Child protection and fathering where there is domestic violence: Contradictions and consequences

Children live in different contexts of protection and vulnerability when exposed to domestic violence. The negative impacts for many children are consistent and widely acknowledged. However, the implication that this requires men who use violence to address their fathering has been slower to emerge. This article draws from 69 in‐depth qualitative interviews with men, women, and workers across four men's behaviour change programmes in rural Victoria, Australia. Particular attention is given to men's attitudes to their fathering and the formal and informal consequences they experienced as a result of their violence and its impact on their fathering. Although most men came to recognize that their violence impacted their children, they failed to make the connection that the involvement of statutory child protection services in their lives was a direct consequence of their abusive behaviour. This article explores this disconnection by fathers who use violence, their attitude to the involvement of statutory child protection services, and identifies the implications for social work practitioners in addressing this issue.     

Chronic child abuse and domestic violence: children and families with long‐term and complex needs

It is estimated that up to one million children may have been exposed to domestic violence in the UK, with significant consequences for their social and emotional development in childhood and later life. At a time when the central and devolved administrations in the UK have developed strategies to tackle domestic violence, this paper reports the findings from a study conducted on children in the child protection system with long‐term and complex needs as a result of experiencing domestic violence. The research identifies the characteristics of the children and their families and tracks their careers through the child protection system. The findings indicate that professionals have an awareness of domestic violence, and that younger children with younger parents are most likely to experience prolonged periods in the child protection system. Domestic violence in this context typically co‐exists in families experiencing other difficulties such as substance misuse and socio‐economic deprivation. In conclusion, the paper argues that Government policy and professional practice should primarily be concerned with assessing the risk that men present, rather than the risk that children are at. By reframing professional interventions, men are more likely to be challenged to accept responsibility for their behaviour and the consequences for their families.     

Being there for my grandchild – grandparents' responses to their grandchildren's exposure to domestic violence

Grandparents whose grandchildren are exposed to domestic violence are faced with some unique challenges in their grandparenting, which have thus far been little discussed in research. This paper discusses the narratives of 10 Swedish grandparents whose grandchildren have been exposed to violence towards their mother. The aim was to explore grandparents' narrations of their responses in the face of violence, and their understanding of the role they play in their grandchildren's social networks. Two significant responses are discussed: ‘being there’ and ‘acknowledging the independence and self‐determination of the adult children’. Grandparents experienced these responses as contradictory and felt powerless when it came to their possibilities to protect their grandchildren. The paper suggests that grandparents could be a resource for domestic violence services, and social work practice needs to assess the roles of grandparents of children exposed to domestic violence. Social workers should consider the challenges these grandparents are facing and what support they may need in order to support their grandchildren.     

Psychosocial Interventions for Maltreated and Violence-Exposed Children

Child sexual, physical, and emotional abuse as well as child neglect and domestic violence, community violence, and Childhood Traumatic Grief may result in significant and long-lasting emotional and behavioral difficulties. This article reviews randomized controlled studies that have assessed child mental health outcomes for maltreated and violence-exposed children. Key points of this review include the following: (1) maltreated and violence-exposed children typically experience more than one of these types of traumas; (2) effective psychosocial treatments are available to address Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and behavioral problems in these children; (3) it is likely that treatments which effectively reduce mental health symptoms in children exposed to one type of child maltreatment or violence exposure will also be effective for other or multiple types; and (4) mental health outcomes are not the only important outcomes to address in future treatment or intervention efforts. These future directions for treatment intervention research are addressed.     

Key decisions in child protection services in cases of domestic violence: maintaining services and out‐of‐home placement

This paper looks at the response of the child protection services (CPS) system in cases where exposure to domestic violence occurs alone or together with abuse or neglect, focusing on the factors involved in decisions to maintain the case open for ongoing services or remove children from the home. The study is based on an analysis of clinical and administrative data from the files on children reported to a CPS agency in Montreal, Canada. A total of 1 071 substantiated reports were documented, including 337 cases of co‐occurrence (32%). Analysis of the data shows that domestic violence does not by itself constitute a factor liable to lead to more intrusive intervention. The CPS response appears to be influenced more by the existence of other forms of maltreatment and risk factors. Additionally, while domestic violence may be associated with more severe individual and family problems, it does not influence the decision to keep the case open because the child still need services. The lack of any connection between domestic violence and this decision is a cause for concern, as results indicate that such families need help. Knowing how to respond to their needs therefore remains a major challenge.     

Significant harm and children's experiences of domestic violence

This is the first of two papers concerning children and domestic violence, both of which draw on findings from a Department of Health commissioned study of children suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. This paper discusses the ways in which children appear to be harmed by witnessing violence between their parents or parental figures. A brief review is offered of the literature concerning the developmental and behavioural effects on children who have lived with domestic violence. Selected findings from the research study are then discussed. Out of a cohort of 105 maltreated or neglected children, 49 were discovered to be regularly witnessing violence between parents at home. The emotional, social and behavioural effects on 28 children who were studied in detail are presented, through three case studies. Examples are offered of the way in which professionals overlook, discount or downgrade the harm to the child from this hostility. The emotional impact on the child of living with domestic violence rarely forms part of the assessment of significant harm made at the child protection conference; nor does it feature in subsequent plans to protect the child.     

Mothering in the context of domestic violence: the pervasiveness of a deficit model of mothering

Despite growing concerns with the situation of children exposed to domestic violence, and although women have been seen as central in the welfare of their children, limited attention has been paid to the issue of mothering in this context. This paper examines how concerns regarding abused women's mothering have been articulated in the academic literature on children's exposure to domestic violence, and argues that the dominant discourse in this area has been characterized by a deficit model of mothering. Implications of the pervasiveness of a deficit model for child welfare policies and practices are highlighted. Finally, this paper identifies key elements that should be considered in the development of a feminist perspective on mothering in the context of domestic violence, which could lead to less blaming and more supportive practices.     

Domestic violence and child protection: towards a collaborative approach across the two service sectors

Domestic violence continues to be one of the most significant aspects of child abuse and neglect in Australia. However, the children are not well served by either child protection or domestic violence service sectors, which continue to operate as segregated, tertiary response systems. This paper reports on research that examined bridges and barriers to effective collaboration between child protection and domestic violence services in responding to children affected by domestic violence. The differing conceptions and responses of the workers from each service sector, in relation to children and families affected by domestic violence, is discussed in the light of gaps in service provision in both sectors. In doing so, areas of common ground for more effective collaboration between these service sectors are identified, including the prioritizing of emotional and psychological abuse, supporting and empowering abused mothers, strengthening the mother–child relationship, and supporting children and families across a continuum of service provision, particularly in the medium‐ to long‐term. Understanding each other and finding common ground across the two service sectors is paramount to improving how each responds to children and families affected by domestic violence.     

The mental health of children who witness domestic violence

There is now considerable evidence that witnessing domestic violence can have adverse consequences for children. Our aim is to present the socio-demographic correlates of children witnessing domestic violence and its association with childhood mental disorders. The biographic, socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics of 7865 children and their families and measures of traumatic events including witnessing domestic violence were entered into a logistic regression analysis to establish the strength of association between witnessing severe domestic violence and childhood disorders. About 4% of children had witnessed severe domestic violence according to parent reports. Factors independently associated with a greater likelihood of a child witnessing domestic violence were: older age group, mixed ethnicity, physical disorder, several children in family, divorced parents, living in rented accommodation, poor neighbourhoods, the mother's emotional state and family dysfunction. Witnessing severe domestic violence almost tripled the likelihood of children having conduct disorder but was not independently associated with emotional disorders. There is a growing need for more research on the consequences of witnessing domestic violence to increase the awareness of social workers and policy-makers to identify the needs of children who witness domestic violence.     

“We are not weak,we just experience domestic violence”—Immigrant women's experiences of encounters with service providers as a result of domestic violence

Domestic violence continues to be a serious social problem and represents a challenge for those who are exposed to it and those in public services. In Norway, a variety of services are provided to help victims of domestic violence and improve knowledge among professionals who meet with adults and children exposed to domestic violence. Studies in Norway show that families with immigrant backgrounds are overrepresented among social service users as a result of domestic violence. However, contextualized knowledge to provide background information about this overrepresentation is limited. This paper explores women's need for support and their experience with service providers when faced with difficult and unpredictable situations, namely, escaping from violence and leaving home with no financial resources or limited supportive network and turning to service providers for support. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 18 women who were staying in or were in touch with shelters with their children or alone. Five central themes emerged in the analysis of these interviews: (a) help becoming a burden; (b) timely economic measures; (c) economic support and domestic violence; (d) displaced focus; and (e) flexibility and the victim's background.     

‘He didn't mean to hit mom,I think’: positioning,agency and point in adolescents' narratives about domestic violence

This paper analyses the narratives of adolescents who have experienced domestic violence. It focuses on what we can learn about being an adolescent who experiences domestic violence, using a narrative approach. Attentive to both form and content, the paper sheds light on why the narrative is being told, who the actors in the narratives are, who are positioned in the forefront/background and what the point of the narrative is. The analysis shows that through the storytelling, the father's position as the reluctant/dangerous/weak aggressor is negotiated, the mother is positioned both in the background as a victim and in the forefront as an actor resisting his violent behaviour. The children position themselves as actors with power to alter the progress, to protect and stop the violence. The point of the narratives is to describe the father as the aggressor, and to describe the important role of the children. This picture of the father, mother and child questions the traditional understanding of the father as the aggressor, the mother as the victim and the child as a powerless bystander being exposed to the violence, and underlines the complexities of the dynamics in families living with domestic violence.     

From ‘Rights to Action’: practitioners' perceptions of the needs of children experiencing domestic violence

Not only has research over the past decade documented the emotional and behavioural consequences for children who witness domestic violence, but a number of studies have used children as participants thus, giving them an opportunity to describe their experiences in their own words. In policy terms, there has been a growing emphasis on children's rights and the importance and understanding of children's perspectives on their own lives. Consequently, children can no longer be perceived as forgotten victims where domestic violence is concerned. This paper explores practitioners' awareness of the needs of children and young people living with, and fleeing from, domestic violence. The research, conducted in a rural area in Wales, reveals that although the views of practitioners reflect the concerns reported by young people in other studies, there can be barriers to meeting these needs. While policy prescribes engaging with children, at the institutional level, operational priorities and increasing administrative demands can actually reduce opportunities for working directly with children. These demands may hamper the development of multi‐agency practice.     

Mothering and everyday life during and in the aftermath of domestic violence among women with immigrant backgrounds in Norway

This paper focuses on how immigrant women experience and negotiate their everyday life with children prior to and after leaving a violent partner. Twenty‐three women staying at domestic violence and abuse shelters with their children were interviewed about their experiences with assistance services and their everyday life with their children. At the time of the interviews, most of the women were legally separated or divorced and were either living in or in touch daily with shelters. In this paper, we look at some of the challenges that women face when exposed to violence in a relationship that involves children. Being exposed to violence from a partner raises a number of economic, practical, and emotional concerns, both prior to and after leaving. For the mothers in our study, maintaining a regular routine is key to making the children feel safe in an unpredictable setting. For many, economic dependence on the partner is replaced with economic dependence on assistance services after leaving the partner. Services must recognize that providing help to mothers who have left a violent partner constitutes more than just practical support but is crucial for mothers' ability to re‐establish a predictable everyday life with their children.     

Trauma and the effects of violence exposure and abuse on children: A review of the literature

A number of studies examining violence exposure in the passeveral years have been successful in linking physical abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and community violence exposure to a wide variety of physiological, emotional, and behavioral problems manifested in short‐term, mid‐term, and long‐term effects. The literature on the effects of physical and sexual abuse is older than the research on children's exposure to domestic violence, which is a decade older than the research on the effects of community violence exposure on children. Despite the differences between the types of violence to which children are exposed, there are significantly similar findings, which point to a link between violence exposure and traumatization.     

The importance of clinician courtroom testimony for children exposed to domestic violence

Children exposed to domestic violence account for as many as a third of all children in the United States. Many of these children will seek mental health treatment for symptoms of trauma. The clinicians who provide their treatment are often called as witnesses in family law proceedings, especially child protection and custody cases. Clinicians are often anxious when they receive subpoenas to testify and prefer to avoid testimony. Training about court proceedings, subpoenas and how to prepare for testimony would be beneficial for clinicians and will help clinicians be more confident in the courtroom. Additionally, becoming designated as expert witnesses can only help mental health clinicians provide a greater understanding of the issues encountered by children experiencing domestic violence, and these clinicians can provide recommendations that will take into account child safety without exacerbating trauma symptoms.     

Exploring approaches to child welfare in contexts of domestic violence and abuse: Family group conferences

This article sets out to explore service provision for families affected by domestic violence and abuse. For most families where there are child protection concerns, there are possibilities for intervention from child welfare agencies and domestic abuse services, but these have been criticised as having distinct and disconnected practice cultures and orientation. Recognising this divergence, in this paper, we advocate for safeguarding children affected by domestic violence and abuse using the family group conference (FGC) model. This offers possibilities for a coherent response that integrates both child‐ and women‐centred concerns in a holistic approach to family safety and well‐being. Furthermore, it is well documented that safeguarding work involves professionally‐led decision‐making that is pre‐occupied with the management of risk. FGCs, however, promote a partnership approach that engages families in a more democratic decision‐making process. As such, FGCs offer families the opportunity to develop their own safety and support plans for the protection and care of children recognising the family's inherent strengths.     

Domestic violence and child abuse: developing social work practice

This paper takes as its starting point the report produced by the Social Services Inspectorate (1995), entitled Domestic Violence and Social Care , which seeks to alert social workers to the links between domestic violence and child abuse and urges the profession to respond more effectively to these two interconnected forms of violence. Having examined the research findings which provide evidence for these links, the theoretical and service delivery contexts in which these two forms of violence have been studied and conceptualized by the social work profession, both in the United Kingdom and in the United States, are identified. Studies of the social work response to domestic violence are discussed and some of the difficulties experienced by social workers in responding effectively to the needs of families where both forms of violence are experienced are considered. In particular, the issues of 'invisible' men and 'trapped' women and children are explored. It is argued that effective social work intervention which challenges these stereotypes will require additional resources and the article concludes with a consideration of whether the Messages from Research report might herald a shift in the approach to child protection that would promote the allocation of resources to this area of work.     

National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, London, UK

The present article explores the complexity of children's experiences of domestic violence. It addresses the various terms used to describe this form of violence and provides a working definition. Reviewing the literature suggests prevalence rates of domestic violence between 25 and 60%. The difficulties in achieving prevalence and incidence rates are outlined. Where children's experiences of domestic violence have been addressed, attention has focused on either children witnessing the abuse of their mother or children directly being abused. Six main ways in which children may witness domestic violence are presented and the relationship between domestic violence and child abuse is examined briefly. An overview of the impact of domestic violence on children incorporates a discussion of the intergenerational transmission of violence theory. Some of the multiple factors which may inhibit children from talking about domestic violence are raised, indicating how complex this issue is for children. Finally, the need to recognize the diversity of children's experiences of and reactions to this form of violence is identified.     

Avoidance and confrontation: social work practice in relation to domestic violence and child abuse

Action on the relationship between domestic violence and child abuse has been slow to emerge in mainstream child protection agencies. This paper reports a qualitative study of child protection files. Particular attention was given to the issues for Asian families. Initially the numerous strategies which social workers and other professionals at child protection conferences used to avoid the issue of domestic violence are explored. However, there was also a small, but emerging, pattern of child abuse in the context of domestic violence being taken seriously. In each of these cases strong expectations were placed on women to separate from or remain separated from men who were violent. These expectations were backed by 'threats' or the actual accommodation of children often with little interagency support for women undertaking this difficult and dangerous task, or before women were ready to undertake this separation. Suggestions are made about aspects of the organizational context which need to change if good child protection is also to include appropriate protection and support for the child's mother.     

Familiar subjects? Domestic violence and child welfare

Historically, domestic violence and child welfare have been seen as largely separate concerns. Over the last decade domestic violence has finally gained a place on social work agendas, partly as a result of linking domestic violence with child protection issues. Whilst welcoming the extent to which domestic violence is being taken seriously, we raise concerns about the dominant feminist perspectives guiding this project. We argue that current feminist theory is based on fixed and essentialist gender and generational categories which are unhelpful in understanding the complexities of family situations and family processes. Instead we argue for the relevance of relational understandings of gender, power and violence developed from feminist post-structuralist and psychoanalytic theorists. In doing so, we challenge accepted feminist understandings of domestic violence, and question the basis upon which dominant feminist approaches claim an unviolable alliance between the interests of women and children.