raham-Bermann, 2000, p.2). Another mental health problem that children who have witnessed domestic violence experience is adjustment problems. There appears to be a wide spread belief that children who witness violence between their parents are at a greater risk of later adjustment difficulties that may include behavior problems (Fergusson & Horwood, 1998, p.3). Young people reporting high levels of exposure to inter-parental violence had elevated rates of adjustment problems by age eighteen (Fergusson & Horwood, 1998, p.1). It is suggested that there are elevated rates of behavioral, emotional, and other problems in children exposed to inter-parental violence (Fergusson & Horwood, 1998, p.3). There seems little doubt that children reared in homes characterized by inter-parental violence were at greater risk of later adjustment difficulties as young adults (Fergusson & Horwood, 1998, p.11). It is quite apparent that there is a link between the witnessing of domestic violence and the mental health problems of the children who witness it.Another common effect on children who witness domestic violence is that they have severe gender role issues. Clearly, children exposed to the abuse of their mothers are at risk for learning deleterious patterns of social behavior and for developing distorted expectations about the appropriate roles of men and women in the family (Brescoll & Graham-Bermann, 2000, p.2). Therefore, children exposed to the abuse of their mothers are at risk for adopting and using sexist or patriarchal stereotypes about men, women, and the family (Brescoll & Graham-Bermann, 2000, p.2). The amount of physical and emotional abuse experienced by the mother is significantly related to how much the children believed in the inherent superiority and privilege of men in the family and also to how much children believed that violence was an acceptable and even necessary part of family interactions (Brescoll & Graham-Bermann, 2000, p.7)...
