Review Paper: ‘Discourses on the Place of Mothers Rights where They Are Subject to Domestic Violence within Child Protection Work in England’

Abstract

This article examines the place of gendered relationships between parents with regard to child protection work in England, and the effects of this on mothers who are abused by their male partners. These areas are discussed within an emotionally, socially, and politically charged set of issues concerning to what extent the State should intervene, why, and how between parents and their children in terms of parental rights and child protection. In this way, the article examines fault lines in the Western world’s ideology of the family, and concepts and realities of parental, mothers’ and children’s rights. In examining dominant and competing discourses on parental rights in child protection work, the case is made for the need to disaggregate concepts and approaches away from parental rights per se, to viewing the possibility of needing to see fathers and mothers needs and rights as at times being in conflict. This becomes particularly problematic in relation to mothers’ rights to their own protection from abuse, and how this relates to professional interventions when both the mother and the children are being abused. It considers the need to acknowledge and foreground taking account of how the mother and child(ren) are experiencing the abuse, not how society and professionals might like to view the situation by way of an idealized view of families through a particular ideological lens.

The attitudes and beliefs of the child protection workforce and why they matter to children who live with violence

“…Questions that unearth resistance to violence not only provide a way to uphold the mother's dignity but also enhance the parent‐practitioner relationship and result in helpful and holistic information to guide assessments (Alexander et al, 2022). Similarly, Littlechild (2021) describes that the key is to empowerment of mothers through relationship based, solution focused and anti‐oppressive practice.…”

“…This is reflected by the narrow framing of domestic violence as distinct incidents rather than patterns of coercive control (Stark & Hester, 2019), and the 'gender blind' practice of child protection services that can be entrenched and pervasive (Featherstone et al, 2010). Littlechild (2021) describes social workers are often negatively judgemental of mothers, while Lapierre (2010) calls for understanding that is less blaming. These points are reflected in evidence that the fear of being judged as 'failing to protect' and of losing their children means many women delay or avoid seeking help altogether (Lapierre, 2010).…”