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47 Loy. L. Rev. 283 (2001)
Child Witnesses of Domestic Violence: Third Party Recovery for Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

handle is hein.journals/loyolr47 and id is 293 raw text is: CHILD WITNESSES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: THIRD PARTY RECOVERY FOR INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS Mary Kate Kearney* I. INTRODUCTION A child who resides in a home in which one adult abuses an- other is a victim of domestic violence. Even if the child is not the direct target of the abuse, he absorbs the emotional impact of liv- ing in a violent household.! The effect on the child of exposure to such violence may be severe, both in the short- and long-term. * Professor of Law, Widener University School of Law-Harrisburg. I wish to thank my research assistant, Monica Martyak, and my administrative assistant, Shannon Whitson, for their work in the preparation of this article. My thanks, as always, to Deryck Henry and Randy Lee, for their insights. I am grateful to Loyola University School of Law, New Or- leans for sponsoring this symposium and to Isabel Medina for organizing it. 1. Often children in homes in which domestic violence takes place are the direct targets of the abuse. Lynn G. Karl, Show Looks at Family Violence's Impact on Kids, HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEws, Nov. 6, 2000, at D3. Studies show that up to seventy percent of men who abuse their female partners also abuse their children. Id. They also show that children are fifteen times more likely to be abused in homes where domestic violence occurs than in non- violent households. Id. 2. Studies further show that children raised in violent homes are six times more likely to commit suicide, twenty-six more times likely to commit sexual assault, and seventy-four times more likely to commit crimes against other people. Id. See also G. Steven Neeley, The Psychological and Emotional Abuse of Children: Suing Parents in Tort for the Infliction of Emotional Distress, 27 N. Ky. L. REv. 689, 693 (2000) (discussing the serious psychologi- cal damage which results from any form of abuse which poses 'the most disruptive effect on the child's short- and long-term functioning') (quoting JAMES GARBARINO & GWEN GILLaM, UNDERSTANDING ABUSIVE FAMILIES 8-10 (1980)). 283

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