Mothers, Domestic Violence, and Child Protection

Douglas, Heather; Walsh, Tamara

doi:10.1177/1077801210365887

Cited by 110 publications

(140 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(64 reference statements)

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“…Nurses and stakeholders shared real-life experiences about the ways in which abused women have been accused of failing to protect their children and how CPS has threatened women with the loss of their children if they do not leave their batterers. Douglas and Walsh (2010) conducted focus groups with community workers who support mothers to gain insight into the workers' perceptions of how CPS responds when mothers experience IPV. As in our study, the community workers claimed that CPS has often presented abused women with ultimatums about leaving their batterers or losing their children.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The limited amount of previous research concerning IPV reporting has focused on the perspectives of IPV victims (Coulter & Chez, 1997;Douglas & Walsh, 2010;Gielen et al, 2000), female patients in clinical settings (Glass, Dearwater, & Campbell, 2001;Houry, Feldhaus, Thorson, & Abbott, 1999;Rodriguez et al, 2001), and the general population (Sachs, Koziol-McLain, Glass, Webster, & Campbell, 2002).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mandatory Reporting in the Context of Home Visitation Programs

Davidov

Jack

Frost

et al. 2012

Violence Against Women

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The mandatory reporting of intimate partner violence (IPV) is a controversial issue that is receiving increased attention. A related concern is whether children's exposure to IPV constitutes child maltreatment, making it reportable to child protective services. These issues have been relatively unexplored within the context of home visitation programs. A secondary analysis of qualitative data collected from community stakeholders, clients, and home visiting nurses in the Nurse-Family Partnership program was carried out. Participants' perceptions about mandatory reporting of IPV and reporting of children's exposure to IPV are highlighted. Emergent themes and implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mandatory Reporting in the Context of Home Visitation Programs

Davidov

Jack

Frost

et al. 2012

Violence Against Women

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“…The prevalent discourse in placement cases, the mother's failure to protect the children, has been reported in many studies (Buchanan, Wendt, and Moulding 2014;Landsman and Hartley 2007;Douglas and Walsh 2010;Hester 2004;Humphreys 2008). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Buchanan, Wendt, and Moulding 2014;Douglas and Walsh 2010;Humphreys 2008;Landsman and Hartley 2007) similar blaming of the alleged victim also occurs in other institutional contexts, such as in, for example, rape trials (Drew 1992;Jokila 2010), police interviews of human trafficking victims (Lindholm, Börjesson, and Cederborg 2014;Matoesian 2000), or maternity healthcare (Keskinen 2005), among many more sites.…”

Section: Casementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The evaluative process which Finnish social work uses -common for both custody and placement contexts -is not guided by specific or standardized risk assessment tools or checklists, as in many other Anglo-Saxon countries (e.g. Douglas and Walsh 2010;Reich 2005). Following the Nordic social work model, the Finnish model pays more attention to the general well-being of the child, rather than focusing on counting specific signs of maltreatment as risks (e.g.…”

Section: Comparison Of Two Separate Legal Systems -Context Data Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing violence in the family – social work, courts, and discourses

Hiitola

Hautanen

2016

Nordic Social Work Research

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This article investigates social work, decision making, and gendered violence in the family in Finland. Discourses on gendered violence in the family are compared in custody disputes, handled in district courts, and out-of-home placements, dealt with in administrative courts. Both data sets altogether include 237 cases. Proceedings in both courts share a legislative emphasis on the "child's best interest" principle, and both contexts also rely on documentation provided by social workers. The examination of the two studies is based on discourse analysis, through which we have identified hegemonic discourses that are active in both courts. The study found that violence was often disregarded or described only vaguely in the court documents. The results suggest that the victim's perspective is often overlooked in court decisions, and that the abuser is rarely blamed for the abuse. The discourses enable violence to be overlooked or underplayed when deciding on children's living arrangements, since these discourses centre on either the parents' conflicts (in both courts) or the failure of the mother to protect the child (in out-of-home placements). Furthermore, it is also important to acknowledge the experiences of the victimized parents, who in these studies were most often the mothers.

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Untangling Self‐Blame and Mother‐Blame in Women's and Children's Perspectives on Maternal Protectiveness in Domestic Violence: Implications for Practice

2015

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Research into maternal protectiveness in domestic violence has focused either on women's experiences of mothering or children's experiences of growing up in domestic violence. This paper reports on a qualitative research study with both mothers and individuals who grew up in domestic violence that sought to explore perspectives on, and experiences of, maternal protectiveness in the two groups. The study used a feminist social constructionist theoretical perspective and a relational empowerment methodology, and involved interviews with nine mothers and 16 individuals who grew up in domestic violence. Thematic analysis revealed the different ways that mothers and children approached the question of so‐called ‘failure to protect’. Analysis revealed that themes of self‐blame by the mothers and mother‐blame by those who grew up in domestic violence were common, with three main thematic categories capturing the ways in which blame was constructed: (1) centring feminine traits; (2) self‐blame and guilt; and (3) the double bind of protection. The paper explores the gendered discourses about mothering and femininity that frame practices of self‐blame and mother‐blame, elaborating the double bind of protection that women face. The paper also explores the implications for practitioners who work with domestic violence in balancing the need to strengthen connections between mothers and children and, at the same time, safeguard children. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages Mothers commonly blame themselves for so-called ‘failure to protect’ their children in domestic violence. Individuals who grew up in violence often blame their mothers for ‘failure to protect’. Mother‐blame draws on a range of femininity and victim‐blaming discourses that can entangle women and children further in violence. Practitioners can encourage communication between mothers and children to repair relationships after violence.

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Mothers, Domestic Violence, and Child Protection

Cited by 110 publications

References 39 publications

Mandatory Reporting in the Context of Home Visitation Programs

Mandatory Reporting in the Context of Home Visitation Programs

Assessing violence in the family – social work, courts, and discourses

Untangling Self‐Blame and Mother‐Blame in Women's and Children's Perspectives on Maternal Protectiveness in Domestic Violence: Implications for Practice

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