Domestic violence and child abuse: developing social work practice

Abstract

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.

‘From awareness to practice’: children, domestic violence and child welfare

“…Magen et al (2000) write from a North American perspective, but similar arguments have been made by British researchers and practitioners. Stanley (1997) comments that in the study she reviewed 'women were frequently seen as responsible for controlling male violence and (told to) avoid making trouble' (p. 139) by social workers. The conflation of these factors has led many authors to conclude that women do not seek help for fear that they will be judged to be poor mothers and their children will be taken away from them.…”

“…Fielding and Scott (2000) believed that child protection workers tended to adopt a 'single incident focus' in child abuse inquiries which made their practice wholly unsuitable for investigating children who were exposed to sustained domestic violence. These studies and the critical perspective that emerged with them led Stanley (1997) who reviewed Maynard's (1985) study to state that, 'social workers' thinking about domestic violence and their understanding of its impact on women and children needs to change ' (p. 142).…”

“…Thus, Mullender (1996a) believed that, since child protection services had to consider only the best interests of the child (especially after high profile child death inquiries), they tended to 'down play' domestic violence. Stanley (1997) went further to argue that this divide was 'not only a reflection of the organisation of services, but a product of different theoretical approaches ' (p. 138). By this was meant that child 'The dichotomy of the 'child centred role' of social service departments and that of the 'woman centred role' of refuge agencies' 'Simply did not detect domestic violence that was occurring on their caseloads' protection agencies were uncomfortable thinking about domestic violence because it took them into the arena of feminism which did not fit for their primary task which was to ensure that children were well cared for.…”

Emotional harm and neglect: the legal response

“…Very often the violence was associated with the male partner, and where the female parent was seen as protective, it was hoped the child protection order would give her permission to remove herself and her children from the violent partner. This, however, placed the mother in the position which Stanley (1997) notes forces the mother to end the violent relationship or lose her children. However, Glaser (1999) recalls the consequences of negative attributions imposed on a child who is seen as undeserving of attention and love while parents may be preoccupied with a variety of issues such as alcohol, drugs, mental illness (particularly depression) and domestic violence.…”

Applying the recovery approach to the interface between mental health and child protection services

“…Devaney (2009) argues that it took considerable time for policy makers to recognise that the needs of victims of domestic violence and children had to be 17 jointly addressed. Stanley (1997) suggested that social workers dealing with domestic violence and child protection needed to overcome theoretical differences in approach to work effectively together.…”