Challenging the Notion of Failure to Protect: Exploring the Protective Strategies of Abused Mothers Living in Urban and Remote Communities and Implications for Practice

Abstract

Many children are exposed to intimate partner violence against their mothers. Countering assumptions that abused women ‘fail to protect’ their children, this paper presents the results of a Canadian qualitative study that examined the protective strategies of 18 abused mothers, most of whom are Aboriginal. Half of these women were living in a large city and half were living in remote, northern communities. Despite geographic location, abused mothers engage in acts and behaviours to not only protect their children from immediate physical violence but also to mitigate the potential emotional harms of exposure to violence and to prevent their children from continuing the violence in their own future relationships. Relying on informal supports, such as family, was especially important for mothers living in northern, remote communities, and is not surprising given the few services available. Professionals must be aware of the range of strategies and approaches that mothers use, including those that do not involve formal systems (i.e. the police or shelter). Focusing on their strengths and protective capacities will help to empower abused mothers and limit unnecessary, inappropriate, or intrusive interventions. Recognising mothers' capacities will also lead to better outcomes for children, who fare best when their mothers are appropriately supported. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages Abused mothers engage in acts and behaviours to protect their children from the harms of exposure to violence, and these may differ for mothers living in remote, isolated communities. Mothers' protective acts extend beyond calling the police or going to shelter, and include informal supports. Professionals must inquire about mothers' protective strategies and incorporate into case plans. Professionals must support abused mothers so that they can help strengthen the mother‐child relationship and help children recover from violence.

Spaces of Exclusion: Safety, Stigma, and Surveillance of Mothers Experiencing Homelessness

“…Participants engaged in these protective strategies with informal and formal supports. Examples included mothers' removal of the children from the dangerous/unsafe situation and arranging for children to temporarily reside with family/friends, or leaving with the children to seek refuge in a shelter (Nixon et al, 2015).…”

“…Nixon, Bonnycastle, and Ens (2015) conducted a qualitative exploratory study in Manitoba where they examined the ways in which mothers, who have experienced abuse and who were currently residing in crisis shelters and second-stage housing, enacted strategies to protect their children. The researchers outlined the many ways in which mothers protected their children from immediate physical violence, as well as the ways in which they worked to reduce the potential emotional impacts of their children’s exposure to violence.…”

Violence and Abuse in Children's Lives

“…The final paper in this issue by Kendra Nixon, Colin Bonnycastle and Stephanie Ens () from Canada challenges the notion of abused women failing to protect their children and presents the findings of a qualitative study of 18 abused mothers. The women who participated in the study, 14 of whom self‐identified as Aboriginal, were recruited from a women's resource centre and a crisis shelter.…”

“…All participants had experienced physical violence by male partners; 11 had sustained serious injuries and 11 stated that their children had witnessed the violence, with three children being directly assaulted and six women reporting that their children had tried to intervene during the violence. Through the qualitative findings presented in the paper, Nixon et al () show how the abused women not only engage in acts and behaviours to protect their children from immediate physical violence, ‘but also to mitigate the potential emotional harms of exposure to violence and to prevent their children from continuing the violence in their own future relationships’ (p. 63).…”

“…Nixon et al . () conclude their paper by making the case that

‘by simply asking mothers how they protect their children, professionals send a powerful message about the expertise that these mothers have in ensuring their children's wellbeing.’ (p. 72)

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