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Child welfare workers' practice in cases involving domestic violence
Author(s) -
Bourassa Chantal,
Lavergne Chantal,
Damant Dominique,
Lessard Geneviève,
Turcotte Pierre
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
child abuse review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1099-0852
pISSN - 0952-9136
DOI - 10.1002/car.1015
Subject(s) - welfare , domestic violence , psychological intervention , intervention (counseling) , exploratory research , qualitative research , psychology , occupational safety and health , poison control , human factors and ergonomics , criminology , medicine , political science , sociology , environmental health , psychiatry , law , social science
Abstract This paper reports the findings of an exploratory and qualitative study of child welfare workers' practice in cases involving domestic violence. The research aimed to focus on child welfare workers' interventions with families experiencing domestic violence, elements influencing the child welfare workers' decisions, and the factors facilitating and creating obstacles for intervention. An analysis of the qualitative data showed that child welfare workers have different ways of intervening in cases involving domestic violence. Also, the interventions were especially centred on women victims of violence and they were held responsible for protecting their children. Finally, the dilemmas and difficulties which child welfare workers face in these cases are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.