Child protection and fathering where there is domestic violence: Contradictions and consequences

Children live in different contexts of protection and vulnerability when exposed to domestic violence. The negative impacts for many children are consistent and widely acknowledged. However, the implication that this requires men who use violence to address their fathering has been slower to emerge....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child & family social work 2019-02, Vol.24 (1), p.156-163
Main Authors: Smith, Joanie, Humphreys, Cathy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Behavior change
Behavior modification
Child Abuse
Child abuse & neglect
child protection
Child Safety
Child welfare
Children
Children & youth
Disconnection
Domestic violence
Family roles
Family Violence
Father-child relations
Fathering
Males
men's behaviour change
perpetrators
Protection
Rural areas
Rural communities
Social work
Social workers
Violence
Vulnerability
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Summary:Children live in different contexts of protection and vulnerability when exposed to domestic violence. The negative impacts for many children are consistent and widely acknowledged. However, the implication that this requires men who use violence to address their fathering has been slower to emerge. This article draws from 69 in‐depth qualitative interviews with men, women, and workers across four men's behaviour change programmes in rural Victoria, Australia. Particular attention is given to men's attitudes to their fathering and the formal and informal consequences they experienced as a result of their violence and its impact on their fathering. Although most men came to recognize that their violence impacted their children, they failed to make the connection that the involvement of statutory child protection services in their lives was a direct consequence of their abusive behaviour. This article explores this disconnection by fathers who use violence, their attitude to the involvement of statutory child protection services, and identifies the implications for social work practitioners in addressing this issue.
ISSN:1356-7500
1365-2206
DOI:10.1111/cfs.12598