Murders, violence can traumatise children for life’

EXPERTS and children’s rights organisations have agreed witnessing any form of violence first-hand can have a negative lifelong impact.

This comes after eight people were murdered in Manenberg last week, and on many occasions, children were first at the scene.

Manenberg community member and activist Roegshanda Pascoe said this was not something new.

“Children are, most of the time, first on the scene, and some are part of a gang. They are either being on the lookout, taking the gun to conceal the weapon, or taking it away from the crime scene.

“This is not a place for our children, but the murders are on our doorstep and at times in their home,” she said.

Clinical psychologist Carin-Lee Masters said any individual who came upon a murder scene first would be traumatised by this. For children, the psychological effects would be augmented.

“The reason for this is that children, in particular, have not yet developed the reasoning capacities which adults have to help them to make sense of a horrific crime such as homicide/murders.

“The witnessing of this kind of brutality will haunt them for a significant period and may have short- and longterm effects on their still-developing minds and bodies.

“Many of them will in all likelihood develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), more especially if it is ongoing/ repeated,” she said.

Criminologist at Stellenbosch University's political science department, Guy Lamb, said: “Exposure to violence, especially gratuitous violence can have severely negative mental health outcomes for children, and can manifest as depression and/or a series of psychological conditions later in life.

“Research on violence suggests that acute exposure to violence in childhood can be a risk for future violence victimisation for girls and violence perpetration for boys.”

Director of Molo Songololo Patric Solomons said: “The high incidence of fatal assaults, stabbings and (shooting with a firearm) in dense overcrowded communities result in many children from a very young age being exposed to significant amounts of violent trauma or seeing dead bodies.

“The frequent exposure to trauma negatively impacts the emotional wellbeing of children, as they will experience significant stress and various problems. It is advisable to keep children away from such incidents. If they were exposed, it is further advised to seek some counselling to address the emotional impact,” he said.

Director of the Children's Institute at UCT, Shanaaz Mathews, said it was not just witnessing the murder or being first on the scene that’s a concern, but also hearing the gunshots and violence.

“Research shows that children who experience or are exposed to violence are more likely to become trapped in an intergenerational cycle of violence. (This) leads to their own future violent behaviour, including aggression, delinquency, violent crime and perpetration of violence against intimate partners for men as well as violence against their own children.

“This is true for all types of childhood violence exposure, including but not limited to community violence.

“Violence has become endemic as it is not just gangs that’s the problem, but violence in our communities start in the home and spill over to children’s experiences in the community.

“We have to start with the way we raise our own children to think about changing social norms on violence. It requires a whole society response as it is not just a criminal justice issue,” she said.

Research on violence suggests that acute exposure to violence in childhood can be a risk for future violence victimisation for girls and violence perpetration for boys

GUY LAMB

Stellenbosch University