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Escalated rates of violence worldwide have heightened the need to better understand how children think and feel about their experiences as victims or as witnesses of violence (Atwool, 2000; Finkelhor & D ziuba-Leatherman, 1994; Maxwell, 1994; Maxwell & Carroll-Lind, 1996; Morgan & Zedner, 1992; Perry, 1997; Reiss, Richters, Radke-Yarrow, & Scharff, 1993). However, accessing authentic information about the impact of violence on children has proved problematic for three main reasons:(1) adults usually represent views and experiences of children;(2) there is a lack of trust regarding the validity of children’s views; and (3) ethical issues often prevent access to children’s views. One solution is to gain direct access to children’s perceptions of violence by suspending the usual parental consent by means of passive consent. Therefore, this study adopted a passive consent procedure to provide children with the …