ABSTRACT
Home is where children, especially younger children, most commonly face violence, whether they experience it themselves or watch it happening to other people – most often their mothers. The more hidden quality of trouble at home adds to its burden for children. It strikes at a basic sense of security and is more personal and harder to avoid. Violence between siblings is the means by which young children are considered most likely to experience aggression. This chapter focuses on how much does housing mediate these higher rates of abuse for women and children in poverty, and to what extent does abuse, in turn, complicate the business of being adequately housed? Living conditions are fundamentally related to the way caregivers deal with children. Affordability and security are also fundamental to family stability. High rates of violence at home often co-exist with high levels of community violence, and the links between them deserve consideration.
