The Inquiry heard case after case of perpetrators and victims who had grown up in violent households. It may be the young boy who watched his mother regularly beaten who grew up to become a mirror image of his abusive father. Or else the children who are exposed to physical and verbal violence by their parents to such an extent that they have no sense of self-worth and resort to fighting and violence as a way of expressing their anger and frustration. The Inquiry sadly heard many examples of intergenerational violence of this nature. It is now widely accepted around the world that exposure to any form of violence from an early age can physically impair the development of a child’s brain and their cognitive development and that as a result their risk of experiencing or carrying out violence in the future increases. “Intergenerational violence refers to a model of […] violence where behavioural strategies are transmitted from parent to child and from sibling to sibling. It supports the notion of a cyclical pattern of violence where the perpetrator could also be the survivor of violence. Violence is a learned behaviour.” UN, Harmful connections: Examining the relationship between violence against women and violence against children in the South Pacific, Inquiry document 54 It is important to stress once again that people who are brought up in violent homes are not inevitably going to grow up to become a perpetrator or victim of family violence. There are many people in Samoa today who were raised in violent households who have chosen to reject that approach and enjoy nonviolent lives. The relevant point is that a violent environment makes further violence more likely, not a certainty. “Children exposed to family violence are more likely to hold attitudes that justify their own use of violence. This does not necessarily mean children exposed to violence will inevitably become perpetrators as adults or that they will necessarily suffer negative consequences in their lives; many children and young people demonstrate remarkable resilience in the face of family violence.”131 Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence, 2016, see Inquiry document 98 One study in the region found that men who experienced childhood emotional abuse or neglect were 1.53 times more likely to perpetrate physical or sexual violence toward their intimate partner in their lifetime. Those who had witnessed the abuse of their mother were 1.48 times more likely to become victims. 132 By making violence more likely in a variety of ways, among each new generation it is inevitable that prevalence will grow. 131 Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence. (2016). “Royal Commission into Family Violence Report.” Retrieved from, http://www.rcfv.com.au/MediaLibraries/RCFamilyViolence/Reports/Final/RCFV-Summary.pdf. Accessed 2 May 2018. 132 UNDP, UNFPA, UN Women and UN Volunteers. (2013). “Why Do Some Men Use Violence Against Women and How Can We Prevent It? Quantitative Findings from the United Nations Multi-Country Study on Men and Violence in Asia and the Pacific.” Retrieved from http://partners4prevention.org/sites/default/files/p4p-unmcr-ppt-lores.pdf. Accessed 6 May 2018.