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Soldiers on duty in the field can mean violence at home
The intensity of child abuse in the families of military personnel increases when one of the parents – most often the father – is on duty in the field. An American study has in fact shown that paternal absence makes life at home difficult to manage for mothers who are worried about the fate of their husband.
Deborah Gibbs and her team at the RTI International research centre in North Carolina studied around 2,000 military families between 2001 and 2004. All were “known for cases of negligence or abuse towards their children”.
The researchers noted that these acts were far more significant when one of the parents was on a tour of duty. “We discovered an increase of over 40%”, states Deborah Gibbs. But when the father specifically was absent, “there was a clear four fold increase in cases of negligence”! Stress, worry, lack of direction… are among the many excuses put forward by violent or negligent mothers. “Our study therefore confirms the importance of regular support for soldiers’ families, particularly when the soldiers are on duty in the field”, concludes Deborah Gibbs.
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