Article

Journal of Family Issues

2023, Vol. 44(5) 1380–1399
‘Hitting to Teach is One © The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
Thing, but to Hurt is a sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0192513X211058824
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Different Thing, isn’t it?’:
Understanding Cycles of
Intergenerational
Violence within Families

Jaqueline K. Medeiros1, Alex S. G. Pessoa1 ,

Amanda F. Barbosa1 , and Linda Liebenberg2

Abstract
Using a qualitative case study approach, this study aimed to investigate the
family context in the childhood of adults who themselves have been violent
toward their own children. The study, conducted in Brazil, included the
participation of three adults, of both genders, who were neglectful as well as
physically and psychologically violent toward their children. Data collection
was carried out using the Interview About the Past of Parents (IAPP) and
family genograms. Findings demonstrate factors that contribute to the per-
petuation of violence across generations, and explain the difficulties in
breaking cycles of violence. Importantly, findings highlight how the discipline
practices used with their own children were reproductions of the models of
parenting and related manifestations of violence that the participants
themselves were exposed to in childhood. From these findings, the impor-
tance of psychosocial interventions that assist family members in replacing
coercive parenting practices with healthier strategies is reiterated.

1
Department of Psychology, Federal University of São Carlos, Sao Carlos, Brazil
2
Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

Corresponding Author:
Alex Pessoa, Department of Psychology, Federal University of São Carlos, Washington Luis Road,
km 235 - São Carlos, São Paulo 13565-905, Brazil.
Email: alexpessoa@ufscar.br
Medeiros et al. 1381

Keywords
intergenerational violence, normalization family, childhood, qualitative study

Introduction
Family is considered the first and primary context of a child’s development
(Leusin, Petrucci, & Borsa, 2018). The responsibility of socializing, intro-
ducing new skills and values for the children is attributed to the family.
Undoubtedly, it is also the role of the family to protect and care for children
and adolescents (Leoncio, Souza, & Machado, 2017). However, some
families not only fail in fulfilling their protective function, but expose children
and adolescents to situations of violence (Souza, Lauda, & Koller, 2014).
Violence is defined as the use of force and power, in order to deprive
someone humane treatment, causing physical or psychological damage,
possibly resulting in the death of the victim (Carlos, Pádua, Fernandes, Leitão,
& Ferriani, 2016). Violence is a phenomenon that manifests across societies
and social groups (Côrte & Santos, 2018). As a multifaceted phenomenon, it
should be analyzed within the context in which it occurs, including con-
sideration of socioeconomic factors, historical factors, and cultural practices
(Cezar, Arpini, & Goetz, 2017; Veloso, Magalhães, Dell’Aglio, Cabral, &
Gomes, 2013).
Intrafamily Violence is the occurrence of interpersonal violence where the
aggressor has family, marital, relational, or kinship ties with the victim, in-
cluding in the exercise of parental roles by parents, stepparents, grandparents,
uncles, and aunts, among others (Miura, Silva, Pedrosa, Costa, & Nobre Filho,
2018). In Brazil, the majority of IV violations occur against children and
adolescents (Silva Junior, Rolim, Moreira, Corrêa, & Vieira, 2017). In terms
of the typology of Intrafamily Violence Against Children and Adolescents
(IVACA), research has mainly focused on four dimensions: physical, sexual,
psychological violence, and neglect.
Gawryszewski, Valeneich, Carnevalle, and Mareopito (2012) state that
physical violence is defined as acts that use force intentionally to hurt, causing
pain and suffering. It may or may not leave visible marks on the child or
adolescent’ body. Psychological violence, by contrast, is characterized by
actions that represent forms of rejection, disrespect, discrimination, coercion,
and use of the victim to meet the psychological needs of the aggressor. Sexual
violence occurs when the aggressor uses the body of the child or adolescent to
obtain sexual gratification, involving the victim in sexual behaviors and
conduct (Gawryszewski et al., 2012). Finally, neglect can be defined as the
failure to provide the care and basic needs children and adolescents require for
healthy development. Examples include a lack of basic care in hygiene and
food, and an absence of incentives to attend school and abandonment.
1382 Journal of Family Issues 44(5)

Based on data published by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF,

2017), globally, approximately 300 million (or three out of four) children aged
2–4 years experienced violence caused by caregivers, usually as a form of
discipline meted out within the home, and 250 million (approximately six out
of 10) children were punished through physical violence. Additionally, every
7 minutes, an adolescent is killed by an act of violence (UNICEF, 2017).
Regarding sexual violence, girls are mostly affected, with approximately 15
million girls aged between 15 and 19 years having been raped in their lives
(UNICEF, 2017).
According to the “Disque 100” (Brasil, 2019), a Brazilian service to which
violence against children and adolescents is reported, in 2018 around 116,900
reports were registered nationally. Approximately 48% of the victims were
girls, with the majority aged between 4 and 11 years old (41%), and 32% of
these children were black. In terms of the classification, 55,375 complaints
were reported as cases of negligence, 37,160 of psychological violence,
30,968 physical violence, and 17,073 of sexual violence cases were registered.
The state that registered the most reports was São Paulo (22.3%), followed by
Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, with approximately 11% in each state,
respectively.
Internationally, research has highlighted the characteristics of aggressors
against children and adolescents. Davies, Todahl, and Reichard (2015), for
example, found that internationally, the main aggressors are parents and other
family members; and other people who are very close to the child or ado-
lescent. The proximity of aggressors to children creates an untenable context
for the victim, with a continuous fear of suffering aggression from their
caregivers, but also of the possible consequences of the complaint or dis-
closure of the violence. Research conducted by Magalhães et al. (2017) with
adolescent victims of IVACA in Brazil found that the main perpetrators of
violence against children and adolescents were the parents, the people who
should be protecting children, and whose victim is likely to have significant
emotional ties with the perpetrator. This is in line with international literature
(Devries et al., 2018; Teles, 2019).
Suffering any kind of violence, during childhood or adolescence, can
trigger various short-, medium-, and long-term consequences, affecting
several areas of the victim’s life, manifesting for example in psychological
symptoms, or resulting in social damage (Santos, Mascarenhas, Rodrigues, &
Monteiro, 2018). In addition, it has been found that victims can normalize the
situations of violence to which they are exposed, accepting, and interpreting
them uncritically (Moura, Almeida, Araújo, Menezes, & Chaves, 2014).
When normalization occurs, violence starts to be understood as a phenomenon
inherent to human nature by the subject, where it is seen as natural and
acceptable. Violence becomes associated with something intrinsic to social
relations. In contrast to these premises, violence is understood in this paper as
Medeiros et al. 1383

a socially constructed phenomenon, produced historically by humanity, in the

daily life of interpersonal relationships and from the current model of social
organization (Martı́n-Baró, 1990).
To perform their role, families implement educational practices. They use
strategies to socialize the child and enhance their development. According to
Hoffman (1994), educational practices can be inductive or coercive. Inductive
educational practices make use of stimuli and resources to direct and inform
the child’s behavior. These resources and stimuli include, for example, di-
alogue, providing examples through modeling, clarification of rules, sharing
of cultural principles and values, as well as directing attention to the con-
sequences that the child’s behavior to himself and others. In this way, children
learn to regulate their behavior by developing an understanding of their
choices, actions, and the consequences of these. Coercive practices, on the
other hand, involve parents directing their strength and power toward their
children, constituting IVACA. Examples of such practices include punitive
punishments and restrictions, such as spanking or withdrawing resources that
the child values. This type of practice can result in emotional reactions in
children, such as anger and fear, as well as reducing the possibility of children
understanding their caregivers’ motivations.
Children who are parented through coercive practices can learn from these
models that violence and coercion are acceptable forms of “education” and
“interaction.” This in turn can cause them as adults to adopt the same practices
with their children, resulting in a cycle of intergenerational violence
(Albuquerque, 2015; Apostólico, Nóbrega, Guedes, Fonseca, & Egry, 2012).
Intergenerational IV is the reproduction of toxic and coercive practices that are
normalized and passed on from generation to generation within a family
nucleus (Marin et al., 2013). Some studies indicate that even when parents
associate their own experiences of IV as children, with unpleasant memories,
they reproduce these practices with their own children, as they cannot identify
the negative effects that this form of parenting has had on their own lives
(Hennig, 2008; Marin et al., 2013).
Considering these factors, especially the alarming indicators of IV and
cycles of intergenerational violence, the present study aimed to explore the
childhood family context of adults who themselves have used violence against
their own children. As a secondary objective, the analysis explored how
normalization of IV occurs and how intergenerational violence within the
same family nucleus is perpetuated.

Method
This qualitative study made use of three case studies (Yin, 2011) in response to
the research question. Throughout the research and when reporting the results,
the COREQ (Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research)
1384 Journal of Family Issues 44(5)

checklist (Tong, Sainsbury, & Craig, 2007) was used, strictly following the
recommendations of the authors in order to reduce study bias.

Participants and Institution

The research was carried out with three adults, who were using the services
offered by Specialized Reference Center for Social Assistance (CREAS) in a
medium-sized city located at São Paulo state, Brazil. CREAS is a public unit
of the National Assistance Policy where families and people who are at social
risk or whose rights have been violated are provided services (Brasil, 2015).
The inclusion criteria for participation were that they be (1) caregivers
referred to the service for committing IVACA (a participant for each type of
violence—physical, psychological, or negligence) and (2) have good ties with
the professionals responsible for their case, so that the research would not
interfere in the care provided to the family. It was decided not to include
perpetrators of sexual violence, as federal laws require removal of such
aggressors from living with their child or adolescent victim. According to Sim,
Saunders, Waterfield, and Kingston (2018), in qualitative studies the number
of participants may be small, as long as the data is sufficient to answer the
research question and achieve the proposed objectives. Table 1 summarizes
the profile of the research participants.

Instruments
To explore the participants’ experience of violence in their childhoods, the
following instruments were employed:
Interview About the Past of Parents (Marin et al., 2013): The IAPP
constitutes semi-structured questions that aim to explore content related to the
participants’ childhood, including the educational practices used by their
parents, their intended goals, as well as the strategies participants use now to
educate their own children. Questions include, for example, How would you
describe your parents’ educational or discipline practices in relation to the way
they cared for you? What strategies did your parents use to educate or dis-
cipline you? How would you describe the quality of your relationship with
your parents during your childhood?
Genograms (Leoncio et al., 2017) were used to collect information about
the participant’s family structure, as well as interpersonal relationships,
patterns of repetition of behavior, and possible intrafamily conflicts. These
components were used to contextualize the participant’s life history. Geno-
grams provide a space for participants to graphically represent at least three
generations of their family in order to verify the possible cycles of violence
that were perpetuated in the participants’ life history (see Appendix A).
Table 1. Participant Background.

Fictitious Parental Number of Family Income (R$ and

Cases Name Function Violence Type Age Children Education Level US$)
Medeiros et al.

C1 Samuel Father Physical 33 3 Incomplete High school R$ 1132,00 (US$ 48,10)

Family background: Samuel has three siblings, two sisters and one brother. The two sisters are older than the participant and the
brother is younger. According to Samuel, his mother took her problems out on him and his siblings with aggression. Additionally,
Samuel felt his mother wanted to go out to have fun, but that he and his siblings hindered her. Samuel reported that when he was
7 years old, he started cooking for himself and his siblings. Additionally, because his mother considered him a “troublemaker student”,
she physically attacked him. He was expelled from the school where he was studying for fighting with a classmate and spent almost a
year out of school. The Tutelary Council obligated his family to enroll him again in the same school. Up until the age of 14, he was
referred to an NGO for psychological counseling. At this age, he had a fight with his mother and assaulted her. Because of this, he had to
leave the house. At that time his parents were separated and the father resided with his grandmother. When Samuel was 17, he was
dating his current wife. After their first pregnancy, they decided to live together.
C2 Maria Mother Neglect 39 2 Incomplete Elementary R$ 257.00 (US$ 66,83)
school
Family background: Maria has 2 siblings, a younger brother and an older sister. Maria has been working since she was 7 years old. She
started by doing housework in her own house, helping her mother to make food for the employees of the farm where they lived. She
then went to work at her teacher’s house, taking care of the teachers’ son. She used to arrive home late from her work and yet, was
obliged by her mother to carry out domestic activities, such as washing the dishes, doing the laundry and preparing her own meals.
When she moved from the farm to the city where she currently resides, she was sexually abused by her father. Around the same time
her mother gave birth to her younger brother. Maria explained that when she told her mother and some family members about the
abuse, they did not believe her. Her father, mother and grandmother constantly abused her physically. At about 18 years old, her father
took her to a party where she met her first husband, the father of her first daughter. After some time living together, the husband also
started to physically abuse her. At this point she decided to get divorced.

(continued)
1385
Table 1. (continued)
1386

Fictitious Parental Number of Family Income (R$ and

Cases Name Function Violence Type Age Children Education Level US$)

C3 Vanessa Mother Psychological 35 5 Incomplete Elementary R$ 257.00 (US$ 66,83)

school
Family background: Vanessa has 5 siblings and 5 children. Vanessa has been a victim of physical violence all her life. Vanessa reported
that her mother beat her because she did not do the housework correctly. Additionally, she feels she was the one who was beaten most
of all her siblings. Vanessa’s mother beat her with wire, and threw sticks at her. She tried to leave her mother’s house a few times, but it
did not work. Maria explained that she could not say anything to her father, because she was afraid that her mother would hit her even
more. Vanessa met the father of her eldest daughter at a friend’s house. After a causal relationship, she became pregnant. Her middle
daughter’s father dealt drugs and Vanessa became addicted. Vanessa’s relationship with the father of her youngest daughter was more
stable, but when he cheated on Vanessa, she decided to separate.
Journal of Family Issues 44(5)
Medeiros et al. 1387

Procedures
This research was approved by a Research Ethics Committee from Brazilian
National Health Council (protocol number 81165617.2.0000.5515). Fol-
lowing approval, a meeting was held with CREAS’s staff to explain the
research objectives and procedures. At a second meeting, the professionals
met with the researchers to select the participants. Three participants were pre-
selected, one for each type of violence. Individual contacts were made the
researchers to establish potential interest in the research. Where a person was
invited but denied participation, the next pre-selected person was contacted.
Where interest was expressed, a meeting, time was arranged with the potential
participant.
Interested participants were met with individually in a private room at the
service. The consent agreement was read and discussed by the researcher with
the participant in order to ensure that they understood what was being asked of
them, their research rights, and researcher responsibilities. Interviews were
then conducted, and were recorded using a digital voice recorder and later
fully transcribed.

Data Analysis
The collected data were analyzed using content analysis (Bardin, 2011).
Analysis occurred in three phases. In the first phase, data were organized and
all material was read. During the second phase data were coded and divided
into themes or keywords that semantically synthesized excerpts of the
transcript. In the third phase, the published literature on the emerging themes
was revisited, with the objective of expanding on the emerging findings and
enriching the analytical themes and explanatory categories of the research. In
addition to content analysis, GenoPro 2018 software was used, in its test
version, for a better visualization of the genograms constructed by the par-
ticipants (see Appendix A).

Results and Discussion

The themes found and described in this article highlight how intergenerational
cycles of violence are maintained in the lives of participants and their families.
Issues such as the normalization of violence, personal experiences of violence
in their own childhood, unsuccessful attempts to establish healthier models of
parenting, and ineffective strategies for breaking cycles of violence, were all
important aspects identified in the data.
There are important similarities between the three cases that should be
noted. For all three participants, the main perpetrators of violence were their
mothers. Additionally, participants reported their mothers using numerous
1388 Journal of Family Issues 44(5)

forms of violence, daily (including torture). Interestingly, Samuel and Vanessa

described their respective fathers as a protective figure, who established a
relationship of harmony within the home, even though at times they also
committed violence against their children. It was also noted that other family
relationships, such as those with siblings and intimate partners, were char-
acterized by violence, and the parents of all participants separated at some
point in their lives. Participants struggled to report positive experiences from
their childhood, or to remember healthy educational practices employed by
their parents. Finally, in all cases the family economic context was precarious,
increasing the level of family members’ stress and possibly contributing to the
manifestation of violence.

Normalization of Domestic Violence Against Children

and Adolescents
This theme highlighted a phenomenon that is pervasive in Brazilian society
and is reinforced in several ways. The violence practiced by the participants
against their children has become normalized (i.e., accepted and justified),
mainly via the frequency with which it has occurred currently within their own
homes, together with an increase in intensity and the gradual acceptance of
episodes of aggression that occurred with the participants throughout their
own lives (especially in childhood).
Talking about their own experiences as children, it was clear that par-
ticipants did not understand the injustice of their experiences or that their
rights have been violated. Rather such acts were justified and accepted, and
once again, normalized:

Let’s suppose, if I did something wrong, I was wrong, so I don’t care about my
father or mother hitting on me. Because I did something wrong. I must be
corrected, this is right […] because later, when I have to deal with a policeman
then I know better… I say to any boy on my street: “When your mom and dad hit
you, remember that they are educating you, they are not mistreating you.” A
beating or two will not hurt, it will only help you to learn from life. But, if you
don’t want to learn, then when you have to deal with the police, my God! I was
beaten only once [by the police], never again. (Samuel, Interview)
But my mother always beat me and it never resulted in anything […] it was okay,
it was the way it used to be. Now things are modernizing: we have CREAS and
child protection services. But there are mothers who have no control over
themselves. That hurts the child. So, if I see this, I call the police… I call the
social service, because hitting to teach is one thing, but to hurt is a different
thing, isn’t it? (Vanessa, Interview)
Medeiros et al. 1389

Researcher: And how did you raise her [your daughter]?

Participant: I tried to educate in the best way […] by giving affection, talking,
hitting and talking, and sometimes punishing her […] sometimes she made a
scene, because she wanted something. Like my mom used to do with me. I said I
didn’t have the money to buy it, she made a fuss, when I got home, I punished
her. And it was like that. (Maria, Genogram)

Participant’s stories showed that the way they were treated as children is
closely linked to the strategies they use in their own parenting practices,
permeated by the larger social and structural normalization and justification of
violence. Public services appear to have done little to interfere in the episodes
of violence they suffered in childhood, precisely because such practices were
accepted at the time, including within the network of protection of children
and adolescents (Sinimbu et al., 2016).
The data show how IIV, commonplace in various spheres of society,
becomes normalized, accepted, and justified. In addition to violence being
accepted as a means of parenting children, the victim is held accountable.
Participant narratives reflected the belief that violence occurred because they
as children, or their own children, deserved it, for not doing something
considered correct or for not meeting external expectations. In other words,
participants developed a personal narrative of acceptance that justified vio-
lence as a necessary resource for the education of children. Additionally,
participants believe that it is preferable for their children to experience vi-
olence at home rather than in other social spaces. Disciplining their children
with violence, at home, could supposedly prevent the experience of violence
in other social spaces. For this reason, the violence that the participants had
suffered as children, in a way, no longer caused them distress. Similarly, they
did not regard their behavior and attitudes toward their own children as hostile
and aggressive. For them, IVACA practices were only constituted when they
were associated with torture. Accordingly, violence is seen as a way to resolve
family conflicts, as well as to socialize children (Dias, 2006).
Echoing these findings, Martı́n-Baró (1985/2002, 2002) explains violence
as a historically embedded process, as a product of social relations and
maintained in the interests of certain social groups. The author further de-
scribes the impact of violence on psychosocial outcomes for individuals, for
both the perpetrator and the victim (Martı́n-Baró, 1975). The aggressor can
develop a malaise, which can be minimized through mechanisms that nor-
malize the phenomenon, and even create distance between the aggressor and
their victim, where the victim is dehumanized. Such characteristics would
produce narratives that justify the violence for both the perpetrator and the
victim, thus reproducing the violence in an uninterrupted cycle. Consequently,
violence becomes institutionalized, and perceived as something that cannot be
1390 Journal of Family Issues 44(5)

changed (Bringiotti et al., 2004). However, when experiencing some type of

normalized violence, the victim can express psychopathological symptoms
and suffering, without directly associating them with the violence they have
experienced (Libardi & Castro, 2014).

Unresolved Experiences of Violence

Despite the innumerable episodes of violence reported in their own childhood
and at other times in their lives, the data shows that participants have been
unable to process and reframe the violence they have experienced. Participants
spoke about not understanding why they were exposed to so much violence in
their childhood, and expressed a desire to understand the motivations of their
aggressors. This partially explains why violence persists in successive gen-
erations. The inability to reframe the violence that they have experienced
means that the victim is unable to understand their experiences and the impact
of these experiences on their lives. Furthermore, because they have not re-
ceived psychological and psychoeducational interventions consistent with
their needs, they are unable to break this cycle of coercive practices, re-
producing them with their own children. Paradoxically, in some interviews,
participants note that violence is not actually a positive or effective means of
educating their children. Despite this, they continue use these methods to
supposedly “educate their children.” As the violence they have experienced
has not been meaningfully addressed, the violent educational practices that
they use with their own children occur in an alienated way, without a critical
sense of the adverse effects for their children.

But as I said, I wanted to understand why I was beaten in childhood; I was beaten
a lot. I don’t know why. Since I was little, I said I wanted to know why. Since I
was a child, I have been going through this. And to this day, I’m going to be 40, I
am 39 years old, I want to know why it was like that. I still don’t know why; I
don’t know the reason. (Maria, Interview)
So, it’s like that, but that’s okay, today I have my brothers. But what if being
beaten had a positive effect? If it had this effect, I wouldn’t have been what I was
… I wouldn’t have been arrested, would I? So, I don’t know why I was beaten so
much when I was little. (Vanessa, Interview)

In addition to the adverse psychological and social effects widely discussed

in the literature, violence can lead the victim to reproduce what was expe-
rienced in the family environment later in life, perpetuating the cycle of
intergenerational violence (Apostólico et al., 2012). This occurs because there
is an internalization of how relationships function, especially as experienced
in childhood (Oliveira, Rodrigues, & Carvalho, 2018; Paixão et al., 2015).
Medeiros et al. 1391

Thus, as the victims of childhood violence fail to process the abusive ex-
periences they have had, it is difficult to establish new models of parenting that
contrast with violent practices (Albuquerque, 2015; Apostólico et al., 2012).
Children who experience poor care learn to interact in a similar way in
other contexts (Leusin, Petrucci, & Borsa, 2018). Silva (2014), when in-
vestigating school-based peer violence amongst students in northern Brazil,
found that 57% of the children stated that they are educated through coercive
methods such as shouting and spanking, at home. Additionally, 19% said they
are scolded with profanity and punching. These data illustrate how the re-
production of violence can start early for the victims. Effective cognitive
appraisal of the violence suffered can occur when the victim has a well-
structured affective and social support network (Farinha & Souza, 2016). In
this study, participants could not identify many protective figures in their lives.
Furthermore, they explained that there were no child or adolescent protection
services when they were young, and that situations of IIV were more ac-
ceptable at the time and therefore not subjected to government interventions.
Vanessa, for example, says, “My mom always hit me and never had any
consequences.”
These findings highlight the ways in which the absence of comprehensive
care services and programs for families can manifest in and sustain structural
violence, further contributing to the maintenance of intergenerational violence
(Albuquerque, 2015). Furthermore, the data suggests the need to promote
psychological and psychoeducational interventions with children and parents
to intervene and prevent the continuation of family violence. It is important
that children learn about the effects of violence and develop healthier ways of
resolving conflicts. If they are exposed to environments where domestic
violence occurs, they should have the opportunity to critically analyze this
context supporting their own efforts to break with these patterns. In situations
where parents themselves have experiences family violence, interventions
should aim at untangling the normalization of this violence as an educational
practice, as well as allowing them to reframe the psychological content
produced by their own exposure to violence.

Blaming the Child for the Violence Suffered

As mentioned earlier, participants hold their children responsible for the use of
violence as a disciplinary measure. They reported, for example, that they
understood why their parents used violence to supposedly educate them as
children. Additionally, they justify the violence they suffered from their
parents in a similar manner. Participants felt that children deserved to be
“punished.” Interviews reveal ambiguous feelings toward violence, where
violence is associated with care and seen as a form of affection. Consequently,
parents justify the use of violence in that children are seen as responsible for
1392 Journal of Family Issues 44(5)

the aggressions suffered. Participants explained that they too had suffered
physical violence because of their choices and behavior, which needed to be
“corrected” by their parents. This same reasoning applies when they describe
the situations in which they use violence against their own children. They fail
to understand the damaging effects that violence has had on their own lives,
nor do they realize how it can affect their children’s lives. This narrative is
culturally validated and justified, where broader society accepts that parents
punish their children as a form of education (Macedo, Foschiera, Bordini,
Habigzang & Koller, 2019).

Researcher: And what was her goal in doing this to you? [researcher asks about
the use of violence by the participant’s mother].

Participant: I don’t know… to correct me, right? She loved me, but I was a
troublemaker. But I knew how to listen to her too, but … she didn’t talk to me,
her conversation was to hit me with a belt. Or else, she beat me up. But ev-
erything was fine (Samuel, Interview).

[My mother] was a very angry person, but I loved her. I knew that deep down she
loved me, because she beat me for the way I acted, right? No mother likes it
[using violence with the children], you know? (Vanessa, Genogram interview)

People who use violence generally do not consider themselves aggressive

and use explanations to justify their actions, such as blaming the victim
(Magalhães et al., 2017). This attitude is part of the cycle of violence: first
there is a tension that then culminates in aggression, followed by blaming the
victim. Martins, Rato, and Marques (2017) explain that, after these episodes,
expectations are generated that the violent act will never happen again because
the victim has now learned.

Unsuccessful Attempts to Establish New Educational Models

As previously noted, paradoxically, at times the research participants reported
that coercive and violent educational practices are not positive for children.
Relatedly, they explained how they had previously tried to establish new
models of parenting, but were unsuccessful. Their narratives suggest that they
do not have enough information about child development and do not have an
adequate repertoire of healthy parental behaviors. Collectively, these aspects
make it challenging for them to stop using violence as a means of managing
the problems that they perceive their children presenting with. Consequently,
despite attempts at new approaches to disciplining their children, they re-
produce the violence they suffered from their parents.
Medeiros et al. 1393

She [my eldest daughter] touched the stove and almost set the house on fire.
Then I said to her: “I already told you, three, four times the same thing. It wasn’t
once, it was more than ten. So, you get beaten up because of that. I hit her, three
times with a belt on her butt. Then she goes over to her room. Then I said: “Stay
in your bedroom and don’t leave.” Then the others [children] saw it and said:
“Tell her: I warned you.” (Samuel, Interview)

“… I hit [my] daughter, but I did this to correct her, not to beat her up without
reason, in the same way that my mother did to me, you know? Not with a wire!
The 12-year-old and the 13-year-old, I hit them. And the 3-year-old I only argue
with her. There are times when I say: “You can’t Joana.” Then she obeys me,
because she is a baby. Did someone hit a baby? Sometimes I take the slipper to
scare her and I say that I will hit her, because sometimes I hit the girls, you
know? With a slipper or a belt, right? Then she gets scared, and I say: “You
can’t.” Then I take the slipper and she is afraid, because children disobey, right?
I do this so that she will obey me. (Vanessa, Interview)

Bolze et al. (2019) affirm the experiences of these parents, explaining that
when parents try to resolve conflicts with their children in a non-violent
manner, and do not achieve the desired effect, they resort to tactics such as
corporal and psychological punishment, as this has an immediate effect. This
immediacy makes finding and using alternative parenting practices that are
healthier for the discipline of children challenging for parents. Carinhanha and
Penna (2012) similarly affirm that people who normalize violence may un-
derstand it as unjustifiable, but will also see it as necessary to solve problems.
In the case of the present research, it is clear that parents have tried to use
alternative educational models and, despite the understanding that violence is
not a good means of parenting, they struggle to find other healthier ways to
discipline their children. Additionally, there is a social legitimation of the use
of these practices, as it is culturally accepted that parents correct their chil-
dren’s behaviors with violence (Santini & Williams, 2011). There is an un-
derstanding that “beat to educate” is not violence, and even if they try, there is
no other better way to promote education.
Use of healthier educational practices could be enhanced through parental
education programs (Chen & Chan, 2015; Lachman et al., 2017). Such
programming is offered at the CREAS services they attend. These data
suggest, however, that this programming is not effective. Frustrations ex-
perienced at not being able to replace violent practices can further harm the
family’s functioning. Insofar as parents are frustrated with changes that seem
to be ineffective, resorting to violence may seem the most effective alternative,
affirming their choice of strategy.
According to Assink et al. (2018), for the child’s accountability for the
violence suffered to be broken, parents must participate in psychosocial
1394 Journal of Family Issues 44(5)

interventions that help them understand the harmful effect of exposure to

violence in the family context, including an analysis of the damage they have
suffered in their own lives. A program such as Triple P-Positive Parenting
Program is a multi-tiered system of parenting interventions that offers edu-
cation and support for parents (Sanders, 2008). It is a program aimed at
developing parental competence, as well as changing dysfunctional family
dynamics and reducing risk factors that can culminate in IV. Schilling, Lanier,
Rose, Shanahan, and Zolotor (2020) explain that the program is based on five
principles: (i) ensuring a safe, engaging environment; (ii) promoting a positive
learning environment; (iii) using assertive discipline; (iv) maintaining rea-
sonable expectations; and (v) taking care of oneself as a parent. Structured
from five levels of intervention and based on flexible strategies that adapt to
the diversity of the participants, this is an example of how it is possible to
achieve effective change in family contexts with high exposure to stress and in
promoting positive changes in situations of adversity (see also Sanders, Kirby,
Tellegen, & Day, 2014). One goal of the program, for example, is that the
parents change their children’s conceptions of behavior, as well as their own
reactions to unwanted behaviors. For Lachman et al. (2017), the application of
programs such as these can reduce the risks of the occurrence of IV against
children, helping parents to find effective educational practices without the use
of violence, as well as understanding the particularities of the development
phase of their children, so as not to blame them for the educational practices
used.

Final Considerations
This study aimed to understand the ways in which childhood family context
impacted adults who now violence against their own children. Findings
highlight several important issues within the phenomenon of IV as well as the
intergenerational process that sustain the use of corporal punishment as a
parenting strategy. Participants were accustomed to the presence of violence in
their lives. They have experienced violence as a normal parenting practice
since their own childhood; experiences that are supported through social
narratives about violence as common and well accepted ways of educating
children. Due to the lack of critical-reflective thinking and the absence of
appropriate interventions, they struggle to use other non-violent and non-
coercive forms of discipline.
That parents have not been able to critically reframe their own childhood
experiences of the violence highlights the importance of integrating such
support services in current service provision, as well as considering ways in
which to support such reflecting and healing with their own children. Fur-
thermore, when parents do attempt to use non-violent parenting strategies,
their lack of understanding of these strategies means that they experience them
Medeiros et al. 1395

largely as ineffective. Due to their own childhood experiences that remain

unresolved, they resort to violent and coercive practices. Accordingly, in-
tervention programs aimed at these families should support parents in the
effective use of other educational practices with their children. Such work is
required throughout the entire protection network, given the chronicity of
family violence within the country that can only be tackled through consistent
actions that are aligned with the needs of each family.
This research has limitations. The largest of them may be the sample size,
which has only one participant representing each type of violence (excluding
sexual violence), and therefore cannot be generalized. The exclusion of sexual
violence from the sample can also be considered a limitation of the study;
however, in line with the literature, it is recognized that the process of
normalization and intergenerational violence can also occur in relation to this
type of violence (Aebi et al., 2015; Assink et al., 2019, 2018; Jespersen,
Lalumière, & Seto, 2009).
Despite these limitations, the complexity of the findings, the themes
identified, and the need to delve deeper into several of the issues identified in
this study, it is anticipated that this research is only the beginning of a tra-
jectory of research on this theme. Most critically at this stage, it seems that
research into effective support interventions that will aid parents in resolving
their own experiences of violence and comprehensively understanding and
implementing healthy approaches to child education are needed.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by The São
Paulo Research Foundation, FAPESP (Protocol number 2017/18640-7).

ORCID iDs
Alex S. G. Pessoa  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9271-8575
Amanda F. Barbosa  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1159-6554

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Appendix A
Participant’s Genograms