The Intergenerational Cycle of Violence in Child and Elder Abuse

Perpetrators of elder abuse (n = 23) and child abuse (n = 21) reported on violent behaviors experienced during their childhoods using the Conflict Tactics Scales. Elder abusing adult offspring and child abusing parents did not differ significantly in their experience of "overall" violence as children. However, child abusing parents were significantly more likely than elder abusing adult offspring to have experienced "severe" violence in their childhoods. These results suggest that while intergenerational transmission of family violence is not an inevitable process, it is a more useful construct for explaining violence towards children than violence towards elder parents.