them in private. The socio-political movement, that for the first time brought attention to the phenomenon of violence against women by their partners, began in 1971, in England, with the milestone of the first “SHELTER HOUSE” for beaten women, an initiative which spread throughout Europe and the United States (middle of the 70s), reaching Brazil in the decade of the 80s. It was in 1985 that Azevedo began a pioneering research to map the nature of domestic violence against women in the city of São Paulo. According to the researcher, from the 2,316 police reports registered in 1981 in that city, and relative to crimes against women, 1,082 (46.72%)were registered crimes of malicious assault and battery, and 937 (40.46%) were crimes involving assault and battery. Analyzing the themes which led to the various ways and modes of domestic physical violence that were reported, the author discovered that behind the scenes of a battered woman there were behaviors that bear another type of violence: violence that is psychological in nature, such as: •

Mental cruelty ⇒ restricting freedom, suspicion, bad character, jealousy , ex cessiv e demands, etc.

•

Verbal offenses ⇒ insults, v erbal aggression, etc.

•

Sex ual relationships outside marriage ⇒ partner finds lov ers ostensibly outside the marriage.

Although the focus of the study was domestic violence of a physical nature, Azevedo (1985) understands that psychological violence is another important form of family violence. According to her, v iolence against w omen is a specific form of interpersonal v iolence, perpetrated by a man against a w oman. The v iolence can be perpetrated as an end in itself (ex pressiv e v iolence) or as a mechanism to force the w oman to submit herself to the impositions of the man 13

The term constructo means a concept deliberately and consciously invented or adopted, for a specific scientific end. [Bastos, Lilia da Rocha et alii (1979). Manual para a elaboração de projetos e relatórios de pesquisa, teses e dissertações. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar. Glossário de termos básicos em pesquisa científica] 25

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(instrumental v iolence). Expressive violence usually constitutes w hat w e denote as sexual abuse. Instrumental violence usually includes w hat w e know as physical abuse, beating a w omen, and psychological abuse or perverse sweetness, although these forms can also be ex ercised as ends in themselv es. Sinclair (1985), a Canadian author, understands that psychological violence

would be different from emotional or verbal abuse, to the extent that it would have a greater power of inducing fear in the victim because threats of violence are accompanied by at least one episode of physical abuse. Nonetheless, the main difference between domestic physical violence and psychological violence lies in the fact that the first one involves acts of corporal aggression to the victim, whereas in the second case, the aggression comes from words, gestures, looks directed at the victim, without necessarily having a physical contact. From the studies of victimology14, Marie France Hirigoyen (2000) (psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and family therapist) defines psychological violence as a real process of

moral destruction (...) [whose attack is directed to] the identity of the other individual and extracting from it all individuality (...) which can lead to mental illness or suicide. She calls this process moral assault

and/or perverse violence, recognizing that it is possible to destroy someone merely with words, looks, implied meanings: a true psychic murder. By perverse, the author means that this has to do with an abuse and not a pathology. Perversity does not arise from a psychiatric disturbance, but rather from cold rationale, combined with an inability to consider other human beings . The abuse that is characteristic of this violence, according to the author, begins with an abuse of power, proceeds with a narcissistic abuse – in the sense that the other completely loses his self esteem – and can reach, at times, a sexual abuse. Also according to this psychiatrist, and as a

result of her clinical experience, she was able to identify some characteristics of Psychological Violence: 1ª

the most frightening thing is that it is, above all, an UNSPEAKABLE violence: the victim, even if he/she recognizes his suffering, cannot truly imagine that there has been a violence (...) Many times the doubt persists: could it be that I am inv enting all this, like some people hav e told me?

2ª

the aggressor tends to reproduce his destructive behavior in all circumstances of life: in his workplace, with his spouse, with the children (...) These are individuals who leave behind them a path strewn with corpses or living-dead;

3ª

it is difficult to detect because the aggressions are subtle, there are no visible vestiges (...) [and frequently] the victim is considered an accomplice or even responsible for the perverted relationship (...) This is denying the extent of control that paralyzes the victim and doesn’t allow it to defend itself .

This polymorphous nature of Psychological Violence explains why it can permeate the context of many institutions (family, school, office, etc.) and why its victims are always the weaklings in each of these situations (women, children and the elderly in a family; students at school, employees in companies, etc.). That is why, already in 1979 and 1980, we find in Alice Miller’s15 works, the accusation of cruelty with children, always disguised as education for the good of 14 15

Victimology is the discipline, arising from criminology, that studies the reasons that lead an individual to become a victim, as well as the processes of victimization, its consequences and the rights that the individual can demand. Alice Miller is an internationally reknown specialist in topics related to the Child Psychology and also author of many publications devoted to education, which are well known in Germany, France and the United States. 26

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the child. In a small book published in Germany, in 1979, and translated in Brazil as O drama da criança bem dotada (1986) [DAS DRAMA DES BEGABTEN KINDES und die Suche nach dem wahren selbst.], Alice Miller shows how parents can deform the emotional life of their children, appropriating themselves of and manipulating their psychic lives as if the child were a catexis narcísica of the father or of the mother. In this ruinous process, the child is loved at the price of having to let go being who they are. Referring to various examples, for the most part extracted from the world of Arts, the author shows how this process is more prevalent in gifted children, who, due to their increased sensitivity, capture better the expectations of their parents, to whom they seek to mold themselves, sacrificing their true SELF . In the book published in Germany, in 1980, and edited in USA, in 1984, with the suggestive title of Hidden Cruelty in Child Rearing and the Roots of Violence, the author begins with the assertion that there are many forms of cruelty which, even today, are not known because the damage it causes children and its consequences are not sufficiently studied. In this book, the author shows how, throughout more than two hundred years, Traditional Education has molded a despotic pedagogy16 – a mixture of corporal punishment and humiliation – aimed at breaking the child’s will so as to domesticate and transform it into a docile and obedient being under the adult’s will. Using three portraits of children educated through the use of these practices (Cristiane F., drugged and prostituted; Jurgen Bartsch, young German murderer and Adolf Hitler), Alice Miller shows what are the tactics and consequences of what would be a real war of extermination against the true SELF . This is, without a doubt, Domestic Psychological Violence, although the author does not use this name. It is no wonder then, that a little later, literature about Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents incorporates the discussion regarding the concept of Psychological Violence. Along this same line, we will see that new terms will arise such as abuse and mistreatment17, in connection with the adjectives: emotional or psychological. In this manner, some authors made a distinction between emotional and psychological abuse (O’Hagan, 1993), describing the first as any and all behavior, by parents or care-givers, that is openly hostile or neglectful in relation to children and that is capable of harming their self-esteem and self-confidence. The second would involve a more subtle type of conduct (such as perverse sweetness) but equally damaging to the child’s personality. Garbarino, Guttmann & Seeley (1986), as well as McGee & Wolfe (1991) find it more appropriate to talk in terms of psychological mistreatment so as to cover both types of abuse. According to the first authors, it deals with a well articulated attack – carried out by an adult – and directed at the development of the ‘self’ and at the social competence of a child.

In 1995, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children defined Psychological Violence as follows:

16

17

The author calls Black Pedagogy. In order to avoid dubious interpretations, we have decided to adopt the expression Despotic Pedagogy. For more information, see Azevedo, M.A. (1995). Despotic Pedagogy and domestic violence against children and adolescents: where psychology and politics meet. In: Azevedo, M.A. & Menin, M.S. dos S. (orgs.). Psicologia e Política / Reflexões sobre possibilidades e dificuldades deste encontro. São Paulo: Cortez. We conscientiously reject both expressions. For further information, see Azevedo, M.A. & Guerra, V.N.A. (1995). Violência doméstica na infância e na adolescência. São Paulo: Robe. 27

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A repeated pattern of caregiv er behav ior or ex treme incident(s) that conv ey to children that they are w orthless, flaw ed, unlov ed, unw anted, endangered, or only of v alue in meeting another’s needs.

Since 1989, Azevedo & Guerra have been discussing in Brazil, the question of Domestic Psychological Violence, understood as Psychological Abuse-Victimization of Children and Adolescents. Synthetically, the authors reaffirm the same concept in a study published in 1998: Also designated as psychological torture, it occurs w hen parents or responsible parties constantly put the child dow n, blocking its efforts tow ards self acceptance, causing much mental suffering.

The chart which follows provides a panoramic and comparative view of the main concepts addressed in specialized literature. The conceptual discussion, however, is far from over, although Domestic Psychological Violence has been discussed in several documents concerning the protection of the Rights of the Child: in England and in Wales it was incorporated by the legislation in 1980; in the United States it has been incorporated in the statutes of several States since 1977. Internationally, The Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Child (11.20.59), in its Principle 9, assures the protection of the child against neglect, cruelty and exploitation. Also, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (11.20.89), ratified by Brazil on 01.26.90, protects the child against all forms of physical or mental violence (...). In Brazil, the Statute of the Child and the Adolescent (Law Nº 8069, of July 13, 1990) declares in its article 5, that no child or adolescent will be the object of any form of neglect, discrimination, exploitation, violence, cruelty and oppression (...) [the italics are ours]. In practice, however, these conceptualizations have proved to be of little use, due to the range and ambiguity of behaviors that fall within the framework of Domestic Psychological Violence. Experts have, therefore, begun to define Domestic Psychological Violence in a less generic and a more operational way. This effort has shown itself to be theoretically valid, although, equally polemical.

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CHART 1 Map of the major conceptions of Domestic Psychological Violence [DPV] / (1976-2001) Number Order OF BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

EMPLOYED TERMINOLOGY

CONCEPTUAL FACETS

Per petr ator Emotional abuse X X

Psychological maltr eatment

Emotional neglect X

Psychological violence

Other Adults Parents or Carers

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X

X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Consequences for the Victim

Par ental Conduct

X X

X X X X X X 29

Sibling

Generic

Active

Passive

X

X

X

Typology

Suffering

X X

Damage

X X X

X X X X X X

Relationship with other Modalities [Physical V. / Sexual V.]

X

X X

X X

X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X

X X X

X X X

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Number Order OF BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCE

CONCEPTUAL FACETS

Per petr ator Emotional abuse X

30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

Totais

EMPLOYED TERMINOLOGY

X X

X X X

Psychological maltr eatment

Emotional neglect

X X X X X X X X

Psychological violence

Other Adults Parents or Carers

X

X X X X

X

X X X X X X X X X

X X X X

X

X X

X

X

N (50) %

X

X

12 24,0

34 68,0

X

2 4,0

4 8,0

10 20,0

Sibling

X X X X X X X X X X X

X X

Consequences for the Victim

Par ental Conduct

3 6,0

48 96,0

Generic

Active

Passive

Typology

Suffering

X

Relationship with other Modalities [Physical V. / Sexual V.]

Damage

X X X

X X X X X X X X

X

X

X

X

X

X X X X X X X X

1 2,0

27 54,0

X

X

3 6,0

3 6,0

20 40,0

X

X

X

X X

X X

4 8,0

17 34,0

8 16,0

SOURCES: Medline Psychoinfo, National Clearing House on Child Abuse and Neglect and Psyclit. K ALICHMAN, S.C. and GARRY , A.T. (eds.) (1996). Child Abuse. Abstracts of the Psychological and Behavioral Literature 1990-1995. Washington: American Psychological Association. Vol. 9 (Bibliographies in Psychology).

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BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES − CHART 1 1.

1976 W HITING, L. Defining emotional neglect. Children today , 5: 2-5.

2.

1981 A BER, J.L. & Z IGLER, E. Dev elopmental considerations in the dev elopment of child maltreatment. In: RIZLEY , R. & C ICCHETTI, D. (eds.). Developmental perspectives on child maltreatment. New Directions for Child Dev elopment, nº 11. San Francisco, C A: Jossey Bass.

3.

1982 KAVANAGH, C. Emotional abuse and mental injury : a critique of the concepts and a recommendation for practice. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry , 21: 171-7.

4.

1982 YATES, A . Children eroticised by incest. American Journal of Psychiatry , 139: 482-5.

5.

1984 G IL, E. A book for and about adults abused as children . Launch Press.

6.

1986 BAILY , T.F. & BAILY , W.H. Operational definitions of child emotional maltreatment: Final report. National Center on Child A buse and Neglect (DHSS 90-C A-0956). Washington, DC: U S Gov ernment Printing Office.

7.

1986 G ARBARINO , J.; G UTTMANN, E. & S EELEY , J.A . The psychologically battered child . San Francisco, C A: Jossey -Bass.

8.

1987 G ARBARINO , J. What can the school on behalf of the psy chologically maltreated child and the community ? School Psychology Review , 16(2): 181-7.

9.

1987 G ARRISON, E.G. Psy chological maltreatment of children: an emerging focus for inquiry and concern. American Psychologist, 42(2): 157-9, Feb.

10. 1987 HART , S.N.; G ERMAINE, R. & BRASSARD, M.R. The challenge: to better understand and combat psy chological maltreatment of children and y outh. In: BRASSARD, M.R., GERMAIN, R. & HART , S.N. (eds.). Psychological maltreatment of children and youth . New York : Pergamon Press. 11. 1987 ROSENBERG, M. New directions for research on the psy chological maltreatment of children. American Psychologist, 42: 166-71. 12. 1988 HART , S.N. Psy chological maltreatment: emphasis on prev ention. School Psychology International, 9: 243-55. 13. 1989 A ZEVEDO , M.A . & GUERRA, V.N.A . A buso-v itimização psicológica. In: A ZEVEDO , M.A . & G UERRA, V.N.A . Crianças vitimizadas: a síndrome do pequeno poder . São Paulo: Iglu, p. 41. 14. 1989 S KUSE, D. Emotional abuse and delay in growth. In: MEADOW, R. (ed.). A BC of child abuse. London: British Medical A ssociation. 15. 1991 BARNETT , D.; MANLY , J.T. & C ICCHETTI, D. Continuing toward an operational definition of psy chological maltreatment. Development and Psychopathology , 3: 19-29. 16. 1991 BELSKY , J. Psy chological maltreatment: Definitional limitations and unstated assumptions. Development and Psychopathology , 3: 31-6. 17. 1991 C LAUSSEN, A .H. & C RITTENDEN, P.M. Phy sical and psy chological maltreatment: relations among ty pes of maltreatment. Child Abuse and Neglect, 15(1-2): 5-18. 18. 1991 E GELAND, B. From data to definition. Development and Psychopathology , 3(1): 37-43.

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19. 1991 G ARBARINO , J. Not all bad dev elopmental outcomes are the result of child abuse. Development and Psychopathology , 3(1): 45-50. [Erik son Inst for A dv anced Study in Child Dev elopment, Chicago, IL, U S]. Special Issue: Defining psy chological maltreatment, U S: Cambridge Univ ersity . 20. 1991 G RUSEC, J.E. & W ALTERS, G.C. Psy chological abuse and child rearing belief sy stems. In: S TARR, R.H. & W OLFE, D.A . (comps.). The effects of child abuse and neglect. New York : The Guilford Press, p. 186-202. 21. 1991 HANGAARD, J.J. Defining psy chological maltreatment: a prelude to research or an outcome of research. Development and Psychopathology , 3(1): 71-7. [Cornell U, Ithaca, NY , N Y ]. Special Issue: Defining psy chological maltreatment. U S: Cambridge Univ ersity . 22. 1991 HART , S.N. &

BRASSARD, M.R. Psy chological maltreatment:

Development and Psychopathology , 3: 61-7.

progress achiev ed.

23. 1991 MCG EE, R.A . & W OLFE, D.A . Psy chological maltreatment toward an operational definition. Development and Psychopathology , 3: 31-18. 24. 1991 MCG EE, R.A . & W OLFE, D.A . Between a rock and a hard place: where do we go from here in defining psy chological maltreatment. Development and Psychopathology , 3(1): 119-24. [U Western Ontario, London, Canada]. Special Issue: Defining psy chological maltreatment. U S: Cambridge Univ ersity . 25. 1991 S HAVER, P.R.; G OODMAN, G.S.; ROSENBERG, M.S. & O RCULT , H. The search for a definition of psy chological maltreatment. Development and Psychopathology , 3(1): 79-86. [State U New York , Buffalo U S]. Special Issue: Defining psy chological maltreatment. U S: Cambridge Univ ersity . 26. 1991 S TERNBERG, K.J. & LAMB, M.E. Can we ignore context in the definition of child maltreatment? Development and Psychopathology , 3: 87-92. [N IH, National Inst of Child Health and Human Dev elopment, Bethesda, MD, U SA]. Special Issue: Defining psy chological maltreatment. U S: Cambridge Univ ersity . 27. 1991 THOMPSON, R. & JACOBS, J.E. Defining psy chological maltreatment: research and policy perspectiv es. Development and Psychopathology , 3(1): 93-102. [U Nebrask a, Lincoln, U S]. Special Issue: Defining psy chological maltreatment. U S: Cambridge Univ ersity . 28. 1991 TOTH, S.L. Psy chological maltreatment: can an integration of research policy and interv ention efforts be achiev ed. Development and Psychopathology , 3(1): 103-9. [U Rochester, MT Hope Family Ctr, N Y , U S]. Special Issue: Defining psy chological maltreatment. U S: Cambridge Univ ersity . 29. 1991 W ALD, M.S. Defining psy chological maltreatment: the relationship between questions and answers. Development and Psychopathology , 3(1): 111-8. [Stanford U, C A, U S]. Special Issue: Defining psy chological maltreatment. U S: Cambridge Univ ersity . 30. 1991 Working together . Circular / Department of Health Guidance (DOH, 1991). England. 31. 1992 VONDRA, J.I.; KOLAR, A .B. & RADIGAN, B.L. Psy chological maltreatment of children. In: A MMERMAN, R.T. & HERSEN, M. (ed.). Assessment of family violence: a clinical and legal sourcebook. Wiley Series on Personality Process, p. 253-90. New York , NY : John Wiley and Sons. 32. 1993 G ARBARINO , J. Psy chological child maltreatment. A dev elopmental v iew. Prim-Care, 20(2): 307-15, Jun. [Erik son Institute for A dv anced Study in Child Dev elopment, Chicago, Illinois] 33. 1993 KLOSINSKI, G. Psy chological maltreatment in the context of separation and div orce. Child Abuse and Neglect, 17(4): 557-63, Jul.-A ug. 32

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34. 1993 O’HAGAN, K.P. Emotional and psychological abuse of children . Buck ingham: Open Univ ersity Press. 35. 1995 C ANTON DUARTE, J. A bandono emocional, malos tratos psicológicos y problemas de conducta en menores institucionalizados por malos tratos. In: C ANTON DUARTE, J. (comp.). Malos tratos a los niños: institucionalización y problemas de adaptación . Diputación Prov incial de Jaen: Patronato de Bienestar Social, p. 175-213. 36. 1995 C ORTÉS A RBOLEDA, M.R. Problemas de conducta en menores institucionalizados por malos tratos. Tesis Doctoral. Serv icio de Publicaciones de la Univ ersidad de Granada. 37. 1995 C ORTÉS A RBOLEDA, M.R. El problema de la definición del abuso infantil. In: C ANTON DUARTE, J. (comp.). Malos tratos a los niños: institucionalización y problemas de adaptación . Diputación Prov incial de Jaen: Patronato de Bienestar Social. 38. 1995 F ORTIN, A .; C HAMBERLAND, C. Prev enting the psy chological maltreatment of children. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 10(3): 275-95, Sep. 39. 1995 IWANIEC, D. The emotionally abused and neglected child . New York : John Wiley and Sons. 40. 1995 O’HAGAN, K.P. Emotional and psy chological abuse: problems of definition. Child Abuse and Neglect, 19: 449-61. 41. 1995 W HIPPLE, E.E. & F INTON, S.E. Psy chological maltreatment by siblings: an unrecognized form of abuse. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 12(2): 135-46. U S: Kluwer A cademic Publishers. 42. 1997 BRASSARD, M.R. & HARDY , D.B. Psy chological maltreatment. In: HELFER, M.E.; KEMPE, R. (ed.) et al. The battered child (5th ed. rev and exp). Chicago, IL: U S The Univ ersity of Chicago Press, p. 392-412. [Columbia U Teachers Coll Dept. of Dev elopmental and Educational Psy chology , NY , N Y ] 43. 1997 F ERGUSON, K.S. & DACEY , C.M. A nxiety , depression and dissociation in women health care prov iders reporting a history of childhood psy chological abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 21(10): 941-52. 44. 1997 G ARBARINO , J.; E CKENRODE, J.; BOLGER, K. The elusiv e crime of psy chological maltreatment. In: G ARBARINO , J. & E CKENRODE, J. (ed.). Understanding abusive families: an ecological approach to theory and practice. San Francisco, C A: U S Jossey Bass Inc. Publ., p. 101-13. [Cornell U Coll of Human Ecology , Family Life Dev elopment Ctr Ithaca, NY , U S] 45. 1997 S CHAEFER, C. Defining v erbal abuse of children: a surv ey . Psychological Reports, 80: 6-26. 46. 1999 S TEVENS, L.E. Qu’est-ce que la violence psychologique? Ottawa: Centre National d’Information sur la Violence dans la Famille. 47. 2000 BRASSARD, M.R.; HART , S.N.; HARDY , D.B. Psy chological and emotional abuse of children. In: A MMERMAN, R.T. & HERSEN, M. (ed.). Case studies in family violence. 2ª ed. New York : N Y Kluwer A cademic / Plenium Publishers, p. 255-70. [Columbia U Teachers Coll, Faculty of Health and Behav ioral Studies] 48. 2000 LEWIN. “I’m not talk ing to y ou”: shunning as a form of v iolence. Transactional Analysis Journal, 30(2): 125-31, A pr.

Violência Psicológica Doméstica em questão .

49. 2001 A ZEVEDO , M.A . & GUERRA V.N.A . [manuscrito]

50. 2001 JELLEN, L.K.; MCC ARROLL, J.E.; THAYER, L.F. Child emotional maltreatment: a 2-y ear study of U S A rmy cases. Child Abuse and Neglect, 25(5): 623-40. 33

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B.

The facets of constructo

In the area of Domestic Violence against Women, efforts in this direction have been recorded since 1982. The study of Berly (1982) identifies a list of abusive behaviors arranged in an increasing continuum of Psychological Violence: 1.

Makes fun of the woman.

2.

Insults her.

3.

Denies her emotional universe.

4.

Never approves of the woman’s accomplishments.

5.

Yells at her.

6.

Insults her repeatedly (in private).

7.

Blames her for all the family’s problems.

8.

Calls her crazy, whore, stupid, etc.

9.

Threatens her with violence.

10.

Criticizes her as a mother, a lover and as a professional.

11.

Demands her full attention, jealously competing with the children.

12.

Criticizes her repeatedly (in public).

13.

Tells her of his affairs with other women.

14.

Threatens her with violence towards the children.

15.

Tells her he only stays together with her because she cannot live without him.

16.

Builds up an atmosphere of fear.

17.

Makes the woman feel desperate, depressed and/or other symptoms of mental illness.

18.

Suicide.

Sinclair (1985) also includes a list of violent behaviors, however, without

placing them in any type of hierarchy: 1.

Threats (of suicide, of injuring the victim or her loved ones, of damaging property or animals, of disclosing information about the victim’s past, in the event that see leaves him). 34

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2.

Forces her to carry out degrading acts, such as cutting up her favorite dress, washing her mouth out with soap, cleaning the dishes with her tongue.

3.

Do things that frighten her, such as driving through a red light, spreeding with the car on slippery roads, playing with a knife or gun in her presence.

4.

Verbally attack the woman’s personality, her beliefs and attitudes or scorn her efforts to improve.

5.

Control her activities, breaking her routine, depriving of her basic needs such as sleep, sex and money, or isolating her from family and friends.

6.

Destroying anything of woman’s property that is valuable to her, such as photographs, dresses, etc.

Some of these behaviors are part of what was published, in 1995, by a feminist organization, The Body Shop. Other emotional and economic attacks are: A.

Destructive criticism and verbal abuse (to mock, to scold, to humiliate…)

B.

Pressure tactics (threatening to withhold money, manipulating the children…)

C.

Abusing authority (the I am always right…)

D.

Disrespect (not listening or responding, putting partner down in front of other people…)

E.

Abusing trust (lying18, withholding information…)

F.

Breaking promises (not following through on agreements…)

G.

Minimizing, denying & blaming (making light of behavior and not taking partner’s concerns seriously…)

H.

Economic control (refusing to give money, taking away the car keys…)

I.

Self-destructive behavior (alcohol and/or drug abuse…)

J.

Isolation (preventing or making it difficult to see friends and relatives…)

K.

Harassment (making uninvited visits or calls, checking up on partner…)

In the area of Childhood and Domestic Violence, Garbarino, Guttmann & Seeley (1986) list five toxic parental behaviors as seen from the viewpoint of Child Psychology: to REJECT, ISOLATE, TERRORIZE, IGNORE, CORRUPT. While Hart, Germaine & 18

As regards the destructive effect of lies from a psychoanalytical perspective, see Andrade, S.H. de (1998). A violência da mentira. Rev. Bras. Psican., Vol. 32(4): 921-9. 35

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Brassard (1987) describe the following acts – de-socializing, exploiting and denying

emotional responsiveness – which are, however, difficult to identify. In a study published in August 2000 – through a factorial analysis of twenty items of a scale aimed at measuring “psychological maltreatments” inflicted on Palestinian children and adolescents (N = 1000), Vivian Khamis identified three factors which she labeled Emotional Abuse, Emotional Neglect, Corrupting. In a study published in Canada in 1999, Laura Stevens attempts to give an operational definition to Domestic Psychological Violence that can serve as a basis to qualify abusive relationships between the parents themselves and between parents and children. She starts from the premise that like all kinds of violence that arise within the framework of a relationship, Psychological Violence, sometimes also called mental cruelty, is an abuse of power and control. She lists the following behaviors which go back to and increase the original list of Garbarino, Guttmann & Seeley’s (1986): TO REJECT; TO DEGRADE; TO TERRORIZE; TO ISOLATE; TO CORRUPT OR TO EXPLOIT A PERSON; TO DEPRIVE A PERSON OF HUMAN AFFECTION/WARMTH. Although necessarily incomplete, this definition of the facets of the constructo may be considered as the least criticized, since according to Iwaniec (1995) there are

differences and similarities in definitions of psychological maltreatment. There are also problems in differentiating emotional abuse and psychological maltreatment. Yet all of them include descriptions of the same or similar parental behavior.

For this reason, Stevens (1999) concludes, somewhat pessimistically, that Psychological Violence is difficult to research for many reasons : − contrary to other forms of violence, psychological violence was only recognized a short while ago; − there is no universal definition, being, in itself, difficult to define; − it is difficult to detect, evaluate and prove; − many cases of psychological violence will never be reported.

Universally speaking, the statement made by Kempe & Helfer in 1980, continues to be valid: Countries and societies progress, through different stages, in their approach to domestic v iolence against the child (child abuse). At first, the problem is denied; then, the more dramatic cases of phy sical maltreatment are focused on before subtler forms of sex ual and emotional abuse are finally recognized.

This state of affairs – along with the serious consequences of Psychological Violence on the development of a child’s personality – clearly indicates the need of further research into this area. Research that would be capable of showing the incidence and prevalence19 of the phenomenon in a certain society, either through 19

Incidence refers to the number of cases occurring within a specific time span. Prevalence refers to the number of individuals in a specific populational segment who report having been victims of the phenomenon in the past. 36

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empirical data, or through analyzing the content of autobiographical accounts20. Research that is capable of overcoming another challenge: that of the explanatory models.

C.

The explanatory models

The area of Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents seems to be in a pre-paradigmatic stage of development. There are several available explanatory models that coexist without surpassing each other entirely. The chart that follows summarizes this problem, demonstrating generations of explanatory models. Research in the area of Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents is mainly based on the ecological model of human development. There are many researchers who have supported Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological theory of human development as a basis to explain the production of Domestic Violence in Childhood and Adolescence. Belsky (1980) improved the model, developing a network of subsystems in permanent interaction for producing Domestic Violence. These subsystems are related to: 1. 2. 3. 4.

20

the ontogenetic development, that is, the effects of the parent’s history in their way of bringing up their children; the microsystem, that is, the characteristics of the family and child; the exosystem, that is, the characteristics of the neighborhood and type of social support offered to the family; the macrosystem, that is, the characteristics of Society and Culture where Violence occurs. Exploring autobiographical reports (printed material, videos, films, etc.) is proving to be one of the most promising lines of Qualitative Research capable of revealing all the emotional density involved in the scenarios of Domestic Psychological Violence. As an example, please see: a. Bergman’s account of his childhood.[Bergman,I.(1987) Lanterna mágica, uma autobiografia. Rio de Janeiro: Guanabara] b. autobiographies by: b1 Evelyn Lau. Runaway: diary of a street kid. Flight, 1997. b2 Adeline Yen Mah. Falling leaves/The true story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter. New York: Penguin Books, 1997. c. The exhaustive research carried out by Oliveira, M. Helena P. (2001). Lembranças do passado: a infância e a adolescência na vida dos escritores brasileiros. Bragança Paulista: USF. d. Oral stories, collected by T ELELACRI Teams and exemplified in the written accounts of a victim of Psychological Violence carried out by the mother and maternal grandmother (Contribution of Team 75, VII Telecourse for Specialization in the area of Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents, 2000). “I arrived in this world in the middle of extreme shortages: of solidarity, understanding, affection, friends, food, shelter, clothing, medication etc. etc. I don’t know what harmed me more, whether it was the lack of affection or whether a material lack. I was received like an enemy creature, immoral, odious, ugly, malign, detestable, undignified. As if lack and rejection were not enough, I also received within the schizophrenic mind of my grandmother, the irrevocable death sentence. However, as time went by and what was foreseen did not happen, and the child in spite of everything thrived, my grandmother laid down another sentence that was absolute and respectedly accepted by other subjects of that schizophrenic realm: that creature deserved a big punishment, a catastrophe or a wretched future. Ever since a tender age I heard and felt that I didn’t deserve the affection of anyone, not even of my mother who was forbidden to even touch me in public. As I grew up, I began to hear another sentence, or better ‘AN ALLEGAT ION. No man would ever like me. If, perchance, someone from the opposite sex were to come near me it would be to take advantage of me or to rape me. Incoherently, I had the option of choosing between two paths: 1st I should find a good husband, rich and magnanimous, who would pay back all the damage, shame and disgrace I had caused that venerable family who had brought me up; 2nd I should find a disciplinary husband who would punish me with all chastisements that my complacent family had not had the courage to apply on me.” 37

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CHART 2 Map of the main explanatory models of Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents (1980-2000)

MODELS

PRINCIPAL FOCUS

MAIN THEORETICIANS

First Generation

Psychiatric/Psychological

P IANTA, R.; E GELAND, B. & E RICKSON , M .F . (1 9 8 9 ). The antecedents of maltreatment: results of the mother-child interaction research project. In: C ICCHETTI , D. & C ARLSON , V . (eds.). C hild maltreatment: theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect. C ambridge: C ambridge U niv ersity P ress, p. 203-53.

Sociological

C HAFFIN , M .; K ELLEHER, K. & H OLLENBERG , J. (1 9 9 6 ). O nset of phy sical abuse and neglect: psy chiatric, substance abuse and social risk factors from prospectiv e community data. C hild A buse and N eglect, 20: 191-203.

Interactive

B ELSKY, J. (1 9 8 0 ). C hild maltreatment: an ecological integration. A merican P sy chologist, 35: 320-35.

(unidimensional)

Second Generation (multidimensional)

Third Generation

(bio-psy cho-social)

B ELSKY, J. (1 9 9 3 ). E tiology of child maltreatment: a dev elopmental-ecological analy sis. P sy chological Bulletin, 114: 41334.

Processing

M ILNER, J.S . (1 9 9 3 ). S ocial information processing and phy sical child abuse. C linical P sy chology Rev iew , 13: 275-94. M ILNER, J.S . (1 9 9 5 ). La aplicación de la teoría del procesamiento de información social al problema del maltrato físico a niños. Infancia y A prendizaje, 71: 125-34.

(multidimensional)

H ILLSON , J.M .C . & K NIPER, N .A . (1 9 9 4 ). S tress and coping model of child maltreatment. C linical P sy chology Review , 14: 261-85.

Fourth Generation (multidimensional)

Historical-critical (social-biopsy chological)

A ZEVEDO, M .A . & G UERRA, V .N .A . (1 9 9 8 ). Infância e v iolência doméstica fatal em família: primeiras aproximações ao nível

de Brasil. S ão P aulo: Iglu.

A ZEVEDO, M .A . & G UERRA, V .N .A . (2 0 0 0 ). Infância e v iolência doméstica: fronteiras do conhecimento. 3ª ed. São Paulo: C ortez.

SOURCE: Adapted from DUARTE, J.C. & ARBOLEDA, Maria Rosário Cortés (1997). Malos tratos y abuso sexual infantil. Madrid: Siglo XXI de España.

38

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This model is an attempt to overcome the unidimensional models, whether they be the psycho-pathological (medical model) and the social model, both of which are based on the defectological paradigm, centered on the idea of a linear causality among factors represented by deficits (individual or social) and with Domestic Violence as a resultant. Although it recognizes multi-determination as the law for producing Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents, this model, which is still hegemonic when referring to this problem, has already been criticized by Azevedo & Guerra in 1993, not only because it is based on the same empiricalanalytical referential on which unidimensional models are based, but also because the conception of privileged causality found in it leans on the law of universal interdependence, which besides postulating an inter-relationship among all elements – destructive of the sense of direction, it ignores the fact that cause and effect are moments of reciprocal connection among phenomena, and as such historical and contingent (Azevedo & Guerra , 1993). These authors propose, therefore, another model whereby Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents is a multi-faceted complex phenomenon, whose fundamental comprehension requires adhesion to epistemological presuppositions of multi-causal, socio-psychointeractionist and historical-critical nature (Azevedo & Guerra , 1998).

With an extensive and in-depth research conducted in the city of São Paulo, on Childhood and Fatal Violence in the Family, they were able to study the phenomena grasping the multiplicity of its determinants within the concrete of familial life of the dead children. Only in this way were they able to explain why Fatal Violence happens in families that even love their children and why this violence happens and continues to happen as a chronicle of an announced death. The superiority of the explanations resulting from applying this model becomes clear when compared to those centered in the ecological theory, almost always restricted to the impact of factors linked to ontogenic subsystems and to the microsystem (Egeland & Erickson, 1987; Wolfe, 1985), without a deeper understanding of the socio-genesis of the phenomenon. In spite of this, more research continues to be necessary to confirm the superiority of the socio-psycho-interactionist and historical-critical model.

39

Voices of Youth

V DOMESTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE − VOICES OF YOUTH : RESEARCH SCENARIO

A.

Preliminary Considerations: RECOVERED VOICES Until here we have maintained:

1st

the understanding of childhood and youth as social constructions, therefore, phenomena that are not unique, nor universal;

2nd

that childhood and youth must be analyzed in light of each culture and society providing an interface with questions such as gender, class and ethnic groups…;

3rd

that the relationship of childhood and youth with culture and society must be studied in light of the particular perspective of these social segments;

4th

that children and youths are subjects of the construction and determination of their own lives;

5th

that domestic violence in childhood and/or adolescence is an endemic phenomenon in our society;

6th

that domestic psychological violence is a phenomenon that has to do with the actions or omissions of parents or care-givers, capable of producing mental and emotional suffering and pain in the child/children.

In light of the above statements, we have carried out a research that tries to recover the voices of youth with respect to domestic psychological violence. This research, besides offering an innovative proposal, brings with it the possibility of providing important insights, through the voices of youth, so that Brazilian society can be made aware of that what is referred to as the practice of family education, made to seem natural under the dubious supposition of being for the own good of the child and youth, in truth, breaks their psychological “self” and damages their self-esteem.

40

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In listening to the voices of youth − through them and with them − we will be contributing to establishing prevention programs21, in a more efficient way. Programs which would be able to combat what Galeano (1997) appropriately called THE CULTURE OF TERROR.

THE CULTURE OF TERROR

The ex tortion

the insults, the threats, the rap on the head, the slap, the soanking, the w hip, the dark room, the cold show er, the obligatory fast, the obligatory food, the prohibition to go out, the prohibition to speak one’s mind, the prohibition to do w hat one feels like, and the public humiliation are some of the methods of penitence and torture that are traditions in the life of the family. As a punishment for disobedience and an ex ample of liberty, family tradition perpetuates the culture of terror w hich humiliates the w oman, teaches the children to lie and contaminates everything w ith the plague of fear. − Human right s should begin at home − Andrés Domínguez comments w ith me in Chile. SOURCE: G ALEANO, E. (1997). O livro dos abraços. Porto Alegre: L&PM.

21

One of the major concerns of the Child Studies Laboratory − LACRI is with prevention of domestic violence. For this reason it maintains T ELELACRI − A 360-hour Specialized Telecourse (since 1994) in the Area of Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents, dedicated to professionals with a university degree and designed to place major emphasis on prevention projects. This long-distance course has students from 17 Brazilian States and they are aware that: “− In the area of CHILDHOOD and DOMEST IC VIOLENCE , it is fundamental not only to intervene – when and if VIOLENCE has occurred – but, especially, to try to avoid its occurrence. It is necessary to arrive before a child or an adolescent becomes a MEDICAL DOSSIER, a PSYCHIAT RIC CASE , a LEGAL or a POLICE DOSSIER, or a NEWSPAPER HEADLINE . − For this reason, PROFESSIONAL T RAINING − WHOSE OBJECT IVE IS T O PREPARE BRAVE CHILD DEFENDERS , WHOMUST BE COMPET ENT , COMMIT T ED, ET HICALLY RESPONSIBLE AND FREE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INHIBIT IONS − IS ONE OF T HE BEST PREVENT ION ST RAT EGIES ”. (Excerpts taken from the Carta de Principios do LACRI – Guia do Estudante – Kit Instrucional – TELELACRI – 2000) Letter of LACRI’s Principles – Student’s Guide – Instructional Kit – T ELELACRI – 2000. The tele-students are prepared every year to set up prevention projects within their respective regions. 41

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B.

Referential Framework: RELINQUISHED VOICES

The referential framework that was used was that of a CRITICAL THEORY22 in the area of Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents, whose basic challenge is to be politically correct and scientifically valid. Politically correct, that is, emancipatory and counter-ideological. Scientifically v alid, that is, operative, allowing the phenomena to be efficiently managed. To face this theoretical challenge it is important to know that understanding the phenomena must be transdisciplinary, that is, transgressing (but not ignoring) disciplinary boundaries and that the research method adopted would have to be the historical-critical one, which has, as a necessary step, the ideological critique (de-mystifying) of the representations about the phenomena that are part of the common culture of a given society (naive conscience) and of the scientific culture (instrumentalized conscience). To better explain what we understand by CRITICAL THEORY in the area of Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents it is necessary to keep in mind that this approach holds the basic assumption that understanding the dyad: CHILDHOOD and DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, can only be obtained from the structural determinants of objective historical development. What determinants are these? There are two: one which originates from the material conditions of existence (responsible for the structure of human society into opposing classes of owners and non-owners) and the other which arises from power relationships (responsible for the structure of human societies into not always opposing groups: those that have power and those that do not; power which comes from converting differences in gender, generations, ethnic group etc. into inequalities and, therefore, as a PRETEXT for domination, oppression and exploitation of the strong over the weak). Contrary to a restrictive analysis of human societies, only taking into consideration its socio-economic determinants, the present perspective recognizes the equivalent importance of the politico-cultural determinants, especially when dealing with violence. As stated by Demo (1991), we do no intention of relegating the economic basis of society to a secondary level, but of placing the question of power as being relevant in the same level. Power is just as structural as economic condition. It exists in all societies. Its historical form of distribution decisively marks its historical quality, just as it marks the form of distribution of material goods . If, as stated by this author, politics is the space for power, where social discriminations are managed, it is also the particular space of social relationships. Social relationships do not exist that are not political, by definition, because men are never only different. Their differences end up by crystallizing into inequalities.

22

This theory presumes a CRIT ICAL T HEORY OF CHILDHOOD that takes into account the social relationship between child and adult. The relationship between adults and children cannot be deduced from a child’s nature or an adult’s nature. One cannot study the child and adult separately and compare them. On the contrary, they are involved in a social relationship that is inserted in the framework of global society. This does not signify, however, that there is no physiological specificity in childhood. On the contrary, the social relationship between adult and child rests upon the inequality of their biological development. From an individual viewpoint, the social bond between child and adult results from the physiological weakness of the child. From a species viewpoint ... human childhood could not have become the most prolonged infancy in the animal kingdom if the social organization of men had not been able to protect the child. Therefore, it is as a social bilateral relationship that one must think about the pedagogical relationship between children and adults and not as a relationship between two types of nature or two aspects of an extended human nature. (Charlot, 1977). 42

Voices of Youth

In summary, the Critical Theory demands that the phenomenon, Domestic Violence, be understood in light of the socio-economical and politico-cultural determinants23 of a given society: to be scientifically valid the approach must be SOCIO-PSYCHO-INTERACTIONIST . To be politically correct it must be EMANCIPATORY , that is, it must represent an opportunity to amplify the citizenship of the victims. In this respect the approach must always be committed to the fight against violence and the prevention of it. Only in this manner would one be fighting for the Brazilian child and youth to become citizens in their own right, and not just on paper. Figure 3 is a schematic representation of the model adopted in this research which parts from the premise that Psychological Violence is one of the forms of Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents. It: a.

occurs within a pattern/episodes in the father-mother-child relationship in the everyday life of a concrete family in a given historical situation;

b.

is transformed into a series of behavior by the parents or care-givers, directed towards the child or adolescent: REJECTION / HUMILIATION / ISOLATION / INDIFFERENCE / TERROR ...;

c.

results from the multicausal interaction of a series of socio-economical, politico-cultural and psychological factors, whose origin is always from the social to the psychological, or rather, from the socio-psycho-interactionist perspective (sociogenesis before psychogenesis);

d.

produces consequences to the victims that may: d 1 jeopardize their psy chological dev elopment in terms of intelligence, memory , perception, attention, imagination, moral sense; d 2 cause damage to their social dev elopment; d 3 endanger their capacity to perceiv e, feel, understand and ex plain emotions. (Stevens, 1999)

Under certain conditions it can lead the victims towards the world of prostitution, of drugs and even to commit suicide. To avoid the incongruity of a positivistic reading of the model – centered in the interaction of variables which are necessarily fragmented – we chose to adopt, as a key to reading the collected data, the outlook of social constructivism (Davies & Donald, 1994). According to this outlook: a.

23

human actions – and domestic violence is one of them – must be studied taking into account its subjective nature, that is, its meaning (emotional and cognitive) and functional significance to the subject;

In this context the expression determinant, assumes that the occurrence of the phenomena can be explained by the interaction of various probable factors (multiple and probabilistic determination). Cf. Babbie,E. (1999:48-9). Métodos de pesquisas de survey. Belo Horizonte: Editora UFMG. 43

MA C RO S YSTEM

F A T H E R

SOCIALIZATION EXPERIENCES

BIOLOGICAL

CHARACTERISTICS

• History of Disharmony and

Family Rupture • Personal History of Abuse • Ignorance concerning

Developmental Characteristics and Needs of the Child

• • • • • • •

Depression Alcoholism Drug dependency Poor control Low resistance to stress Neurological Disorders Psychiatric Disorders...

PARTICULAR CHARACTERISTICS • • • • • • • • •

Premature Underweight Disabled (physical & mentally) Hyperative Non responsive Rebellious Unpredictable Incontinent Ugly/Attractive...

SOCIO-ECONOMICAL SUBSYSTEM STRUCTURE: SOCIAL CLASSES

SO C IO -EC O NO M IC A L Captions: < − Fatal Consequence of Violence to the Victim /

M O T H E R

CONSCIENCE & EVERYDAY FAMILY LIFE STRESS SITUATIONS A. Relationship between parents:

• • • • •

SOCIAL POSITION Age Sex Socio-economic status Schooling Social support network

• • • • • •

C ULTURAL POSITION Child’s representation Attitude towards childhood Attitude towards violence Attitude towards punishment Attitude towards women Attitude towards sexuality

Maladjustment, violence...

B. “Structural stress”: unemployment, Isolation, too many children, T hreats to authority, values… C. Absence of mother.

Pattern /Episodes of the Father-Mother Child Relationship D. Stress produced by child • unwanted child • problem child/adolescent • first son…

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE • P HYSICAL • S EXUAL • P SYCHOLOGICAL • NEGLECT ...

< OTHER CONSEQUENCES

CHILD

POLITICAL-CULTURAL SUBSYSTEM REGULATION: • Gender Relationships • Intergenerational Relationships

PO LIT IC A L -CULT URA L Refraction Relationship /

Multiple determination relationship

Researched relationships

F IGURE 2 − Domestic Psychological Violence against Children and Adolescents: Socio-Psyco-Interactionist Model.

Voices of Youth

b.

human actions – and domestic violence is one of them – when studied, should include the researcher’s thought processes regarding the significance of his/her presence on the setting under investigation. The key ideas here are that know ledge, including psy chological theory is a cultural artifact and a historical product…Constructiv ism therefore holds that w hat is most important about human action is meaning and how it is communicated; that the assignment of meaning to action is mediated and constructed socially ; and finally , that w e are born into a w orld of giv en and ev olv ing sign or meaning relationships (culture).

In other words: we know that the actions that we classify today as Psychological Violence were exercised for many, many years by parents against their children. However, Domestic Psychological Violence is a historically drawn up constructo and, therefore, its research could also only begin to happen in historically pre-dated conditions. This does not mean, however, that the victims of yesterday and of today are conscious of suffering or of having suffered Psychological Violence in their homes, although they are capable of identifying abusive practices. It is precisely because Psychological Violence has this characteristic of disguising itself (and sometimes being ideologically justified) as protective acts for the own good of children and adolescents, that it is important to venture into the world of youth, to detect how, in their naive conscience24, they see and interpret the family pedagogy of PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE...

24

Naive conscience corresponds to the pre-scientific and anti-scientific vision of the world, as opposed to critical conscience. It is part of naive pragmatism as a unit of thought and action = characteristic, par excellence, of routinism as defined by Agnes Heller as the life of every man (...) [Heller, Agnes (1989). O cotidiano e a história. 3rd ed. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra]. According to Álvaro Vieira Pinto, it is one of the modalities of individual conscience which is characterized by the fact that it does not reflect on its fundamental objectives, nor on the conditionings of the proposals it offers. [Pinto, A.V. (1979). Ciência e existência. Problemas filosóficos da pesquisa científica. 2nd ed. Rio de Janeiro] 45

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46

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C.

Methodological Notes: F ORGOTTEN VOICES

In the field of research dealing with Domestic Psychological Violence against Children and Adolescents, studies directly or indirectly aimed at determining its occurrence are not very frequent, as can be seen in the table that follows. Scattered, international researches, show that its occurrence is not to be disdained. This can be seen in Table 1 with data gathered in Spain.

T ABLE 1 Incidence of Domestic Violence in Childhood/Adolescence. Spain Cases of “Maltreatment” found for each typology “Physical maltreatment” Neglect Sexual abuse “Emotional maltreatment” Begging Corruptio Labor exploitation “Pre-natal maltreatment” Total Cases Total Subjects

F

%

2,579 6,774 359 3,643 800 361 361 431

30.1 79.1 4.2 42.5 9.3 4.2 4.2 5.0

15,308 8,565

SOURCE: MORAGO, J.J.; DELGADO, A.O.; SAGE, D.S. (1996). Maltrato y protección a la infancia en España. Madrid: Ministerio de Asuntos Sociales. Obs.:

a. Cases f rom 1991/1992, reported to the Childhood Protection Serv ices, in 52 Spanish Provinces. b. The nomenclature of the Spanish text was maintained.

In a study on Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents carried out in Ontario, Canada, in 1993, it was observed that in 10% of reported cases, Psychological Violence had been mentioned (Stevens, 1999). In a study on Domestic Psychological Violence, carried out in Palestine – where 1,000 school children from the ages of 12 to 16 were researched – it was found that a significant proportion of the children researched (16.4%) could be considered psychologically abused (Khamis, 2000). No specific research on the prevalence of Psychological Violence in childhood and adolescence, which involved young people as subjects, was found. Table 2 shows that empirical research was small in the period analyzed, and that research with young college students was minor.

47

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T ABLE 2 Census of recent international scientific articles on Domestic Psychological Violence, directed at children and adolescents (1990-1995). I SSUES A DDRESSED

N

%

Definition and critique of the constructo

18

47.3

Measurement of the constructo

3

7.8

Empirical research

8

21.0

Others

9

23.6

38

100

Total

OBSERVATIONS

Of these, only 2 were carried out with college students *

SOURCE: KALICHMAN , S.C. & G ARY, A.T. (eds.) (1996). Child abuse. Abstracts of the psychological and behavioral literature 1990-1995. American Psychological Association. Bibliographies in Psychology nº 9. Washington. [See Chart 1, where the studies related to this problem are shown, with the exception of Empirical research] *

These researches were the f ollowing: a. C OOK , Donelda A. (1991). College students f rom emotionally neglectf ul homes. New Directions for Student Services, 54: 77-90.

Describes the consequences of emotionally neglectful homes in the lives of college students and beyond university. b.

H OGLUND, Collete J. & N ICHOLAS , Karen B. (1995). Shame guilt and anger in college students exposed to abusiv e f amily env ironments. Journal of Family Violence, 10(2): 141-57.

This study examines the relationship between an abusive family environment and the tendency of feel shame,guilt, hate and hostility in 208 college students (107 men and 101 women).

Table 3 shows the most systematic data that we have in Brazil. They come from possibilistic studies carried out annually by the students of TELELACRI / Specialization Course in the Area of Childhood and Domestic Violence25.

25

This is a study on Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents registered in every municipality where there are teams of tele-students. It is hoped that, in the medium term, this data will allow us to trace a more realistic profile of what we call: The Tip of the Iceberg. That is, those cases which, due to their seriousness – are reported to the agencies that monitor violence practiced against children and adolescents. It is an incidence research. The data is gathered – through specific questionnaires that are pre-tested – in institutions that receive the reports. This data covers a period of 1 to 3 months of the year being researched. 48

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T ABLE 3 Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents [DVCA] reported in Brazil − Peru. M ODALTIES OF DVCA

R ESEARCHED I NCIDENCE

TOTAL N UMBER OF N OTIFIED

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

C ASES

Physical Violence

525

1,240

2,804

2,620

4,330

6,675

18,194

Sexual Violence

95

315

578

647

978

1,723

4,336

0

53

2.105

893

1,493

3,893

8,437

572

456

7,148

2,512

4,205

7,713

22,606

135

257

392

Psychological Violence Neglect Fatal Violence

no/inf. no/inf. No/inf. no/inf.

Total

1,192 2,064

12,635 6,672

11,141 20,261

53,965

The data revealed the persistent presence of Domestic Psychological Violence, even thought it was not the most frequent. On the other hand, surveys involving the juvenile population, are not very frequent in Brazil. Of the three most recent surveys (Zagury, 1996; Minayo, 1999; Assis, 1999), the first involved 943 adolescents from the ages of 14 to18, from seven Brazilian capitals. It researched the subject’s thoughts on several themes, among them domestic corporal violence and sexual violence; it did not, however, mention Psychological Violence. The second study interviewed more than 1,000 young people from 14 to 20 years of age, from Rio de Janeiro, regarding subjects similar to the previous study: sex, leisure, drugs ... It also addressed Physical Violence in the family, but did not, however, touch upon other forms of Domestic Violence. The third was based on interviews with 99 young people, of which 61 were adolescents who had committed misdemeanors in Rio and Recife, as well as 31 which were brothers or cousins who had not committed misdemeanors (Assis, 1999), all varying from 13 to 18 years of age. The author

recognizes, although very marginally, the existence of Psychological Violence in the life of the families of these misdemeanants, as can be seen in the following text.

VULNERABLE F AMILIES The frailty, of most of the families of those interview ed, can be discerned for the most varied reasons. Firstly, due to poverty and social ex clusion they are subject to, isolated from constructive social support and from the w orld that is beyond their low income community. Secondly, due to emotional and financial consequences resulting from the separation of parents, from the absence of the mother in the home, evidenced by the lack of stability in their care w hile still infants, and from the relationships marked by physical and emotional aggression. Commenting on the impact of 49

Voices of Youth

physical and emotional violence on the child, Perry (1995) states: t he most dest ruct ive violence does not break bones, it “breaks” minds. Emotional violence does not bring deat h t o t he body, it brings deat h t o t he soul. The reports of emotional abuse * in the families w ho w ere interview ed, w ere observed in some of the interview s, although for some youths only “esculacho” w ere recognized as such. Douglas comments on his mother: she doesn’t care about me. When questioned if he had felt rejected by his mother he answers: oh, yes... by my aunt t oo... because she didn’ t care about me. I’ve lived, since I was small, wit h my fat her. Another young man, Cicero, comments: he made me feel afraid and I knew he was really violent . We also found other cases of interviewed adolescents w ho w ere threatened to death by their ow n brothers. The situation of intra-familial violence from childhood w as also reported by Gilligan (1996),when studying violent adult criminals w ho saw close relations being murdered,tortured, raped and w ho suffered many other family misfortunes.

The scarcity of empirical data and the importance of researching the occurrence of Domestic Psychological Violence against Children and Adolescents speak in favor of the realization of the present research, characterized as follows. 1.

It is a research on the prev alence of Domestic Violence of Psychological nature. Researching prev alence was chosen because it is a more reliable indicator than incidence , with relation to the occurrence of Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents. According to Sanchez (1995) studies on prevalence are more representative of what really occurs, than data about incidence. Although this author is referring to Sexual Violence, it is understandable why it also applies to Psychological Domestic Violence: the number of cases of Violence that an adult or young population reports as having suffered in childhood or adolescence (PREVALENCE), is a more trustworthy indicator than the number of new cases reported in a certain period (INCIDENCE), especially when you consider that Domestic Violence of Psychological nature is one of the most difficult modalities to detect.

2.

It is a survey carried out with freshman college students, admitted in 2000 to the University of São Paulo (USP) campus. USP is the largest university in Latin America. It was founded in 1934, and in 1999 it offered 42 undergraduate courses to 39,155 students, who were taught by approximately 4,728 professors in 21 separate schools of research and teaching26. The choice of using freshmen as subjects of this research is due to the fact that they have just recently left adolescence and are, therefore, theoretically less susceptible to forgetting facts about their earlier years.

*

26

Emotional abuse is called psychological maltreatment by Garbarino, Guttmann & Seeley (1986). It consists of attitudes which harm the development of self-esteem, of social competence, of positive and healthy intimate interpersonal relationships. According to these authors, an adult commits psychological maltreatment when: he rejects the child or adolescent (refuses to recognize the importance of the child and the legitimacy of its needs); isolates it (separates it from normal social experiences, does not allow it to make friends and makes the child believe it is alone in the world); terrorizes it (attacks it verbally, creates a climate of fear, of threat and frightens the child); ignores it (deprives it of essential stimulation and reaction, restraining intellectual and emotional development); corrupts the child (conducts the socialization of the child poorly, stimulating it to engage in destructive anti-social behavior; encourages this behavior and makes the child unsuitable for normal experiences). [Notes of the Author] Data partially extracted from USP em números − Comissão de Qualidade e Produtividade da U SP . São Paulo, 2000. 50

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3.

It was intentionally planned to research possible practices of Psychological Violence in Families without, however, presenting them as such to the subjects being researched. Since it is a retrospective study, consequently, we tried to counterbalance the probable negative interference of the social desirability27 factor.

4.

We took as a criterion of Domestic Psychological Violence, the possible occurrence of one or more of the following ACTS in the everyday family life of the subjects:

1.

R EJECTION (to ignore, to show that they are w orth less than the others…);

2.

HUMILIATION (to ridicule, to insult...);

3.

ISOLATION (to lock up, to keep them from dating or from hav ing friends…);

4.

INDIFERENCE (to depriv e of affection and attention…);

5.

T ERROR (to threaten with abandonment, harsh punishment, death, bringing about extreme fear…).

5.

The present research is practically unique internationally and unpublished in Brazil.

6.

The instrument used was an Exploratory Questionnaire, duly pre-tested and involving two parts: I.

Identification, with demographic information (sex, age and undergraduate course) and socio-economic information about the individual and his parents (schooling, occupation, whether employed or not);

II.

Different ways28 of dealing with children and adolescents that the subjects had experienced in their homes as children and adolescents themselves (0-18 years), and respective occurrence, frequency, duration, perpetration...

The questionnaire was applied by graduate students in Psychology at USP, duly trained for this purpose. It was administered to all periods of each course and to classes with highest attendance rates. 7.

27 28 29

29 Respect to the ethical norms of research with human beings was assured, guaranteeing anonymity and voluntary participation of the subjects, after due explanation of the objectives of the research was given to them.

“It would have been preferable” not to have suffered Domestic Violence of Psychological nature. Selected from an extensive national and international bibliographical research, these FORMS are an translation of DOMEST IC PSYCHOLOGICAL ACT S OF VIOLENCE The recommendations of the Conselho Federal de Psicologia (Federal Council of Psychology) − Resolution CFP nº 016/2000, December 20, 2000, were used as a basis. 51

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D.

Subjects: RECUPERA TED VOICES

There were 1,172 students who participated in the research, representing 21.1% of the total of 5,547 freshman students in USP in 2000 (only in the Cidade Universitária campus of São Paulo, according to data supplied by the Pro-Rectory of Undergraduate Studies of USP) and 28% of the total number of freshmen in the researched courses. Table 4 shows the academic origin of freshmen by School unit/Course/Period, both for Sample (S) as well as for Population (P). Despite all the care that was taken, the sample percentages varied a lot according to the Course, reflecting frequency fluctuations of students, per period. With sample percentages varying from 5% (Engineering) to 100% (Editing), the great majority of undergraduate Courses administered at the São Paulo campus was covered by the research. The exceptions correspond to: 1st

Three courses – Nutrition, Nursing, Dentistry –, where bureaucratic problems impeded authorizations for data collection from arriving on time;

2nd

Two courses – Audiovisual and Meteorology – where there were problems of registering the information;

3rd

One course – Pedagogy – where the majority of students were not freshmen (2000 ) in the afternoon period;

4th

Six courses that – for certain periods only – it was not possible to find classes with sufficient numbers of freshmen: a. b. c. d. e. f.

Social Sciences, night period; Geography, day period; History, afternoon period; Literature, night period; Mathematics (Certification Course), night period; Medicine, day period.

52

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T ABLE 4 Comparison between the number of subjects of the sample and the USP/2000 freshman population, according to the school unit*, course and period frequented − São Paulo Campus. Unit

Course

Day S

B IO LAW ECA*

EDUCATION EEFE** PHARMACY FAU*** FEA****

FFLCH*****

PHYSICS GEOSCIENCES IAG****** IME******* MEDICINE MED VET ZOO POLI PSYCHOLOGY C HEMISTRY

Biological Sciences Total Law Total Theater Arts, Certification in Art Education Arts Library Sciences Editing Journalism Music Publicity Public Relations Tourism Total Pedagogy Total Physical Education Sports Total Pharmacology Total Architecture Total Business Administration Accounting Economics Total Sociology Philosophy Geography History Language and Literature Total Physics Total Geology Total Geophysics Total Computer Technology Mathematics Total Physiotherapy Occupational Therapy Total Veterinary Total Engineering Total Psychology Total Chemistry Total

TOTAL

Night

P

%

40 40 51 51 24 8 12 15 21 15 15 16

60 60 225 225 25 30 15 15 25 30 20 20

67 67 23 23 96 27 80 100 84 50 75 80

126

180

70

27 22 49 64 64 32 32 35 24 24 83 14 22

50 50 100 75 75 150 150 100 50 90 240 100 80

54 44 49 85 85 21 21 35 48 27 35 14 28

44 80 17 17 13 13 10 10 25 23 48 18 9 27 24 24 40 40 35 35 21 21 760

422 602 60 60 50 50 20 20 50 74 124 25 25 50 80 80 750 750 70 70 60 60 2896

10 13 28 28 26 26 50 50 50 31 39 72 36 54 30 30 5 5 50 50 35 35 26

Total

S 56 56 30 30

P 60 60 235 235

% 93 93 13 13

18

20

90

14

25

56

18 13 16 79 20 20

30 30 30 135 120 120

60 43 53 59 17 17

38 38

69 69

55 55

40 45 12 97

110 100 90 300

36 45 13 32

50 32

80 140

63 23

82 10 10

220 100 100

37 10 10

412 1239

33

S 96 96 81 81 24 8 30 15 35 15 33 29 16 205 20 20 27 22 49 102 102 32 32 75 69 36 180 14 22 50 32 44 162 27 27 13 13 10 10 25 23 48 18 9 27 24 24 40 40 35 35 21 21 1172

P 120 120 460 460 25 30 35 15 50 30 50 50 30 315 120 120 50 50 100 144 144 150 150 210 150 180 540 100 80 80 140 422 822 160 160 50 50 20 20 50 74 124 25 25 50 80 80 750 750 70 70 60 60 4135

% 80 80 18 18 96 27 86 100 70 50 66 58 53 65 17 17 54 44 49 71 71 21 21 36 46 20 33 14 28 63 23 10 20 27 27 26 26 50 50 50 31 39 72 36 54 30 30 5 5 50 50 35 35 28

Obs.: The totals shown on this table were obtained taking into account only the courses and periods that had registered respondents in the sample. Scholl Units within USP: * ** *** **** ***** ****** *******

ECA − (Escola de Comunicações e Artes) − School of Communication & Arts. EEFE − (Escola de Educação Física e Esportes) − School of Physical Education & Sports. F AU − (Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo) − School of Architecture & Urbanization. F EA − (Faculdade de Economia e Administração) − School of Economics & Business. F FLCH − (Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas) − School of Philosophy, Liberal Arts and Humanities. IAG − (Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas) − Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences. IME − (Instituto de Matemática e Estatística) − Institute of Mathematics and Statistics.

53

Voices of Youth

Tables 5 and 6 show the distribution of the sample per gender and age.

T ABLE 5 Distribution per gender, according to the school unit of the subjects. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus.

Unit

BIO Law ECA Education EEFE Pharmacy FAU FEA FFLCH Physics Geosciences IAG IME Medicine Med Vet Zoo POLI Psychology Chemistry Total

Gender Female

Male

Total

No Answer

44 45.8% 38 46.9% 114 55.6% 18 90.0% 18 36.7% 71 69.6% 14 43.8% 59 32.8% 82 50.6% 8 29.6% 6 46.2% 4 40.0% 14 29.2% 20 74.1% 14 58.3% 12 30.0% 21 60.0% 10 47.6%

46 47.9% 41 50.6% 82 40.0% 2 10.0% 29 59.2% 29 28.4% 16 50.0% 119 66.1% 74 45.7% 18 66.7% 7 53.8% 5 50.0% 31 64.6% 3 11.1% 7 29.2% 27 67.5% 13 37.1% 9 42,9%

1 10.0% 3 6.3% 4 14.8% 3 12.5% 1 2.5% 1 2.9% 2 9.5%

96 100.0% 81 100.0% 205 100.0% 20 100.0% 49 100.0% 102 100.0% 32 100.0% 180 100.0% 162 100.0% 27 100.0% 13 100.0% 10 100.0% 48 100.0% 27 100.0% 24 100.0% 40 100.0% 35 100.0% 21 100.0%

567

558

47

1172

48.4%

47.6%

4.0%

100.0%

54

6 6.3% 2 2.5% 9 4.4%

2 4.1% 2 2.0% 2 6.3% 2 1.1% 6 3.7% 1 3.7%

Voices of Youth

TA BLE 6 A ge distr ibution, accor ding to the school unit of the subjects. Fr eshmen U SP /2 0 0 0 − C ampus São P aulo.

AGE UNIT

BIO Law ECA

Less than 18 years old

1 1.0% 4 4.9% 4 2.0%

Education EEFE Pharmacy FAU FEA FFLCH Physics

1 2.0% 2 2.0% 2 6.3% 5 2.8% 2 1.2% 1 3.7%

Geosciences IAG IME

1 2.1%

Medicine Med Vet Zoo POLI

1 2.5%

Psychology Chemistry TOTAL

F rom 18 to 21 years old

F rom 22 to 25 years old

83 86.5% 70 86.4% 154 75.1% 8 40.0% 38 77.6% 85 83.3% 26 81.3% 142 78.9% 98 60.5% 12 44.4% 11 84.6% 8 80.0% 43 89.6% 27 100.0% 22 91.7% 37 92.5% 29 82.9% 17 81.0%

8 8.3% 4 4.9% 21 10.2% 3 15.0% 9 18.4% 10 9.8% 2 6.3% 18 10.0% 32 19.8% 7 25.9%

More than 25 years ond

4 4.2% 3 3.7% 18 8.8% 9 45.0% 1 2.0% 4 3.9%

12 6.7% 25 15.4% 6 22.2% 1 7.7%

1 10.0% 4 8.3%

1 4.2% 1 2.5% 5 14.3% 3 14.3%

1 2.5% 1 2.9% 1 4.8%

TOTAL

No answer

8 3.9%

1 1.0% 2 6.3% 3 1.7% 5 3.1% 1 3.7% 1 7.7% 1 10.0%

1 4.2%

96 100.0% 81 100.0% 205 100.0% 20 100.0% 49 100.0% 102 100.0% 32 100.0% 180 100.0% 162 100.0% 27 100.0% 13 100.0% 10 100.0% 48 100.0% 27 100.0% 24 100.0% 40 100.0% 35 100.0% 21 100.0%

24

910

129

86

23

1172

2.0%

77.6%

11.0%

7.3%

2.0%

100.0%

55

Voices of Youth

From the analysis of the sample distribution, we can conclude that, although not probabilistic, the sample can be considered to be balanced30. The FUVEST Report for 2000 shows that the freshmen student population entering the University in 2000 (in all campuses of USP) was 4,309 men (57.3%) and 3,208 (42.7%) women. Our sample had slightly more female students than the total population of students entering the university. As for age brackets, the same Report shows the following data for entering freshmen: −

8.8% were less than 18 years old;

− −

72.9% were 18 to 21 years old; 9% were 22 to 25 years old; and

−

9.2% were more than 25 years old.

Comparatively speaking, our sample had more individuals from the two intermediate age brackets and fewer in the two end brackets.

E.

Results: REVEALING VOICES

E1

Acts of Domestic Psychological Violence [DPV]: P REVALENCE

Table 7 shows an interesting datum, in terms of PREVALENCE: of the 1,172 sample students, only 320 (27.3%) remember having suffered one or more Acts of what we consider Domestic Psychological Violence: REJECTION, HUMILIATION, ISOLATION, INDIFFERENCE, TERROR. These results are even more interesting, because we purposely avoided (in the questionnaire) the wording DOMESTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE. Within the referential framework adopted herein, we opted to investigate the naive conscience of individuals concerning practices of familial treatment that they had experienced: negative for sure, but that, with the exception of only one individual, were not pointed out as being acts of Domestic Psychological Violence. The justification for not having labeled such acts is the same as that given by Sanchez (1995) when he writes about Sexual Violence against Children and Adolescents: It seems reasonable to think that if suitable questions are formulated, the subjects that disclose hav ing suffered abuse, tell the truth, w hile those that state not hav ing suffered surely hide the fact or don’t remember, because in this case social desirability dictates that it is preferable not to hav e suffered abuse…

30

Occasionally one can select the sample based on one’s knowledge of the population and its aims of the research. This method of sampling is sometimes called INT ENT IONAL SAMPLING (1999:153). Metodos de pesquisas de survey. Belo Horizonte: Editora UFMG]. The option classes with more students is an example of this type of sampling. The choice was populational data and thanks to the ease and low cost of its application. 56

elements and the nature of the or BY JUDGEMENT [Babbie, E. of applying the questionaire in made after an examination of

Voices of Youth

T ABLE 7 Acts of Domestic Psychological Violence [DPV]: Prevalence, Frequency, Perpetration. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus PERPRETATION

Most frequent to you (2)

Prevalence (1) ACTS OF DPV Nt*

% (1172**)

% (320***)

N

% (Nt)

Person or persons who perpetrated Acts of DPV as listed (3) Only my father More my father Both: father & mother N

% (Nt)

N

% (Nt)

N

% (Nt)

More my mother N

% (Nt)

Only my mother N

% (Nt)

Someone else N

% (Nt)

Indifference

129

11.0

40.3

81

62.8

28

21.7

33

25.6

24

18.6

25

19.4

10

7.8

16

12.4

Humiiation

121

10.3

37.8

46

38.0

20

16.5

28

23.1

19

15.7

15

12.4

20

16.5

30

24.8

Isolation

106

9.0

33.1

54

50.9

15

14.2

24

22.6

23

21.7

19

17.9

15

14.2

15

14.2

Rejection

93

7.9

29.1

37

39.8

22

23.7

22

23.7

13

14.0

15

16.1

13

14.0

15

16.1

Terror

67

5.7

20.9

22

32.8

15

22.4

16

23.9

13

19.4

14

20.9

11

16.4

9

13.4

*

Total number of records per ACT OF DPV.

**

Number of subject in the sample.

***

Number of subjects in the sub-sample of respondents that maked at least one of the ACTS OF DPV.

57

Voices of Youth

Maybe due to this care, all five acts – which according to literature, define Domestic Psychological Violence more characteristically – were acknowledged by our sub-sample of 320 subjects, isolated or in association, in the following decreasing order of occurrence: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

INDIFFERENCE HUMILIATION ISOLATION REJECTION TERROR

(40.3%) (37.8%) (33.1%) (29.1%) (20.9%)

It is important to note that this ranking corresponds to an increasing curve of violence, from the more subtle to the more ostensive, as seen in the following discussion. That the selected ACTS are representative of the universe of DPV can be seen by examining Table 8: of those who marked at least one of these ACTS , 85.3% did not mention any other form of familial treatment and only 8 individuals (2.5%) indicated additional possible forms of DPV. By examining the content of these forms marked, it is clear, however, that they could be reduced to the five ACTS presented, if we had supplied the subjects with a more ample operational definition of them. Consequently: 1.

“AUTHORITARIANISM (disregarding my opinion)”, could also be seen as

2.

REJECTION

“EXCESSIVE SCOLDING ” could be seen as

3.

“JESTS OF BAD TATES”

4.

“EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL”

5.

“PSYCHOLOGICAL TERRORISM”

6.

“HARRASMENT”

7.

“MIXED ATTENTION,

HUMILIATION

could be included in TERROR

could fall under

INDIFFERENCE

INDIFFERENCE AND BETRAYAL” 8.

“EXCESSIVE WORRY”,

could be considered

ISOLATION

The above verification reinforces the validity of the constructo of our instrument. 58

Voices of Youth

T ABLE 8 Alternatives of Familial Treatment. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus MARKED AT LE AST ONE OF THE FIVE ACTS* SHOWN

ALTERNATIVE

YES N

Not mentioned

NO %

N

%

273

85.3

442

51.9

Mentioned -In a Positive Manner

26

8.1

342

40.2

Mentioned -with Physical Violence

13

4.1

41

4.8

8

2.5

26

3.1

320

100

851

100

Mentioned -with possible DPV Total Subjects

1 1 7 1** * **

REJECTION, HUMILIATION, ISOLATION, INDIFFERENCE and T ERROR (DPV). One Record could not be interpreted, for this reason it was ex cluded from the Table.

NOTE:

Sign. test: P = 0,000

To reinforce the hypothesis that the USP/2001 freshmen (São Paulo campus) either did not suffer Domestic Psychological Violence, or, experienced less serious forms of the same, we can say that of the 851 subjects who did not mark any of the five ACTS of DPV, only 7.9% of them marked having suffered other violent forms of familial treatment (Physical Violence and possibly Psychological Violence)31. About 40% of these subjects indicated positive (because these were free from violence) alternative forms, involving “AFFECTION, FRIENDSHIP, LOVE, SUPPORT, ATTENTION, COMPREHENSION, COMPANIONSHIP, DIALOGUE, EDUCATION, INCENTIVE, FREEDOM, PROTECTION, RESPECT, TOLERANCE, UNION…” Tables 9-12 show how ACTS of DPV were distributed according to school units where the subjects study, their sex and age, as well as their parent’s schooling. In terms of the school units, a large variation in the prevalence of ACTS of DPV can be observed. None of the 24 freshmen of Veterinary Medicine registered any of the five ACTS of DPV. Geosciences and IAG registered only two; respectively, ISOLATION/INDIFFERENCE and REJECTION/TERROR. Law, Pharmacy and FAU are the three units with lower percentages in all five ACTS, and Psychology, Polytechnic School, Physics, Pedagogy and ECA registered the highest percentiles. The highest and lowest percentages of each ACT occurred in the following units:

31

Based on the significance test of x2, it can be stated that there is a relationship between not having mentioned ACTS of DPV and indicating alternative forms of familial treatment. 59

Voices of Youth

a.

REJECTION

b. c.

HUMILIATION ISOLATION

d.

INDIFFERENCE

e.

TERROR

LOWEST

HIGHEST

⇒ ⇒ ⇒

Pharmacy Architecture Architecture

Psychology Physics Pedagogy

⇒ ⇒

Medicine Pharmacy

Chemistry Psychology

T ABLE 9 Prevalence of Acts of DPV, according to the School Unit. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus UNIT

REJECTION

HUMILIATION

I SOLATION

YE S

YES

Y ES

%

%

%

INDIFFERENCE YE S

%

TERROR YES

%

TOTAL** (100%)

BIO

7

7.3%

8

8.3%

9

9. 4%

7

7.3%

5

5.2%

96

Law

3

3.7%

4

4.9%

4

4. 9%

4

4.9%

2

2.5%

81

ECA

26

12.7%

25

12.2%

16

7. 8%

35

17.1%

11

5.4%

205

Education

2

10.0%

1

5.0%

6 30. 0%

2

10.0%

2

10.0%

20

EEFE

2

4.1%

2

4.1%

6 12. 2%

2

4.1%

4

8.2%

49

Pharmacy

3

2.9%

8

7.8%

8

7. 8%

6

5.9%

1

1.0%

102

FAU

2

6.3%

1

3.1%

1

3. 1%

2

6.3%

3

9.4%

32

FEA

15

8.3%

25

13.9%

14

7. 8%

23

12.8%

10

5.6%

180

FFLCH

13

8.0%

19

11.7%

15

9. 3%

24

14.8%

11

6.8%

162

Physics

2

7.4%

8

29.6%

6 22. 2%

4

14.8%

4

14.8%

27

1

1

7.7%

Geosciences

7. 7%

IAG

1

10.0%

IME

3

6.3%

5

10.4%

3

6. 3%

5

10.4%

Medicina

3

11.1%

1

3.,7%

2

7. 4%

1

3.7%

13 1

10.0%

10

3

6.3%

48 27

Med Zoo Vet

24

POLI

4

10.0%

5

12.5%

7 17. 5%

4

10.0%

3

7.5%

40

Psychology

6

17.1%

7

20.0%

6 17. 1%

5

14.3%

6

17.1%

35

Chemistry

1

4.8%

2

9.5%

2

9. 5%

4

19.0%

1

4.8%

21

93

7.9%

121

10.3%

106

9. 0%

129

11.0%

67

5.7%

1172

TOTAL (Nt)* * **

Total number of records per ACT of DPV. Number of subjects in the sample.

Unfortunately is was not possible to identify research that allowed this data to be interpreted in light of a broader characterization as to the conditioning factor of the vocational choices of the college students and of their ability to achieve passing scores in college entrance exams. Anecdotes show that many students choose Psychology courses – among other reasons – to try to better understand their own 60

Voices of Youth

subjective problems. Scattered evidence suggests incidences of suicide among Engineering students. However, these are mere clues and demand deeper investigation. T ABLE 10 Prevalence of Acts of DPV, according to gender of subjects. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus REJECTION

SEX

YES

%

HMILIATION YES

ISOLATION

%

YES

INDIFFERENCE

%

YES

TERROR

%

YES

TOTAL**

%

Female

42

7.4%

47

8.3%

56

9.9%

58

10. 2%

26

4.6%

567

Male

48

8.6%

72

12.9%

45

8.1%

65

11. 6%

39

7.0%

558

3

6.4%

2

4.3%

5

10.6%

6

12. 8%

2

4.3%

47

93

7.9%

121

10.3%

106

9.0%

129

11. 0%

67

5.7%

1172

No answersta TOTAL (Nt)* * **

Total number of records per ACT of DPV. Number of subjects in the sample.

As far as gender is concerned, the prevalence of almost all five ACTS was slightly greater for males. The only exception was ISOLATION, which is probably due to different standards of education for gender in our society, one of which is the restriction in the freedom of movement for the feminine sex, traditionally educated to have greater submission and less initiative and boldness.

T ABLE 11 Prevalence of Acts of DPV, according to the age group of the subjects. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus AGE GROUP

REJECTION

HUMILIATION

YES

YES

%

%

ISOLATION YES

%

I NDIFFERENCE YES

%

TERROR YES

%

TOTAL**

Less than 18 years

1

4.2%

1

4.2%

1

4.2%

2 8.3%

From 18 to 21 years

63

6.9%

85

9.3%

74

8.1%

89 9.8%

49

5.4%

910

From 22 to 25 years

13

10.1%

17

13.2%

18

14.0%

22 17.1%

8

6.2%

129

More than 25 years

14

16.3%

17

19.8%

11

12.8%

16 18.6%

10

11.6%

86

No answer

2

8.7%

1

4.3%

2

8.7%

TOTAL (Nt)*

93

7.9%

121

10.3%

106

9.0%

* **

Total number of records per ACT of DPV. Number of subjects in the sample.

61

24

23 129 11.0%

67

5.7%

1172

Voices of Youth

As far as age is concerned the prevalence percentages are progressively higher in almost all five ACTS as age increases. This seems to indicate that the practice of DPV may be considered a residual heritage of the past. The rupture seems to occur between the generation of those younger than 21 and those older than 21. The exception occurred in acts of ISOLATION, the percentage of which decreases with older subjects. T ABLE 12 Prevalence of Acts of DPV, according to the schooling of the subject’s mother and father. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus MOTHER'S SCHOOLING

REJECTION YES

%

HUMILIATION YES

%

ISOLATION YES

%

INDIFFERENCE YES

%

TERROR YES

%

TOTAL**

None/Illiterate

1

11.1%

1 11. 1%

1 11. 1%

3

33.3%

1 11. 1%

None/Literate

11

18.3%

9 15. 0%

11 18. 3%

13

21.7%

5

8.3%

60

Other Courses

2

6.5%

6. 5%

6

19.4%

2

6.5%

31

Primary School

16

10.7%

19 12. 7%

25 16. 7%

20

13.3%

8

5.3%

150

Secondary School

31

10.0%

36 11. 7%

25

8. 1%

34

11.0%

21

6.8%

309

University

31

5.1%

52

40

6. 6%

52

8.6%

30

5.0%

603

No answer

1

10.0%

2 20. 0%

2 20. 0%

1

10.0%

TOTAL (Nt)*

93

7.9%

121 10. 3%

129

11.0%

FATHER'S SCHHOLING

REJECTION YES

%

2

6. 5%

8. 6%

HUMILIATION YES

%

2

106

ISOLATION YES

None/Illiterate

4

30.8%

2 15. 4%

None/Literate

10

17.5%

3

5. 3%

Other Courses

1

2.6%

3

7. 7%

Primary School

13

11.5%

Secondary School

17

University

9. 0%

%

INDIFFERENCE YES

%

9

10 67

5.7%

TERROR YES

%

1172

TOTAL**

3 23. 1%

4

30.8%

1

7.7%

13

15 26. 3%

11

19.3%

6 10. 5%

57

5. 1%

3

7.7%

19 16. 8%

14 12. 4%

19

16.8%

9

8.0%

113

6.8%

30 12. 0%

25 10. 0%

28

11.2%

16

6.4%

249

45

6.6%

63

9. 2%

45

6. 6%

61

8.9%

35

5.1%

683

No answer

3

16.7%

1

5. 6%

2 11. 1%

3

16.7%

TOTAL (Nt)*

93

7.9%

129

11.0%

* **

121 10. 3%

2

106

9. 0%

39

18 67

5.7%

1172

Total number of records per ACT of DPV. Number of subjects in the sample.

Finally, the percentages of prevalence of each one of the ACTS increased as the parent’s schooling decreased. The very small percentages of subjects whose parents are illiterate and/or only just literate does not allow us to reach any conclusion regarding the practice of DPV as characteristic of these parents. What the data shows is that, contrary to what common sense would have us believe, all ACTS of DPV are consistently present in families where the father and/or 62

Voices of Youth

mother have university degrees. As Iwaniec (1995) states, emotionally abusive and neglectful parents have quite affluent backgrounds, good education and good current material standards . Also according to Iwaniec (1995), in these families there is an air of coldness and tension (almost a clinical atmosphere) that prohibits freedom of play , activ ity and ex pression, as w ell as the dev elopment of indiv iduality . Interaction betw een parents and children lacks w armth and approv al. There are orders instead of requests, criticisms instead of correction and guidance, and pressures to achiev e at school w ithout considering the child’s ability and ex pectations (...)

The prevalence of REJECTION and HUMILIATION in families whose parents have university education can fit within this scenario. On the other hand, in the case of parents with minimum schooling, one can speculate that resorting to ACTS of DPV (especially ISOLATION/TERROR) could have been a desperate strategy by them to guarantee their children’s entrance into USP. In this highly competitive college entrance exam only a severe discipline of study could assure the entrance of social climbers, that is, young people coming from less educated and poorer classes. E2

Acts of Domestic Psychological Violence [DPV]: P ROFILE

The profile of an ACT of DPV involves various facets, specific to the conditions of the violent practice. Among these, the following will be addressed (Tables 7 and 13): 1.

perpetrator, because literature demonstrates that besides making a difference

which parent carries out the act, whether father or mother, if it is carried out by both it usually has a more toxic effect on the victim; 2.

frequency, to the extent that research in the area of Domestic Violence against

Children and Adolescents suggests that repeated practice of the act usually reinforces the marks left by the same; 3.

starting age and

4.

duration: domestic violence (against women, children and adolescents) is a

phenomenon that begins early and ends late in the life of the victims, according to epidemiological data available. Evidently, in a survey of PREVALENCE such as this one, there are memory limitations to “starting early”. There are also limits to that of “ending late”, since the subjects are all young. All of these facets will be analyzed for each of the five ACTS of DPV, as follows, in order of their PREVALENCE in the sample.

63

Voices of Youth

T ABLE 13 A CTS of DPV: Starting age and duration. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus DURATION (in years)

Starting Age

I NDIFFERENCE

Average

6.6

9

14.3

From 3 to 6 years

6.5

4.4

17

27.0

From 7 to 11 years

5.5

3.1

27

42.9

From 12 to 17 years

3.3

1.5

10

15.9

TOTAL

6.1

4.3

63

100.0

Average

N

%

14.0

5.9

8

13.1

From 3 to 6 years

9.1

4.7

16

26.2

From 7 to 11 years

6.2

3.2

25

41.0

From 12 to 17 years

3.2

1.6

12

19.7

TOTAL

7.4

5.0

61

100.0

Average

Standard D

N

%

Less than 3 year s

14.3

5.6

8

13.8

From 3 to 6 years

7.6

4.3

18

31.0

From 7 to 11 years

5.6

2.7

20

34.5

From 12 to 17 years

3.2

1.5

12

20.7

TOTAL

6.9

4.9

58

100.0

Average

Standard D

N

%

Less than 3 year s

15.5

2.9

4

9.8

From 3 to 6 years

7.9

5.7

7

17.1

From 7 to 11 years

5.3

3.0

22

53.7

From 12 to 17 years

3.3

1.8

8

19.5

TOTAL

6.3

4.7

41

100.0

Starting Age TERROR

Standard D

Less than 3 year s

Starting Age

REJECTION

%

10.3

Starting Age

ISOLATION

N

Less than 3 year s

Starting Age

HUMILIATION

Standard D

Average

Less than 3 year s From 3 to 6 years rom 7 to 11 years From 12 to 7 years

TOTAL Obser vation: Number of cases with complete information: 174 in 320.

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Standard D

N

%

11.9 9.1 5.0 3.7

5.1 4.6 2.7 1.5

10 13 10 3

27.0 36.1 27.8 8.3

8.3

5.0

36

100.0

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1st INDIFFERENCE

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Indifference. n. 1. The state or quality of being indifferent. 2. Lack of interest or concern. 3. Lack of importance; insignificance. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1975). American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.

Indifference − as a form of DPV, has various facets. Two of them, as illustrated

previously, imply a double negation (emotional and cognitive): to not give love and/or attention to a child or an adolescent. There are other variations, as described in literature: (...) not to speak to a child or an adolescent unless strictly necessary ; to ignore their needs, mentally 32.

Indifference (at the cognitive or emotional level) is a perverse form of denying a person of responsiveness in terms of affection and human interest. Being INSENSITIVE to and/or INATTENTIVE to a child or adolescent are signs of INDIFFERENCE as DPV, which must not be confused with NEGLECT (modality of Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents33). Although referred to by some as emotional neglect, Indifference occurs when meaningful adults are unable to provide necessary nurturance, stimulation, encouragement and protection to the child, at various stages of development (Whiting, 1976). Parents who seldom interact with their children, who do not speak, play or encourage new activities and opportunities to learn (Iwaniec , 1995), are INDIFFERENT parents, to whom children can

become a real burden.

Indifferent parents also tend to be DISTANT, NON PARTICIPATIVE and/or non companions, largely IGNORING their children’s behavior, with all their needs, all their challenges and their all important complicity. Our subjects described these parents as responsible for a scenario of familial loneliness, loneliness that, as stated by Iwaniec (1999), could represent a true emotional vacuum . The writer, Antonio Carlos Villaça 34, vividly portrays this scenario in his autobiographical work, O Nariz do Morto.

32

33

34

Stevens, L.E. (1999). Qu’est-ce que la violence psychologique? Ottawa: Centre National d’Information sur la Violence dans la Famille. This study compiles operational conceptions of Psychological Violence. Neglect is when parents or care-givers fail in terms of providing the physical needs of health, educational and hygienic needs of their children and/or fail to supervise their activities in order to avoid risks and when this fails it is not due to conditions of life beyond their control. [Azevedo, M.A. & Guerra, V.N.A. (1998:177). Infância e violência fatal em família. São Paulo: Iglu] Essayist, memoir writer and journalist, born in Rio de Janeiro (1928). Major books: O nariz do morto (1970); Degustações: memórias (1972); O anel (1972); O livro de Antonio (1974); Monsenhor (1975). [The choice of extracts was made by Oliveira, M.H.P. (2001). Lembranças do passado: a infância na vida dos escritores brasileiros. Bragança Paulista: U SF] 68

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I summon my childhood, but it just doesn’t come. I can’t see anything. Only fog. A fact or another. A flash. Nonetheless, the presence of childhood is strong inside me. But not of my childhood. M ine w as a lonely childhood. I w as not inundated w ith toys, I didn’t have unforgettable friends. A childhood of an only child – confined. I had nervous tw itches, and shook my hands frantically. As if I w anted to break through the w alls of the tight corridor I found myself in. M y childhood was this: a corridor. I talked to myself. I w anted horizons, variety. I don’t remember the yellow cat at all, a non-cat, but toy, that my grandmother gave me and I know because of my parents, but for me, I don’t know . The cat doesn’t ex ist in me. What ex ists is so little. The boy w ho shakes his hands like an epileptic, in the most tedious loneliness, and w hose amusement is talking to himself. What did I use to say to myself? How do I know ? But I remember the impact, of the strange repercussion that occurred w ithin me, on the 27 th of November of 35: the communist revolution. I w as seven years old. That did something to me and I started playing that I w as tax i driver ferrying the fleeing bourgeoisie…I spent hours sitting – in this unreality. Liberation through the w ord. I w as a more or less unhappy child. What w ords w ere mine when I escaped to the unreal, I don’t know : but I do know that the feeling of my childhood is that of loneliness. I w as a chatterbox , ex tremely sociable. M y communicability w as impressive. But I w as very alone. (…) M y father left early in the morning and came back at night. He w orked hard, he even w orked on Saturdays and Sundays (till midday). I w as never close to him, during childhood. Nor w as he close to anyone. M other respected him. I… lived w ith him at a distance. Sometimes he came home for lunch: he’d arrive in a hurry, uncommunicative, and w ould soon leave, w ith an ex pression of one whose mind is somew here else. M y father lived for his w ork, he w anted to get rich,build his ow n independence. Being an employee humiliated him. He dreamed of restoring his grandfather’s, or even his father’s rich mansion that had fallen into disrepair. And in this dream, this need, he deluded himself, he suffered, surrendering all, obstinacy and intelligence. He lived very little for the family. Not that he w as a bohemian, a merrymaker, a w omanizer, or simply an egoist. No, he w asn’t. He w as a man of w ork. He lived for his w ork – ex clusively. Home w as w here he came to reorganize himself, to continue, to get to w hat he w anted to achieve. Intelligent,a practical intelligence, but lacking in malice, and inflex ible. He alw ays lacked flex ibility. M ore than once obstinacy set him back from his destiny, in dramatic tw ists. At home, dad talked little, kept himself to himself, cautious, distant. He w as a sad man. He pretended happiness w hen there w ere visitors or w hen w e visited someone, but it w as just a defense, a mechanism of occasion. He w as sad. Reserved. He liked us, my mother and I, noiseless (…) What kind of a child w as I? What kind of life did I have? A happy, affectionate and talkative child, but life w as unhappy, w ith mediocre habits – insipid… In the small, hot house, three beings passed the time of day: my mother, the young maid and I, boy… M y mother w as solicitous. But she had the w hole house to look after. The maid used to play w ith me for a w hile, but she had to cook, to clean. I stayed by myself – w ith my loneliness (...) SOURCE: VILLAÇA, Antonio Carlos (1970). O nariz do morto. Rio de Janeiro: JMC . 143p.

Indifference was the modality most frequently experienced by the subjects that

marked at least one of the ACTS of DPV [129 records] [Table 7]. 69

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Regarding the perpetrator, 24 (18.6%) of these records show that both parents were accused of INDIFFERENCE. The father (on his own or primarily) was responsible for 47.3% of these charges, while the mother (on her own or primarily) was responsible for 27.2%. Other people (brothers, uncles and aunts, grandparents, stepparents…) were responsible for 16 (12.4%) accounts of INDIFFERENCE. Regarding the starting age, the most frequent age group was 7-11 years (girl and boyhood) with an average duration of 5 years and 5 months. It is interesting to note that although debatable, almost 15% of the subjects indicated the occurrence of INDIFFERENCE before the age of 3, with an average duration of 10.3 years [Table 13].

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2nd HUMILIATION

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Humiliation. n. 1. The act of humiliating; degradation. 2. The state or condition of being humiliated; disgrace; shame. 3. Religious mortification. Humiliate. Tr.v. 1. To lower the pride, dignity, or status of; to humble or disgrace; degrade. 3. To subject to humiliation; mortify. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1975). American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.

There are innumerable means and ways of humiliating a human being because it varies from culture to culture and from person to person, in that humiliation has, as its counterpart, the feeling of ridicule. It’s what happens, for instance, in unnecessary, nasty mockery, as the previous figure demonstrates. The form of ridicule will depend, in turn, on norms, standards and social values. Consequently, (...) the mov ie director, Ingmar Bergman, spoken in a telev ision program (...) of the implications of his ow n childhood that he described as a long history of humiliation. He told, for ex ample, that is he w et his pants he w ould hav e to use a red dress all day long so that ev ery one w ould know that he had done and, in this w ay , w ould be ashamed of himself. (Miller, 1986)

In the afore shown autobiographical poem, Cora Coralina, reknown Brazilian poet, recalls innumerable humiliations she suffered at home: the stigmatizing nicknames, the repeated criticism, the predications (devastating) of failure. Ney Latorraca, a well-known Brazilian actor, recalls paternal criticism, that perversely demolished his self-esteem. M y father w as very laid back in his attitude to life and, w ith the passage of time, he lost his chance, and closed all the doors. He w as seen as being a difficult person. Disbelief w as a constant all his life. Even up to his death he insisted on saying that I w ould be a nothing. After I discovered that to his friends,he said to the contrary. (Rito, 1999)

Bergman, Coralina, Latorraca: three people in the Art world, separated in time and space, but united by a coomon experience: that of childhood humiliation, a real toxin aimed at poisoning their seld-esteem. Humiliation that − while an ACT de DPV − is a way of degrading a person, of putting them down in front of themselves and/or in front of others. As Stevens (1999) explains, HUMILIATION can include the following practices: insulting a person, ridiculing them, calling them names, insulting them or making them feel childish, behaving in a way that is contrary to their identity, their dignity and their self-esteem. A Dutch writer, whose mother and stepfather were doctors, remembers the vicious circle of familial humiliation: 73

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Both kept telling me that I resembled my biological father, who went crazy and killed himself; they used to say that I w as “crazy” too... And I believed them due to their medical know -how , having lived for more than 30 years convinced that I w as “crazy”. (Stamperius, 2000)

Parents and carers w ho persistently criticize, shame, rebuke... ridicule, humiliate, put dow n... w ho are nev er satisfied w ith their child’s behav ior and performance (and do this deliberately to hurt the child) are emotionally abusive and cruel . (Iwaniec, 1995)

It is a question of “mental cruelty”, also reported by our freshmen as “overdemanding”, “demanding things rather than encouraging”, “reprimanding in excess” and even pure “persecution”… The data of our survey showed that humiliation was the second most recorded modality among the five ACTS of DPV (121 records) [Table 7]. However − perhaps because it is sometimes subtle and masked behind words, gestures and looks etc. − only 38% of these records indicated it as the most frequent in childhood and/or adolescence respectively. Regarding the punitive figure, the father (on his own or primarily) appeared in 39.6% of the cases against 28.9% of the mother (on her own or primarily). Both father and mother were indicated in 15.7% of the cases. The significant datum is that other people (brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts, grandfathers and grandmothers, stepparents and even nannies) were mentioned in 24.8% of the cases. Table 13 shows that − like INDIFFERENCE − it was in the 7-11 years age group that the practice of humiliation started (for most subjects whose data could be computed). However, its average duration was greater than in the case of INDIFFERENCE (6.2 years). Another interesting observation is that most of the records indicate a recollection of HUMILIATION before the age of 12 and, therefore, in the subject’s childhood (even before the age of 3). If we recall with Erikson (1963), that it is from birth to the age of two that the child develops self-confidence and its own feeling of self-security, it is easy to understand how destructive HUMILIATION can be for the development of the SELF … The following passages, taken from the book Affliction35, show how the father took advantage of, whether because of normal difficulties in the childhood development (sphincter control), or whether because of personal preferences (religion) as a pretext to HUMILIATE his children: You lit t le prick − Pop yelled, his eyes narrow ing, and he raised his fist over Wade’s head. − Don’t ! M a cried, and the fist came dow n. (...) He put the glass on top of the counter at his side and stared at his son − Yellow belly − he said... In that aw ful scornful tone, dad said: (...) S issies. All of you. These are my kids, J esus freaks and sissies... (Banks, 1989)

35

This book gave rise to a film by the same name. There is a Debate Guide (Guia de Debates) on the film, prepared by the LACRI. See [email protected] in the area of Education. 74

Voices of Youth

Both in the case of Bergman, as in the case of Wade, pants- wetting is something shameful because it is incompatible with the macho idea of a man, present in the family and society of his time. For these parents, humiliation would be a strategy directed at avoiding “sissy kids”, inferior beings therefore...

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3rd ISOLATION

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Julian Trigo From the series “CRIANÇAS”, 1994

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Isolation. n. 1. The act of isolating. 2. The condition of being isolated. – See Synonyms at solitude. Isolate. Tr.v. 1. To separate from a group or whole and set apart. 2. To place in quarantine. 3. Chemistry (...). 4. To render free of external influence; insulate. [Back-formation from isolated, from French isolé, from Italian isolato, from Late Latin insulatus, converted into an island, form Latin insula, island. See isle.] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1975). American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.

Of the five ACTS being studied, this is the one whose significance is less broad, conveying two basic ideas: that of separation and that of confinement, as illustrated in the previous figure. In both cases the resultant is to hinder or even impede the child or adolescent’s relationships and social communication. Some symbolic cases can be remembered on the international plane. They are extreme cases, whether because of the cruelty of confinement imposed on the child or adolescent, or whether because of the tragic consequences.

CRUEL I SOLATION I can say quite frankly now that I had a kind of premonition, a feeling that something bad was going on between my mother and I. The situation at home became more and more difficult. The punishments began suddenly. They rained down on me brutally. It was mostly to do with eating, that the slaps abounded. I ate poorly and slowly. It was during meal times. We were all at the table. Up to that point I still had a plate, a knife, a fork, just like everyone else. She always gave me a few minutes to finish eating. Not a second longer. Well, I was a slow-eater. She couldn’t stand this. Sometimes I couldn’t even swallow what she gave me. For example, there was a meal with tripe that was always served, which I absolutely refused and that she forced me to eat. Each time, I died of disgust. She used to get so infuriated that I never knew what was in store for me. She used to put me, for hours on end, kneeling on an iron bar, my nose against the wall. Or then, she would lock me in the bathroom for entire days. Or, yet, at night, I’d be deprived of my bed and would have to sleep on the doorstep. And that’snot talking about the smacking, slaps delivered for no apparent reason…. It was an afternoon or morning. I can’t remember anymore. I was on my kneeson the doorstep. I was being punished, of course. My mother was all in a fluster. I had a funny feeling. I was sure something very bad was going to happen. I looked to the bathroom door: “I hope she takes me to nanny’s house, I hope I get out of here...”. I was petrified with fear. I could hardly breathe. I waited. Then she grabbed me. She stuck me in the bathroom and locked the door. Yes, there I was. Locked alone, without light. For how long? I was four and a half years old. From then on I didn’t leave the bathroom. I was bound, hand and foot, to my mother. (...) There was a window in the bathroom that I could see out of, when the slatswere open – which was rare-, the sky and the curtains of the building in front. I was almost always chained, face to the wall, with a chain around my waist, tied to a dog lead or to another chain, which in turn was wrapped around a pipe that went through 78

Voices of Youth

the bathroom wall. The chain cut into my waist, when I moved or wanted to stretch myself. As a result, I have the most bizarre scars. She had closed me in and chained me there, closing all openingsaround me: the slats padlocked shut, and as there was no lock on the door, she invented a system with nails and rope that kept it locked from the outside... (...) There are memories too painful to recall: at Christmas, for example, I could hear them from behind the door. They celebrated. My brother received presents, lots of presents. I had a right to nothing, except to listen to them from inside the bathroom. My brother was the chosen child; I, just an animal. And even so, animals are better treated ... SOURCE: BISSON , D. &

DE SCHONEN ,

E. (1993). L’enfant derrière la porte. Paris: B. Grasset.

TRAGIC I SOLATION It w as difficult to say. When October arrived, the Lisbon’s house began to seem less happy. The blue-slated roof, that at certain times looked like a suspended lake, visibly darkened. The yellow bricks had turned Brow n. Bats flew out of the chimney at dusk, like they used to do in the Stamarow ski mansion on the other block. Since forever w e’d seen bats flying around the Stamarow ski house, zigzagging and diving w hile the girls shrieked and covered their long hair. M r. Stamarow ski w ore black roll-necked sw eaters and stood w atching from the terrace. At dusk, he allow ed us to run on the enormous law n, and once we found a dead bat, w ith a w ithered old face and tw o sharp teeth, in one of the flower beds. We alw ays thought that bats had come from Poland w ith the Stamarowskis; flying around the dark house w ith its velvet curtains and decadent air of the Old World, they seemed to fit the picture. But not over the double, eminently practical chimney of the Lisbon’s house. There w ere other signs of the spreading desolation. The doorbell, w hich used to light up, w ent out. The bird feeder, in the yard, fell and w as left on the ground. In the box w here the milk w as delivered, Mrs. Lisbon left a note to milkman: “Stop delivering bad milk!” Recalling that time,Mrs. Higbie insisted that M r. Lisbon, using a long rod, had closed all the outside shutters... If it w asn’t to school or church, the Lisbons w ent now here... As for the other fellow s, they spent the rest of the night driving around our suburb. They passed by the Little Club, the Yacht Club, the Hunt Club. They crossed the Village, w here the shop w indow s of Hallow een had been changed for those of Thanksgiving. At 1:30, unable to stop from thinking of the girls w hose presence still filled the car, they decided to pass by the Lisbon’s house once more... Arriving close to the Lisbon’s house they saw a light on in one of the bedroom w indow s. Parkie Denton raised his hand for the other to smack. “I won”, he said. But his happiness w as short lived. Because, even before stopping the car, they knew w hat had happened. “It was like a blow t o t he solar plexus knowing that t hose girls would never again go out ”, Kevin Head told us years later. “The old wit ch had locked t hem up again. Don’t ask me how I knew. I just knew, t hat ’s all”. The curtains w ere draw n like eyelids and the w ithered flowers in the flow erbeds gave an air of neglect. How ever, in the w indow w here the only light shone, the curtains fluttered. A hand pulled it back, revealing a flash of golden face – Bonnie, M ary, Thereza, or even Lux − looking to the street. Parkie Denton honked, a short, hopeful honk, but at the ex act moment that the girl placed the palm of her hand on the w indow pane, the light w ent out... Some w eeks later, after M rs. Lisbon locked the house in a max imum security isolation, the scenes of Lux making love on the roof began. 79

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After the school prom, M rs. Lisbon shut all the ground floor curtains. The max imum w e could see w as the shadow of the incarcerated girls that caused an uproar in our minds. Aside from this, as autumn turned to w inter, the trees in the garden drooped more thickly, hiding the house, even though the lack of leaves should reveal it. A cloud seemed to constantly hover over Lisbon’s roof. There was no reason other than a psychic one, the house had become somber because M rs. Lisbon w anted it that w ay. The sky darkened and light abandoned the day, in such a w ay that w e alw ays moved in a shadow outside of time, and the only w ay of telling the time of day w as by the taste of our burps, tooth-paste in the morning, permeated w ith the taste of gooey meat served for lunch in the cafeteria , in the afternoon. Without any ex planation, the girls w ere taken out of school. They simply didn’t turn up one morning, nor the morning after. When M r. Woodhouse asked w hat w as happening, M r. Lisbon looked as if he hadn’t even noticed that they had gone aw ay. He cont inued saying, “Have you verified?”... Everyone thought that a punishment w ould follow Lux ’s inability to respect the curfew , but no one ex pected it to be so drastic. How ever, when we spoke to Mrs. Lisbon years later, she guaranteed us that her decision w as not intended to be punitive. “At t hat point , st aying in school would only have worsened t hings” she said. “None of t he ot her kids t alked t o t he girls. Only t he boys, and you know what t hey were aft er. The girls needed some t ime t o t hemselves. A mother knows these t hings. I t hought t hat if t hey st ayed home t hey would get bet t er sooner”. SOURCE: EUGENIDES, J. (1994). As virgens suicidas. Rio de Janeiro: Rocco.

The film, with same title, directed by Sofia Coppola, was based on the book. [CIC Vídeo, 2000]

Isolation can be employed as a punitive tactic by parents or care-givers. But it also can become a genuine life style for the victims, as was the case of Davi Bisson and the Virgin suicides. That is why Stevens (1999) operationally defines ISOLATION as ACTS that entail limiting the vital space of a person, reducing their contacts, restricting their freedom of movement in their own surroundings .

ISOLATION tactics can vary according to the age and sex of the victim: Prev enting or making it difficult for y ou to see friends or relativ es; monitoring phone calls, telling y ou w here y ou can and cannot go (The Body Shop, 1995); locking a child in a closet or keeping the child alone in a room; refusing a grandparent contact w ith his grandchildren (...).

Our subjects indicated that being prohibited from leaving the house was one of the isolationist tactics used on them. As an ACT of DPV, the profile of ISOLATION does not differ much from those already analyzed. It occupied 3rd place in terms of PREVALENCE (106 records). In half of these (50.9%) it was the practice most frequently carried out. [Table 7] As to who was responsible for carrying it out (perpetrator) the father (on his own or primarily) appeared in 36.8% of the records, while the mother (on her own or primarily) was indicated in 32.1% of these. In 21.7% of the cases it was carried out 80

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jointly between the two parents and in 14.2%, other people were mentioned (relatives to the first and second degree). As occurred with the other ACTS of DPV, the practice of ISOLATION started more frequently from 7 to 11 years of age, which leads to the assumption that it was employed punitively. However, in 13.8% of the cases it began before the age of 3 and lasted an average of 14.3 years, which suggests its use as a way of life for the victim. [Table 13] Research data confirm what the cases of Davi Bisson and the Virgin Suicides lead us to suspect: that it is a universally adopted practice. Khamis (2000) documented its frequent occurrence in the families of 1000 Palestinian children, ranging in age from 12 to 16 years: very often my parents lock me in a separate room. Such a statement is cause for concern because it reveals the normativeness of Psychological Violence in the family routine, in that the practice of ISOLATION ends up by interfering in the development of the sense of INITIATIVE and creating lasting feelings like those illustrated by Villaça , in the afore- mentioned book: I liv ed a closed, locked childhood. My parents w ouldn’t let me out. The clearest impression I hav e is of being a prisoner.

Villaça’s autobiographical statement reveals an ISOLATION whereby the child lives enclosed within the family surrounding, which can, in certain circumstances, take on the form of a suffocating, over-protection and one which stifles personal development. One of our freshmen referred to it as excess worry and, in a circular published in 1980 (Iwaniec, 1995), the British Department of Health and Social Security, considered this practice harmful (to minors under 17). Paradoxically, super-protective ISOLATION, instead of protecting, could represent a real danger to the mental health of children and adolescents.

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4th REJECTION

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Rejection. n. 1. The act or process of rejecting. 2. The condition of being rejected. 3. Something rejected. Reject. tr.v. 1. To refuse to accept, recognize, or make use of; repudiate. 2. To refuse to consider or grant; deny. 3. To refuse affection or recognition to (a perón). 4. To discard as defective or useless; throw away. 5. To spit out or vomit. – See synonyms at refuse. – n. Something or someone that has been rejected. [Middle English rejecten, from Latin rejicere (past participle rejectus), to throw back: re- back, away + jacere, to throw] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1975). American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.

Rejection − as a Brazilian popular song says − is like a one way street, in that it carries the implicit message of NON ACCEPTANCE; not of someone’s behavior, but of the person himself, violating one of the most basic needs of the human being: that of being accepted by parents or care-givers.

The dictionary indicates that there are several ways of rejecting something or someone. In order for it to constitute an ACT of DPV, the message NON ACCEPTANCE, must come embellished with CONTEMPT, DEVALUATION of the person to whom it is intended, as illustrated in the previous figure. That is why Stevens (1999) defines and illustrates it in the following manner: Reject a person − ignore his/her presence or v alue; make the person understand that he/she is useless or inferior; underrate the person’s ideas and feelings. Ex ample: constantly treat a child differently to his brothers or sisters so that the child believ es it is not w anted, that y ou reject and that y ou dislike the child. Rohner (1986) characterizes REJECTION as a standard form of parental behavior which is devoid of warmth and affection. A standard that can supposedly be expressed

through hostility, aggression and even overt cruelty, or it can take on a shrouded, subtle form, that involves parental omission. That is why REJECTION can, in some cases, be confounded with INDIFFERENCE, HUMILIATION and even TERROR. It can involve ISOLATION, while applied as a punitive strategy, resulting in hostility or aggression to the child or adolescent. The child or adolescent frequently represents an encumbrance or burden to parents. The feeling of being rejected in the family, produces children lacking in affection. As a result of this, they become emotionally dependent on the parents or significant adults, who are sometimes aggressive and hostile to them, being emotionally repressed or contained themselves. The testimony of a victim of DPV, reproduced in footnote no. 20, clearly illustrates the scenario of REJECTION experienced within the family.

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One of our freshmen pointed out depression as a consequence of REJECTION experienced in the home. As regards the profile of REJECTION, it is highly similar to the other ACTS analyzed, which explains the possible overlapping between them (Tables 7 and 13). REJECTION was rated 4th in terms of PREVALENCE, and it had 93 registered accounts, much less than the previous ACTS. This might be due to the difficulty in admitting to having been rejected by precisely those that should accept and protect us. As a substantiation of this hypothesis, the percentage of registered accounts that specified rejection as the most frequent familial treatment did not reach 40% (39.8%). The father (on his own or primarily) continued to be the main perpetrator: 47.4% against 30.1% for the mother (on her own or primarily). The joint action of both the father and mother was responsible for 14% of the cases, even less than those attributed to other people, whether other family members or not (16.1%). As for the starting age, the most frequent age group continued to be 7-11 years, with an average duration of 5.3 years. In approximately 80% of the analyzed cases, it began before the age of 12, and in 9.8% of these it had occurred before the age of 3 with an average duration of 15.5 years. Considering the destructive nature of REJECTION, one can imagine its effect on such long lasting cases. To understand what it means to be treated like an inferior being, useless and with no value, one only needs to reread Cora Coralina’s poem…

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5th TERROR

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Terror. n. 1. Intense, overpowering fear. 2. Anything that instills such fear; a terrifying object or occurrence. 3. The ability to instill such fear; terribleness: the terror of a haunted house. 4. Violence toward private citizens, public property, and political enemies promoted by a political group to achieve or maintain supremacy. 5. Informal An annoying or intolerable pest; nuisance. Often used in the phrase a holy terror. [Middle English terrour, from Old French, from Latin terror, from terrere, to frighten.] Terrorize. tr.v. To fill or overpower with terror; terrify. 2. To coerce by intimidation or fear. Terrorism. n. 1. The use of terror, violence, and intimidation to achieve an end. 2. Fear and subjugation produced by this. 3. A system of government that uses terror to rule. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1975). American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.

Of all of the five ACTS of DPV, TERROR appears to be the most SERIOUS, because of its paralyzing, intimidating and terrifying effect. TERRORIZING is a strategy aimed at securing the complete submission of a person under another’s will. In an interesting study, Azevedo & Guerra (2001)36 compared the tactics of DOMESTIC TERROR to those of POLITICAL TERROR. They grimly concluded that When political VIOLENCE and domestic VIOLENCE take on such ex treme forms as to impose phy sical or mental suffering on their v ictims, w hether it be to prisoners, slav es or serv ants, w omen, children and/or adolescents, then they can and should be considered modalities of TERROR, in that they are practices that, aside from causing pain, are characterized by their ability to cause fright, fear, panic, and ex treme dread, due to their unpredictability, lack of control, perversity and averseness.

In this same study, the authors captured the voice of a survivor of domestic terror while being an organized strategy of v iolences (phy sical, sex ual, psy chological, neglect) that are cumulativ e, repetitiv e, and according to general human norms, that are unacceptable because they are considered to be v iolations of the Rights of the Child and the Adolescent. The aim of such v iolence is to maintain familial pow er central and despotic through terrify ing practices that inv olv e torture, cruelty , unex pected and unusual punishments etc.

The above voice belongs to a young girl called Fabiana who was raped at the age of 10 by her father and who then proceeded to suffer different kinds of violence – sexual, physical and psychological – perpetrated by him and with the active connivance of the mother. Two daughters were born from the above relationship, 36

Azevedo, M.A. & Guerra, V.N.A. (2001). Quando a violência doméstica contra crianças e adolescentes pode ser considerada terror? (When can domestic violence against children be considered as terror?) [This study is being submitted for publication in an international journal] 88

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one of whom is blind, deaf and dumb. Fabiana found the strength to denounce the father to the police, when he tried to rape one of his granddaughter-daughters. In her autobiography, Labirintos do Incesto, Fabiana relates how she became her father’s prisoner and how she reacted to this terrible bondage. The severity of the violence she suffered is evident in her written testimony:

(...) i. The feeling of deppression: When my daughter was two months old, I felt as if life had no more meaning. I stopped caring for her, I no longer washed her (...). It was no use my father beating me to get me out of bed: I was like the living-dead (...) j . The feeling of indifference: (...) I discovered that my father was lusting after my younger sister. I was so switched off to life that I didn’t even bother about it (...). I let her work it out on her own. k. The seduction of death: I didn’t feel the need of having to live any more. Everything had become a vacuumto me. I felt useless, each waking moment (...). One day, when I couldn’t stand the suffering any longer, I decided to commit suicide (...) l. Mobilizing the capacity to protect: My father started trying to abuse my oldest daughter when she was 3 years old. So I said to him: Even if it kills me, I won’t ever let you lay a finger on her. You did what you did to us, because we didn’t have a mother to defend us and, while I have her, you will never touch her. SOURCE: ANDRADE, Fabiana Pereira (1999). Labirintos do incesto: o relato de uma sobrevivente. 2ª ed. São Paulo: Escrituras/LACRI .

Extreme forms of violence, like that characteristics of DOMESTIC TERROR, are frequent in cases of conjugal Domestic Violence under the guise of intimidation (threatening gestures, use of physical size to intimidate, driving recklessly...), threats (of hurting or killing a victim or those the victim loves...) (The Body Shop, 1995). They also appear to be universal, occurring, for instance, both in Brazil and in Palestine. In a study mentioned previously, Khamis (2000) revealed that his subjects often felt frightened or even terrorized by their parents. Although the means and ways of TERRORIZING can vary according to whom it is meant for, all of them have a common aim, according to Stevens (1999): Instill in a person, a feeling of terror or ex treme fear; ov erpow er the person through intimidation; place the person in a dangerous or inappropriate place or threaten to put the person in such a place. Ex amples: to blaspheme, to force a child to w atch acts of v iolence carried out on a family member or on a pet; threaten a person w ith abandonment, threaten to brutalize or harm a person or a lov ed one; threaten to destroy the person’s personal possessions; threaten to send the person aw ay or to institutionalize the person (...).

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Many of these practices were present in the tragic story of Hedda. This story reveals how Psychological Violence can descend jointly upon mother and daughter in a family submitted to the tyranny of an omnipotent and cruel father. HEDDA’S STORY Tuesday morning, November 3, 1987 the headlines of a Newsday story tucked in the middle of the paper read, “Girl, 6, Is Critically Injured. Parents Are Arrested, Charged.” It was the day after Lisa Steinberg had been found unconscious in a Greenwich Village apartment. “The wife also appears to have been beaten,” Aaron Rosenthal, Assistant Chief of the Manhattan Detective Borough, told the press. Hedda Nussbaun had a bandaged nose, puffy eyes, and bruises on her head and body. The accompanying photograph depicted her looking downward, her lips split like a boxer’s, her nose broken, strands of wild gray hair escaping from a dirty bandanna. Next to her was a stronglooking, full-chested, confident man: Joel Steinberg. On the following day, front-page headlines read, “Sleeping Beauty-Six Years Old-Extremely Critical, May Be Declared Brain Dead.” The third page carried an interview with a fifteen-year-old girl named Amanda Willhelm, a neighbor, who said that until a year ago, Lisa had seemed like a cheery and healthy girl. But in recent months, she had been seen with scrapes and black-and-blue marks, a hunk of her hair hacked off, and a big bruise on her side. The teenager reported that Lisa had said that her baby brother did these things. Amanda’s family suspected Lisa was being abused, but they said nothing because they were afraid Steinberg might take it out on Lisa if they went to the authorities. Amanda described Steinberg as “a big, great influential person...he just seemed very hard.” This may have been the way that two unwed teenaged mothers saw Steinberg, the “adoption” lawyer, when they handed over their babies to him – ostensibly for him to place in good homes. Instead, Steinberg kept the babies and called them Lisa and Mitchell Steinberg. Lisa’s natural mother, Michele Launders, had been an easy target for a forceful lawyer with no scruples. Not only did Steinberg take her baby, but he also took a $500 fee to place her baby girl in a “proper Christian home.” Steinberg was an expert at taking advantage of people’s weaknesses and misfortunes. While argument raged in the press about the case, many commentators overlooked that Hedda Nussbaum, Steinberg’s companion, was obviously a battered woman. Scheck pulled out an envelope with hospital pictures of Hedda taken on the night of November 3. They looked like photographs of a war victim. On one leg she had an infected ulceration. Her ear was swollen and misshapen. Her head appeared to have been punched in at the sides. Her skin was scarred by cigarette burns. There was absolutely nothing human in her expression: no shame, no embarrassment, no suffering. She was more dead than anything else. Hedda told me that she had never seen Steinberg hit Lisa, and that, although he had battered Hedda regularly, until the last year, he had shown great pride in Lisa. But the downward spiral in Lisa’s relationship with Steinberg was swift. Lisa’s terror must have been paralyzing, because she knew the violence he was capable of; she had spent years trying to distract the man she called Dad from beating the woman she called Mom. “One of the ways Joel would punish me,” Hedda said, “was to force me to lie in the bathtub filled with freezing cold water. Joel made Lisa watch as he hit me and listen as he explained, ‘Daddy’s helping Mommy.’ Sometimes he would ask Lisa if he should hit me. If Lisa would say no, he would definitely hit me, explaining why I needed to be punished. So Lisa tried to say ‘yes’ once, thinking that he would go the opposite way and not hit me. Of course, it didn’t matter. I still got hit.” Hedda’s testimony was vital to Steinberg’s prosecution, yet many jurors and journalistsblamed her for failing to save Lisa’s life. Some blamed her for the murder. In the end, the jury found Steinberg guilty only of manslaughter. Like so many batterers, Steinberg continues to deny any responsibility for his actions. On December 5, 1990, when Newsday columnist Carole Agus asked Steinberg about hisrelationship with Hedda, he maintained, “We didn’t have a violent relationship. In fact, there was no violence in our 90

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relationship at all.” Today Hedda lives alone in a small secluded house, cut off from everyone she loved. Her financial situation is precarious; often she turns to temporary secretarial agencies for work. She continues to attend battered-women’s meetings. SOURCE:

F ERRATO, D. (1991). Living with de enemy. New York: Aperture Foundation.

Another true story such as the one above was made into a film, in Spanish, in 1993, called Una casa en las afueras (A House in the outskirts). A specialist in Information Technology marries a young, single mother and takes her and her little daughter to live in a sinister house in the middle of a desert. Gradually he stops his wife from having any type of social contact, even with her own family. When she decides to leave him, he cold-bloodedly kills her in front of the daughter. Using various forms of intimidation, he forces the child to continually lie to cover up the crime. Finally, without courage to kill her too, he forces her to leave. The film ends with the child narrating all that she had suffered, including the death of her dog by the stepfather, when it had discovered where the wife had been buried. Our freshmen denounced a case with DOMESTIC TERROR, referring to it as “PSYCHOLOGICAL TERRORISM”. As an ACT of DPV, it was last in terms of PREVALENCE (67 accounts / Table 7). Just over one third of these (32.8%) disclosed that it was the most frequent practice at home. The practice of TERROR pointed significantly to the FATHER who, on his own or primarily, was responsible for 46.3% of registered cases. However, the mother’s participation is also far from negligible (37.3%, either on her own or primarily), especially if we consider that the joint action of the father and mother together was responsible for 20% of the registered accounts. It is interesting to note that 13.4% of the cases correspond to terrifying practices attributed to other people, whether a family member or not. Particularly significant is, that the most frequent starting age of this practice was 3 to 6 years, with a duration of about 9.1 years. [Table 13] This data appears to suggest that unfortunately, the notorious Culture of terror, still reigns on planet Earth, as Galeano mentions, and it is imperative that it be substituted with a true C ULTURE OF THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD AND THE ADOLESCENT37.

37

Nevertheless, some progress is underway. As in the case of the just condemnation of a nanny for tortures forced on a child. She was condemned on the basis of Law no. 9,455 of 04.07.1997 [Law of Torture]: The assumption is clearly torture... and not maltreatment. In the case of maltreatment... the action initially is lawful: based on the assumption that the person abuses the ways of educating, correcting and disciplining... in punishing a child... [the nanny] did not practice any act for educational or corrective purposes, on the contrary, it was carried out through submission < intense physical and mental suffering of the victim > [Juiz condena babá por torturar criança. Folha de S.Paulo, 05.15.2001, p. C6] 91

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E3 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF

ACTS OF DOMESTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE [DPV]

Probably the greatest of the narcissistic w ounds [is] not having been loved ex actly as one w as. MILLER, Alice (1986)

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Julian Trigo Oil on canvas, 1998

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ACTS of DPV promote what some researchers have called INVALIDATING FAMILY ENVIRONMENT. It is an environment in which − either because of the lack of responses or of the repetition of negative responses – children or adolescents see their thoughts, feelings and values permanently underestimated and their efforts toward self fulfillment systematically neglected or undervalued. In addition, these ACTS create a real cycle of violence which repeats itself and gains strength over time. Rather than disappearing, it gets customarily worse and perversely stronger. Although they are not easily detectable, the ACTS of DPV usually: a.

take part in other modalities of Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents (sexual, physical, fatal violence or neglect ). According to Stevens (1999): (...) w hatev er the form that v iolence takes − neglect, phy sical v iolence, sex ual or financial ex ploitation − there are consequences on the psy chological plane. In other w ords, all acts of v iolence contain elements of psy chological v iolence.

b.

cumulatively associate with each other, thus increasing its toxic effect on the victims.

According to Table 14, we can see that all ACTS were observed together with one, two, three or four of the other ACTS. REJECTION was observed in 14 combinations; HUMILIATION, INDIFFERENCE and ISOLATION, in 13; and TERROR in 12.

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T ABLE 14 Distribution of subjects according to combinations of A CTS of DPV. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus

Combinations

N

%

1 - rejection

27

8.4

2 - humiliation

42

13.1

3 - rejection, humiliation

15

4.7

4 - isolation

45

14.1

5

1.6

10

3.1

2

0.6

53

16.6

9 - indifference, rejection

9

2.8

10 - indifference, humiliation

14

4.4

4

1.3

16

5.0

13 - indifference, isolation, rejection

4

1.3

14 - indifference, isolation, humiliation

3

0.9

15 - indifference, isolation, humiliation, rejection

4

1.3

25

7.8

17 - terror, rejection

2

0.6

18 - terror, humiliation

7

2.2

19 - terror, humiliation, rejection

3

0.9

20 - terror, isolation

3

0.9

21 - terror, isolation, rejection

2

0.6

22 - terror, isolation, humiliation, rejection

3

0.9

23 - terror, indifference

5

1.6

24 - terror, indifference, humiliation

2

0.6

25 - terror, indifference, humiliation, rejection

6

1.9

26 - terror, indifference, isolation

2

0.6

27 - terror, indifference, isolation, rejection

1

0.3

28 - terror, indifference, isolation, humiliation, rejection

6

1.9

320

100

5 - isolation, rejection 6 - isolation, humiliation 7 - isolation, rejection, humiliation 8 - indifference

11 - indifference, rejection, humiliation 12 - indifference, isolation

16 - terror

TOTAL* *

Number of subjects in the sub-sample of respondents that indicated at least one of the ACTS of DPV.

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T ABLE 15 Duration of the combined A CTS of DPV. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus Combined ACTS of DPV

Duration Average (year s)

21 - terror, isolation, rejection 25 - terror, indifference, humiliation, rejection 18 - terror, humiliation 10 - indifference, humiliation 15- indifference, isolation, humiliation, rejection 16 - terror 3 - rejection, humiliation 6 - isolation, humiliation 23 - terror, indifference 4 - isolation 13 - indifference, isolation, rejection 12 - indifference, isolation 20 - terror, isolation 2 - humiliation 1- rejection 22 - terror, isolation, humiliation, rejection 8 - indifference 9 - indifference, rejection 24 - terror, indifference, humiliation 14 - indifference, isolation, humiliation 19 - terror, humiliation, rejection 26 - terror, indifference, isolation 28- terror, indifference, isolation, humiliation, rejection 11 - indifference, rejection, humiliation 5 - isolation, rejection TOTAL

N

STD. Deviati on

14.0 12.0 10.2 9.0 9.0

1 1 5 7 1

9.0 8.8 8.5 8.0 7.0

16 6 8 3 27

5.6 6.8 5.3 5.0 5.2

7.0 6.7 6.7 6.5 6.0

3 7 3 24 16

2.0 6.2 2.3 4.5 5.0

6.0 5.4 4.8 4.5 4.0

2 28 6 2 2

1.4 3.9 2.6 6.4 4.2

4.0 4.0 4.0 3.0 1.5

1 1 1 1 2

2.1

6.9

174

4.9

5.5 5.8

Note: Number of cases with complete information: 174 out of 320.

Among the subjects who had suffered ACTS OF DPV, 66 (20.7%) indicated combined with another form of maltreatment, while 42 (13.0%) did the same with TERROR. REJECTION

Table 15 shows that, on average, the combinations which lasted longest were precisely those involving TERROR, REJECTION and HUMILIATION (10 to 14 years of duration). If TERROR is the practice of torture and, as such, produces physical and emotional pain, and if REJECTION and HUMILIATION are means to produce the socalled “narcissistic wound”38, then we can easily imagine the devastating consequences that the combination of these ACTS have, over a 10- year- period, on the 38

Narcissistic wound is the result of an attack on the narcissistic equilibrium of a person. 96

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self formation of the victims and, therefore, on the development of their sense of identity (independent, confident, responsible). The following is Stevens’s statement (1999) regarding the consequences of DPV. Psy chological v iolence can undermine the v ictim’s self-esteem. In children, Psy chological Violence can damage the child’s psy chological dev elopment, that is, the dev elopment of intelligence, of memory , of recognition, of perception, of attention, of the imagination and of sense of morality . It can also harm the social dev elopment of the child and compromise the child’s ability to perceiv e, feel, understand and ex press emotions. Iwaniec (1995) reinforces it by naming the main consequences of parental

psychological violence: Which damages a child’s self-esteem, degrades a sense of achiev ement, diminishes a sense of belonging, and stands in the w ay of healthy , v igorous, and happy dev elopment.

The conclusion reached is that although our freshman had, in general, been exposed to less serious ACTS OF DPV, in a few cases, some of them were exposed, for long periods, to combined modalities of DPV, and therefore to more perverse scenarios of VIOLENCE. This partially explains the fact that − despite the repetitive and cumulative presence of ACTS OF DPV − only 95 among the 320 subjects (29.6%) considered the quality of their family life to be unsatisfactory, as shown in Table 16.

TA BLE 16

Acts of DPV and the subject’s opinion of the quality of their family life. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus FAMI LY LIFE AT HOME Blan k / Cancelled 12)

Rejection

Humiliation

Isolation

Indifference

Terror

*

(N = [3,9%]

Satisf actory 213)

(N = Unsatisfactory (N = [ 66,5%] 95) [29,6%]

Total* (NT = 320) [100%]

2

56

35

93

16.7%

26.3%

36.8%

29.1%

4

76

41

121

33.3%

35.7%

43.2%

37.8%

5

74

27

106

41.7%

34.7%

28.4%

33.1%

3

75

51

129

25.0%

35.2%

53.7%

40.3%

3

38

26

67

25.0%

17.8%

27.4%

20.9%

Number of subjects in the sub-sample of respondents who indicated at least one of the ACTS of DPV. 97

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Based on the answers given by these 95 subjects, we may infer that INDIFFERENCE, followed by HUMILIATION and REJECTION were the most significant ACTS of DPV. Paradoxically, TERROR was the least significant: among 67 subjects, 38 (56.7%) considered their quality of life SATISFACTORY, whereas 26 (38.8%) considered it UNSATISFACTORY. A possible explanation for the alleged SATISFACTORINESS − despite the ACTS OF DPV − is that it may be either the result of defense mechanisms or a consequence of the extremely low level of awareness in the subjects, caused by the indifference, banality, standardization and conformism toward VIOLENCE in the Brazilian society.

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E4 DEVELOPING DOMESTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE [DPV]

99

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Julian Trigo Oil on canvas, 1998

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In light of the framework we have adopted, understanding the (re)production of DPV can only be achieved based on the socio-psychological interactionist model, according to which the conditioning factors are socio-economic, political and cultural, and refracted in the everyday family life through the parents’ awareness when interacting with their children. In our study, in virtue of its exploratory nature, we analyzed the influence of the socio-economic status of the parents involved (represented in terms of their occupation and schooling) and the subjects’ gender. The x2 test − applied to the data in the following tables − revealed remarkable differences between the subjects who recorded or did not record the Prevalence of one or more ACTS OF DPV, according to the indicated values. Therefore, regarding the father and the mother, the Prevalence of one or more ACTS of DPV was considerably lower when they held more prestigious OCCUPATIONS (Level 1 / Scientific, technical and artistic jobs and the like) and when they had university degrees. As for social relationships regarding gender, the PREVALENCE was remarkably higher in relation to the male gender. Numerous studies hav e linked child abuse and neglect w ith certain parental and family characteristics and behav iour. Among them are: poor marital relationships, social isolation, impulsiv e personalities, ill-health, pov erty , chaotic life-sty le, psy chiatric problems, poor social and problem-solv ing skills, difficulties in social communication, neglectful and abusiv e backgrounds of parents, and lack of know ledge of children’s age-appropriate needs, as well as alcohol-, drug-, and substance-abuse [Crittenden & Ainsw orth, 1989; Zurav in, 1988; Polansky, 1992; Egeland, 1987; Johnson, 1990; Oates, 1982]. (Iwaniec, 1995) Khamis (2000) adds family configuration (one or two-parent family) to the list.

The most plausible explanation for the relationships revealed by our data may be in the five socio-cultural factors proposed by Dubanoski, Evans & Higuchi (1978): lack

of knowledge about normal developmental processes; punitive disciplinary methods; impulsive aggression; high stress-levels; and negative attitudes towards the child.

The direction and nature of the relationships we identified indicate a special childhood culture in a society where entering college (particularly USP) is still viewed as a means of climbing the social ladder and of escaping stressful conditions of life. One of our freshmen said he had experienced lack of attention at home as a result of the current opinion that children are ignorant and have nothing to teach adults. An opinion that reflects a typically adult-centered culture which underestimates childhood that, for this reason, must be subdued and strictly controlled. The extent to which the parents’ beliefs, attitudes and values − infused by the narcissistic culture of a competitive society − may have influenced parenting involving ACTS of DPV, is a research that has not yet be carried out, but which is nonetheless important because the conditioning factors of neglect and abuse are complex and varied and will differ from one family to another and from one society to another (Iwaniec , 1995). 101

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T ABLE 17 A Father’s occupation and prevalence of Acts of DPV. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus Was at least one of the fi ve ACTS of DPV indicated?

Father's Occupation*

NO

n

Wor kers i n sci entific, techni cal and ar tistic professions and the l ike

76

311

27.6%

23. 8%

26.5%

108

27

135

12.7%

8. 4%

11.5%

n

92

36

128

%

10.8%

11. 3%

10.9%

n

93

30

123

%

10.9%

9. 4%

10.5%

n

10

4

14

1.2%

1. 3%

1.2%

11

5

16

1.3%

1. 6%

1.4%

35

28

63

4.1%

8. 8%

5.4%

n

40

15

55

%

4.7%

4. 7%

4.7%

n

43

22

65

%

5.0%

6. 9%

5.5%

n

73

42

115

%

8.6%

13. 1%

9.8%

n

112

35

147

%

13.1%

10. 9%

12.5%

n

852

320

1172

%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

n %

Office workers and the like

Wor kers i n commerce and the like

Wor kers i n Tourism, hospitali ty services, cleaning services, hygi ene and beauty services, security services and the like

% n

Wor kers i n farming, forestry, fi shing and the li ke

% Industrial production workers, machine oper ators, dr ivers and the l ike

n %

Wor kers whose occupati ons are unecl assified

Unempl oyed

Retired

No infor mation

Total

YES

235

% Members of the Legislati ve, Executive and Judici al branches of government; high ranking publi c servants, company directors and the like

Total

Sign. test: P = 0.001

(*)

SOURCE: The occupational categories were taken from the Classificação Brasileira de Ocupações. Brasília: Sistema Nacional de Emprego, 1982 [except for categories Unemployed/Retired, which we have added].

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T ABLE 17 B Father’s schooling and Prevalence of Acts of DPV. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus

Was at least one of he five ACTS of DPV indi cated?

Father's Schooling

NO

NONE / LITERATE NONE / ILLITERATE OTHERS COURSES PRIMARY SCHOOL SECONDARY SCHOOL UNIVERSITY No answer TOTAL

Total YES

n

30

27

57

%

3.5%

8.4%

4.9%

n

5

8

13

%

0.6%

2.5%

1.1%

n

31

8

39

%

3.6%

2.5%

3.3%

n

72

41

113

%

8.5%

12.8%

9.6%

n

182

67

249

%

21.4%

20.9%

21.2%

n

520

163

683

%

61.0%

50.9%

58.3%

n

12

6

18

%

1.4%

1.9%

1.5%

n

852

320

1172

%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

Sign. teste: P = 0.000

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T ABLE 18 A Mother’s occupation and Prevalence of Acts of DPV. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus Was at least one of the five ACTS of DPV indi cated?

Mother's Occupation* Workers i n sci entific, techni cal and artistics professions and the like Members of the Legislati ve, Executi ve and Judi cial branches of gover nment; high ranking public servants, company di rectors and the like

Office workers and the like

NO

YES

n

222

64

286

%

26.1%

20.0%

24.4%

n

53

7

60

6.2%

2.2%

5.1%

73

33

106

8.6%

10.3%

9.0%

n

18

3

21

%

2.1%

0.9%

1.8%

n

11

14

25

1.3%

4.4%

2.1%

n

1

2

3

%

0.1%

0.6%

0.3%

n

2

2

4

0.2%

0.6%

0.3%

n

232

89

321

%

27.2%

27.8%

27.4%

% n %

Workers i n commerce and the li ke Workers i n Tourism, hospitall y services, cleaning ser vices, hygiene and beauty services, security ser vices and the like

Workers i n farming, forestry, fishi ng and the l ike

Industrial production workers, machine operators, drivers and the li ke

%

% Workers whose occupati ons are uncl assifi ed

Unempl oyed Retired No infor mation

n

109

48

157

%

12.8%

15.0%

13.4%

n

46

23

69

%

5.4%

7.2%

5.9%

n

85

35

120

%

10.0%

10.9%

10.2%

n

Total

Total

%

852 100. 0%

320 100.0%

1172 100.0%

Sign. teste: P= 0.001

(*)

SOURCE: The occupational categories were taken from the Classificação Brasileira de Ocupações. Brasília: Sistema Nacional de Emprego, 1982 [except for categories Unemployed/Retired, which we have added].

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T ABLE 18 B Mother’s schooling and the Prevalence of Acts of DPV. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus Was at least one of the five ACTS of DPV indicated?

Mother's Schooling NONE / LITERATE NONE / ILLI TERATE OTHER COURSES PRIMARY SCHOOL SECONDARY SCHOOL UNIVERSI TY No answer Total

Total

NO

YES

n

31

29

60

%

3. 6%

9.1%

5.1%

n

5

4

9

%

0. 6%

1.3%

0.8%

n

24

7

31

%

2. 8%

2.2%

2.6%

n

98

52

150

%

11.5%

16.3%

12.8%

n

230

79

309

%

27.0%

24.7%

26.4%

n

459

144

603

%

53.9%

45.0%

51.5%

n

5

5

10

%

0. 6%

1.6%

0.9%

n

852

320

1172

%

100. 0%

100.0%

100.0%

Sign teste: P = 0.001

T ABLE 19 Subject’s gender and Prevalence of Acts of DPV. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus Was at least one among the five ACTS of DPV indicated?

Subject's Gender

MALE

FEMALE

Total

NO

YES

n

388

170

558

%

47.5%

55.2%

49.6%

n

429

138

567

%

52.5%

44.8%

50.4%

n

817

308

1125

%

100.0%

100.0%

100. 0%

Sign. teste: P=0.02

Obs.:

Answers: blank null

Total

n %

47 4,0

105

Voices of Youth

E5 THE ACTS OF DPV SILENCED

106

Voices of Youth

107

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The list of the five ACTS is far from exhausting all the possibilities of DPV. Taking into account that this survey was carried out on college freshmen, we intentionally excluded the following category that is frequently referred to in literature: CORRUPT or exploit a person − lead a person to accept ideas or behav iors that are prohibited by law , materially or financially ex ploit a person, teach a child to serv e the best interests of those w ho abuse the child rather than defending its ow n interests. Ex amples: sex ually ex ploit a child, allow the child to consume alcohol or drugs, train the child for the sex trade. (Stevens, 1999)

No matter how unbelievable it may seem, these acts occur and continue to occur, especially in the area of pornography and childhood prostitution. If, in the plane of fantastic realism, we read the incredibly sad story of Candida Erendira and her ruthless grandmother39, then on the real plane we have the equally sad story of Mary Bell, who at the age of 11, killed two boys in the 60s (XX Century). The author, G. Sereny, interviewed the young girl and in the book she wrote, she relates the story of the murder and Mary Bell’s subsequent imprisonment for the crime. Furthermore, she tells us of the relationship between Mary Bell and her mother who allowed her daughter to fall out of windows, ingest strong medicine thinking it was candy and to be molested by the mother’s male companions, all of which occurred when Mary Bell was very young. The following excerpts illustrate the perverse violence suffered by the girl since the time of her birth. I told her that her aunt Cath and her grandmother couldn’t understand w hy the first thing Betty had Said w hen they tried to put the baby in her arms w as: Take t he t hing away from me. Cath said you w ere the bonniest baby... M y mother w ould hold me, one hand pulling my head back, by my hair, the other holding my arms back of me, my neck back like, and… and… they’d put their penis in my mouth and w hen… w hen, you know , they… ejaculated, I’d vomit. (Sereny, 1999)

39

Marquez, G.G. (1992). A incrível e triste história da Cândida Erendira e sua avó desalmada. Rio de Janeiro: Record. The novel tells the story of a grandmother who prostitutes her granddaughter as a way of making her pay for the damage caused by breaking a candlestick. My poor darling − hissed the grandmother. − You won’t have enough life to pay for this damage!. This is the fatal sentence that sealed Erendira’s fate. 108

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CONCLUSIONS: WHAT THE VOICES OF YOUTH HAVE TOLD US

109

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Julian Trigo Oil on canvas, 1998

110

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The present study was based on a group of USP freshmen who enrolled in 2000. The VOICES OF THE YOUTHS surveyed, revealed the presence of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, of Psychological nature, during childhood and adolescence. A presence that was, to a certain point, unexpected, considering the profile of the USP freshmen – these being the outcome of a competitive selective marathon40. A presence which is paradoxical, to a certain extent, because it is: a.

discreet yet ex tensiv e .

Discreet because the registered prevalence was less than one third of the freshmen sample (27.3%). Nevertheless, according to estimates it can affect a total of 10,571 USP undergraduates41, making it far from negligible and, therefore extensive. b.

occult yet present.

Occult because it is camouflaged by ACTS which the majority of subjects have not yet learnt to identify as VIOLENCE. Present because the five ACTS defining the constructo DOMESTIC VIOLENCE of Psychological nature, were consistently present in the majority of courses surveyed. c.

compromising and non- compromising.

The ACTS of DPV were considered to be non-compromising because the majority of the subjects (66.5%) who were researched felt that the quality of family life had not been compromised, while 29.6% of them felt it to be unsatisfactory. An explanation for this seemingly contradictory profile can be found, on one hand, in the poor visibility of Domestic Psychological Violence, whether as the object of a survey, or as a social problem, blocking the victim’s awareness and the victim’s own subjective constitution. On the other hand, it should be investigated in the particular social-cultural climate characteristic of post-modernity and in the results of down-playing this violence in social practices of parenting. In the historical-critical approach that we adopted, we can agree with Ratner (1995) that parents’ insensibility and disdain has a concrete social character. According to the basic principles of socio-historical psy chology , parents are insensitiv e, unhelpful, communicate poorly , are incomprehensiv e, and behav e unsuitably in certain w ay s and circumstances, for reasons that originate in specific social v alues and practices. It is precisely for hav ing these v alues that those responsible maltreat their children. While parents believ e in these practices and follow them, they w ill be maltreating their children, ev en if their best intentions are to the contrary . The reason w hy some parents, more than others, carry out these destructiv e behaviors is, undoubtedly , due to their ow n complex personal ex periences. How ev er, the main importance and the dissemination of these practices throughout society makes them not only increasingly 40

41

The profile is mainly represented by young people of both sexes, who are Caucasian, single, do not work, and come from families whose parents are owners/employees and/or professionals. They competed with 130,466 candidates, for 7,115 vacancies in USP . [Cf. FUVEST − Relatório 2000. São Paulo: Fundação Universitária para o Vestibular, 2000]. 27.3% of 39,155 (students registered in the 1st semester of USP undergraduates, in 1999 − Populational projection). 111

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more accessible and respectable as normativ e models, but also, their increasing admission into the family becomes inev itable. The pathogenic behav ior of parents is not just a personal or family w eakness. One should not try to identify it horizontally , solely in prev ious generations of the indiv idual’s family , but also v ertically , in other lev els of society . Clarify ing it in regard to society at large, w hich is reflected by the parents, prov ides a social basis for the parent’s behav ior that is omitted by other less comprehensiv e social analy ses. This omission leaves the parents’ behav ior unex plained and giv es w ay to random ex planations, personal and biological (...). Other social ex planations that focus on pov erty and unemploy ment as important factors that help ex plain this behav ior, do not make reference to its causes rooted in the middle and high social classes. (…) Social practices are a w ay of instigating a w ide v ariety of abuse by parents. No ex acting connection ex ists betw een a giv en maltreatment of children by parents and a single social v alue or practice. Each social practice has v ariable and w ide-ranging effects in the same way that each maltreatment has innumerable social foundations. Competition can lead to neglecting children, to humiliating and treating them sev erely . Inv ersely , the parent’s insensibility can come from being egoistical, materialistic and competitiv e. Social influences prov ide a context that indiv iduals fall back on to build their ow n life sty les. Parents find new w ay s of creativ ely combining destructiv e social practices and concretizing them in new w ay s. However, if we take the trouble to look, w e w ill find that the social character that permeates these embodiments, is unquestionable... In this manner, for ex ample, a mother w ho totally confuses her child by constantly changing his meal times, is a reflection of the impulsiv eness and egocentricity that are the mainstay of the contemporary American socio-economic sy stem. The ex cessiv e harshness of a father with his son, w hich results in phy sical pain and emotional coldness, reflects a w idespread male norm (...).

According to Henry (1963), socio-cultural factors of the macro-system (socioeconomic and political) clearly influence the social values and practices of parents, and these, in turn, on abusive parental behavior on children. MACROSYSTEM

Ð Social Values and Practices of the Parents competitive

egoistical

humiliates the child

insensitive

impulsive materialistic Ð Ð Pathogenic Behavior of the Parents Ignores, Separation with disdains no affection

superficial

harsh

unaware

harsh

F IGURE XX: Underlying societal practices and values in abusive family interactions. [Henry, J. (1963)]

The resulting bad feeling, that a minor group of students pointed out, could be rooted in the fact that Psychological Violence is still highly invisible among us and, therefore, a violence without a face or a name. That is why it is the ideal violence of being camouflaged by parental practices that are widespread, accepted and legitimated as family pedagogical models in a society where the family continues to be far from democratic. In all probability, even having been subjected to the survey, our subjects would not be able to say which children and adolescents we are talking about when we outline the following profile: 112

Voices of Youth

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20)

not included in the family circle; ignored, or not taken notice of; not allow ed to play an activ e part in family activ ities and decision-making; seldom spoken to in an easy w ay ; persistently depriv ed of priv ileges and treats; frequently punished for minor misbehav ior; persistently ridiculed and criticized; nev er praised; not acknow ledged or reinforced in any good behav ior or positiv e action; frequently shamed and put dow n in front of peers, siblings and other people; not noticed or disregarded in any attempts to please care-giv ers; ignored and discouraged w hen attempting to attract attention or affection; not allow ed to mix w ith friends; socially isolated; told that it is disliked or unlov ed (or both); blamed w hen things go w rong in the family ; not in receipt of proper superv ision and guidance; corrupted by the care-giv ers by means of drugs, prostitution, stealing etc.; encouraged in inappropriate prejudices such as religious, racial, cultural or other hatreds (attitudinal corruption); not allow ed to get phy sically close to care-giv ers;

(21)

not permitted to show emotion. (Iwaniec, 1995)

Apart from this, as shown in the table following, these are people who, although not fully aware of the VIOLENCE suffered at home, idealize the education of children and adolescents with the antidotes of Violence: RESPECT, DIALOGUE, AFFECTION, FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY 42 (...)43.

42 43

The only exception refers to the subject that endorses dialogue with the infliction of corporal punishment. Some studies on youth culture show that there is a definite return to valuing the family as an institution. If in the past, young people viewed the family as a conservative barrier that needed to be ruptured, then, nowadays, they are seeking to give it renewed value. A group of three studies available in the Loducca Center of Information, carried out on a group of 500 American and Brazilian youths, showed that 77% of them considered a good parent-child relationship to be important. When asked who they most admired - first the mothers, then the fathers had the highest ratings. [Roldão Arruda, A cabeça dos nossos jovens. O Estado de S.Paulo, 06.10.2001] 113

Voices of Youth

T ABLE 20 How children and adolescents should be educated in the family. Freshmen U SP/2000 − São Paulo Campus Forms of Education

Nº of responses

%

Respectful of the rights of the child/adolescent

7

13.8

Respectful the rights of the child/adolescent, but within limits

6

11.8

25

49.0

Providing security so as to be able to face future difficulties

2

4.0

Proffering responsibilities but free of pressure

1

1.9

Liberationist

1

1.9

Democratic, but respecting the differences in power within a family

1

1.9

Molded on good examples set by the parents

1

1.9

Committed as to the need of accompanying corporal punishment (smacks with hand/slipper) with dialogue

1

1.9

Free of physical and psychological violence

1

1.9

Blank

4

7.9

Unable to answer

1

1.9

51

100.0

Emphasizing: dialogue, attention, affection, patience, friendship, dedication, encouragement

TOTAL

Obs.: 39 individual statements taken from systematic sampling were analysed. The total of 51 is ex plained by the fact that a subject could have been categorized more than once.

The final message of the VOICES OF YOUTH is that the CULTURE OF Domestic TERROR could have its days numbered...

114

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HOGLUND, Collete J. & NICHOLAS, Karen B. (1995). Shame guilt and anger in college students exposed to abusive family environments. Journal of Family Violence, 10(2): 141-57. HOLANDA, F.R.B. de (1990). A emergência da criança no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: FGV/IESAE. (Dissertação de Mestrado) IWANIEC, D. (1995). The emotionally abused and neglected child. New York: John Wiley and Sons. JAMES, A. & PROUT, A. (1990). Constructing and reconstructing childhood: contemporary issues in the sociological study of childhood. Londres: The Falmer Press. KALICHMAN, S.C. and GARRY, A.T. (eds.) (1996). Child Abuse. Abstracts of the Psychological and Behavioral Literature 1990-1995. Washington: American Psychological Association. Vol. 9 (Bibliographies in Psychology). KAVANAGH, C. (1982). Emotional abuse and mental injury: a critique of the concepts and a recommendation for practice. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 21: 171-7. KEMPE, C.E.; SILVERMAN, F.N.; STEELE, B.F.; DROEGMULLER, W. & SILVER, H.K. (1962). The battered child syndrome. Journal of the American Medical Association. KEMPE, C.H. & HELFER, R.E. (1980). The battered child. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. KHAMIS, Vivian (2000). Child psychological maltreatment in Palestinian families. Child Abuse and Neglect, 24(8): 1047-59. KLOSINSKI, G. (1993). Psychological maltreatment in the context of separation and divorce. Child Abuse and Neglect, 17(4): 557-63, Jul.-Aug. LAU, Evelyn (1997). A fugitiva / O diário de uma menina de rua. São Paulo: Scipione Cultural. LEACH, P. (1995). Los niños primero. Barcelona: Paidós. LEVI, G. & SCHMITT, J.C. (1996). História dos jovens. Vol. I/II. São Paulo: Cia. das Letras. LEWIN (2000). “I’m not talking to you”: shunning as a form of violence. Transactional Analysis Journal, 30(2): 125-31, Apr. LIMAZA, J.L. (org.) (1984). Jerome Bruner, Acción, pensamiento y lenguaje. Madrid: Alianza Editorial. LIPPI, J.R. (1985). Maltrato: um grave problema humano. In: KRYNSKI, S. et al. A criança maltratada. São Paulo: Almed. 121

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LÜDKE, M. & ANDRÉ, M.E.D.A. (1986). Pesquisa em educação: abordagens qualitativas. São Paulo: EPU. MAH, Adeline Yen (1997). Failing leaves / The true story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughters. New York: Penguin Books. MANACORDA, M.A. (1992). História da educação da Antigüidade aos nossos dias. São Paulo: Cortez/Editora Autores Associados. MAKARENKO, A.S. (1981). Conferências sobre educação infantil. São Paulo: Moraes. MARQUEZ, G.G. (1992). A incrível e triste história da Cândida Erendira e sua avó desalmada. Rio de Janeiro: Record. MCGEE, R.A. & WOLFE, D.A. (1991). Psychological maltreatment toward an operational definition. Development and Psychopathology, 3: 31-18. ________ (1991). Between a rock and a hard place: where do we go from here in defining psychological maltreatment? In: C ICCHETTI, D. (ed.). Development and psychopathology, 3(1): 119-24. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. MILLER, A. (1985). Por tu própio bien. Barcelona: Tusquets. ________ (1986). O drama da criança bem dotada / Como os pais podem formar (e deformar) a vida emocional dos filhos. 2ª ed. São Paulo: Summus. ________ (1990). La souffrance muette de l’enfant. Paris: Editions Aubier. MILNER, J.S. (1993). Social information processing and physical child abuse. Clinical Psychology Review, 13: 275-94. ________ (1995). La aplicación de la teoría del procesamiento de información social al problema del maltrato físico a niños. Infancia y Aprendizaje, 71: 125-34. MINAYO, Maria Cecilia de Souza et alii (1999). Fala galera. Juventude, violência e cidadania na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Brasília: UNESCO/Rio de Janeiro: FIOCRUZ. MORAGO, J.J.; DELGADO, A.O.; SAGE, D.S. (1996). Maltrato y proteccion a la infância en España. Madrid: Ministerio de Asuntos Sociales. MORAIS, F. (1994). Chatô, o rei do Brasil. São Paulo: Cia. das Letras. NEWELL, P. (1989). Children are people too. The case against physical punishment. Londres: Bedford Square Press. OCHOTORENA, J.P. et al (1988). Maltrato y abandono infantil: identificacción de factores de riesgo. Espanha: Victoria-Gasteiz. O’HAGAN, K.P. (1993). Emotional and psychological abuse of children. Buckingham: Open University Press. 122

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VII A PPENDIX

INSTRUMENT

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USP − UNIVERSITY OF SÃO PAULO IP − INSTITUTE OF PSYCHOLOGY LACRI − C HILD STUDIES LABORATORY RESEARCH − VOICES OF YOUTH PART I − Subject Identification Degree Course: _______________________________________ Year enrolled: _____ Period: Morning

Afternoon

Sex:

Male

Age:

__________

Night

Full-time

Female

FATHER Last completed course: No completed course / illiterate

Secondary School

No completed course / literate

University

Which? ___________

Primary Course

Others

Which? ___________

Occupation: __________________________________________________________ Employed

Unemployed

Salary: _____________________________

MOTHER Last completed course: No completed course / illiterate

Secondary School

No completed course / literate

University

Which? ___________

Primary School

Others

Which? ___________

Occupation: __________________________________________________________ Employed

Unemployed

Salary: _____________________________

Number of people living in your house (including you): From 0 to 18 years old _____________ Older than 19 years

_____________ 127

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PART II − Questionnaire 1 . There are different w ay s of handing children and adolescents at home. Indicate those that y ou experienced at home w hen y ou w ere betw een 0 and 18 y ears old (y our childhood/y our adolescence) Instr uctions: Read carefully and indicate the alternativ e that corresponds best to y our life story . a. Rejection [ignoring me, show ing that I w as less w orthy than others...] .................................. b. H umiliation [ridiculing me, insulting me...] .......................................................................... c. Isolation [locking me in a room, not allow ing me to hav e friends, to date...] ........................... d. Indifference [deny ing me affection and attention...] ............................................................. e. Terror [threatening me w ith abandonment, sev ere punishments, death, instilling extreme fear...] f. O ther. Which? _______________________________________________________________________ 2 . Reread question 1 and now indicate w ith w as the most frequent alternativ e in y our life story . a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

3 . C onsider only y our answ er to question 2 and indicate: 3 .a Who did this to me? a. O nly my father ...................................................................................................... b. P rimarily my father and occasionally my mother ......................................................... c. Both ..................................................................................................................... d. P rimarily my mother and occasionally my father ......................................................... e. O nly my mother .................................................................................................... f. A nother person. Who? ____________________________________________________________ 3 .b F rom w hat age to w hat age did this happen to y ou? from

to

from

to

from

Less than 1 y ear

7 y ears

14 y ears

1 y ear

8 y ears

15 y ears

2 y ears

9 y ears

16 y ears

3 y ears

10 y ears

17 y ears

4 y ears

11 y ears

18 y ears

5 y ears

12 y ears

O v er 19 y ears

6 y ears

13 y ears

I do not recall

to

4 . In one w ord, how w ould y ou describe y our family life? ______________________________________________________________________________________ 5 . In y our opinion, how should children and adolescents be educated w ithin the family ? ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________

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INDEX OF TABLES Page

TABLE 1 Incidence of Domestic Violence in Childhood/Adolescence − Spain .......................................................

47

TABLE 2 Census of recent international scientific articles on Domestic Psychological Violence directed at children and adolescents (1990-1995) ...........................................................................................

48

TABLE 3 Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents [DVCA] reported in Brazil − Peru ............................

49

TABLE 4 Comparison between the number of subjects of the sample and the USP/2000 freshmen population, according to the school unit, course and period frequented − São Paulo Campus ...................................

53

TABLE 5 Distribution per gender, according to the school unit of the subjects. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus ........................................................................................

54

TABLE 6 Age distribution, according to the school unit of the subjects. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus

...... 55

TABLE 7 Acts of Domestic Psychological Violence [DPV]: Prevalence, Frequency, Perpretation. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus ........................................................................................

57

TABLE 8 Alternatives of Familial Treatment. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus

......................................... 59

TABLE 9 Prevalence of Acts of DPV, according to the school unit. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus

............. 60

TABLE 10 Prevalence of Acts of DPV, according to gender of the subjects. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus

.. 61

TABLE 11 Prevalence of Acts of DPV, according to the age group of the subjects. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus ........................................................................................

61

TABLE 12 Prevalence of Acts of DPV, according to the schooling of the subject’s mother and father. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus ........................................................................................ 129

62

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CONT. Page

TABLE 13 ACTS of DPV: Starting age and duration. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus

................................... 64

TABLE 14 Distribution of subjects according to combinations of ACTS of DPV. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus ........................................................................................

95

TABLE 15 Duration of the combined ACTS of DPV. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus

..................................... 96

TABLE 16 ACTS of DPV and subject’s opinion of the quality of their family life. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus ........................................................................................

97

TABLE 17 A Father’s occupation and prevalence of ACTS of DPV. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus

.................. 102

TABLE 17 B Father’s schooling and prevalence of ACTS of DPV. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus

.................... 103

TABLE 18 A Mother’s occupation and prevalence of ACTS of DPV. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus

.................. 104

TABLE 18 B Mother’s schooling and prevalence of ACTS of DPV. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus

.................... 105

TABLE 19 Subject’s gender and prevalence of ACTS of DPV. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus

....................... 105

TABLE 20 How children and adolescents should be educated in the family. Freshmen USP/2000 − São Paulo Campus ........................................................................................

130

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INDEX OF CHARTS Page

C HART 1 Map of the major conceptions of Domestic Psychological Violence [DPV] (1976-2001 )

....................... 29/30

C HART 2 Map of the main explanatory models of Domestic Violence against Children and Adolescents (1980-2000)

131

.. 38

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INDEX OF FIGURES Page

F IGURE 1 Structure of LACRI’s Pluriannual Research Program − LACRI (2000-2005)

.............................................. 06

F IGURE 2 Domestic Psychological Violence against Children and Adolescents: Socio-Psycho-Interactionist Model .....

132

44