Domestic Violence, Childhood Experiences, and Socialisation among Adults in South Africa: A Collective Case Study Analysis.

Over the past two years, we have seen the COVID-19 pandemic impact all spheres of our lives – i.e., social, political, economic, and educational. While governments worldwide have been grappling with the primary objective of slowing the infection rates by imposing lockdowns and curfews to reduce the spread of the virus, we have seen an alarming increase in reports of domestic violence. The social environment perpetuated by the lockdown and curfew restrictions has resulted in an ideal setting for the perpetrators of domestic violence to isolate their victims, restrict movement, and limit access to critical social services that could render the support needed. While many social programmes have been forthcoming to address this social ill, the lasting effects of domestic violence cannot be ignored. In this paper, I seek to explore the childhood experiences of adults who have lived in domestically violent homes to determine the effects of domestic violence on them as children and how these effects have affected their socialisation both in childhood and adulthood. To do this, I draw on a collective case study approach comprising interviews of eight participants (n=8). By constructing narratives of each participant and thematically analysing the data, I articulate seven core findings that must be considered for any meaningful intervention to domestic violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]