IJFS - Interdisciplinary Journal of Family Studies

The origin of violent behaviour is to be sought in the primary relationships of the individual. From early childhood, the affective relationships that involve the child, in other words those between the parents and with parents, influence a child’s capacity to regulate his or her emotions, expectations of the outside world, and behavior, as well as his or her ideas about interpersonal relationships in general.
Growing up in a violent family is significantly correlated with violent behaviour towards one’s spouse and children in adulthood, both in the case in which a child has suffered abuse and when he or she is merely a witness. The authors agree that in some cases what a child learns in these families regards the legitimacy of violence, its efficacy or its validity as a strategy for problem solving.