Premium
Avoidance and confrontation: social work practice in relation to domestic violence and child abuse
Author(s) -
Cathy Humphreys
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
child and family social work
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-2206
pISSN - 1356-7500
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2206.1999.00106.x
Subject(s) - child protection , domestic violence , context (archaeology) , mainstream , action (physics) , child abuse , social work , psychology , accommodation , qualitative research , social psychology , poison control , suicide prevention , criminology , public relations , political science , medicine , sociology , law , environmental health , social science , geography , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics , neuroscience
Action on the relationship between domestic violence and child abuse has been slow to emerge in mainstream child protection agencies. This paper reports a qualitative study of child protection files. Particular attention was given to the issues for Asian families. Initially the numerous strategies which social workers and other professionals at child protection conferences used to avoid the issue of domestic violence are explored. However, there was also a small, but emerging, pattern of child abuse in the context of domestic violence being taken seriously. In each of these cases strong expectations were placed on women to separate from or remain separated from men who were violent. These expectations were backed by ‘threats’ or the actual accommodation of children often with little interagency support for women undertaking this difficult and dangerous task, or before women were ready to undertake this separation. Suggestions are made about aspects of the organizational context which need to change if good child protection is also to include appropriate protection and support for the child’s mother.