Trying to find Safety, to make it Speakable, and to Mourn the Losses – Children’s Recovery from Domestic Abuse

Abstract

Purpose This article addresses a gap in our understanding of children’s ‘recovery’ from domestic abuse. Whilst the impacts of domestic abuse on children have been well-documented and researched, their recovery from it has been under-theorized. By analyzing qualitative accounts on children’s participation in recovery programmes, the article uses Judith Herman’s trauma recovery model, to make the how of children’s recovery explicit. Methods Conducted in Scotland, the research involved individual qualitative interviews with 14 children (aged 7-15 years) and their 14 mothers, who had completed Cedar, a 12-week therapeutic and peer support group programme. A co-produced approach to initial data analysis foregrounded children and mothers’ own priorities for children’s recovery and afforded findings greater rigor. These priorities were then further analyzed using Herman’s trauma recovery framework. Findings Findings offer insight on the ways in which structures, resources, and values designed into the recovery programmes can mobilize children’s experiences of domestic abuse to help them find safety; make domestic abuse ‘speakable’; as well as provide space for children to mourn the losses resulting from domestic abuse. Findings further indicate the power of group-based interventions and the ways in which they can promote recovery through ideas of nurture and care. Conclusions By using Herman’s theoretical lens for recovery, the article makes a new contribution to understandings of children’s recovery from domestic abuse. It identifies key factors that contribute to children’s ability to recover including: their sense of safety, the role of the mother–child relationship and significance of the child-father relationship.