Invisible Practices: Interventions With Men Who Use Violence and Control

• Published in: Affilia 2019-08, Vol.34 (3), p.369-382
• Main Authors: Heward-Belle, Susan, Humphreys, Cathy, Healey, Lucy, Toivonen, Cherie, Tsantefski, Menka
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Domestic violence; Family roles; Fathers; Feminism; Gender roles; Mothers; Organizational research; Responses; Social work; Social workers; Victims
• ISSN: 0886-1099; 1552-3020
• DOI: 10.1177/0886109919848750

Data from this article are derived from responses to questionnaires provided by 232 frontline workers and team leaders from a range of organizations across four Australian states who participated in The Invisible Practices Project: Engaging With Fathers Who Use Violence. This project was designed to explore the practices of workers who see perpetrators of domestic violence outside the relative safety of group-work programs. Thematic analysis was employed to examine the research question: What is the organizational context that contributes to, or constrains, the practices of frontline workers intervening with fathers who use violence? This article reports the ways that agencies increase the visibility of, and practices with, fathers who use violence. Increasing the visibility of fathers who use violence is posited as a crucial driver of policy and practice reform aligned with feminist goals of eliminating sexist institutional practices. It is argued that such practices render fathers who use violence invisible, reinforce patriarchal views of family roles and responsibilities, intensify the scrutiny on the mothering of women survivors, and compound the impact of domestic violence. This article documents emerging practices that seek to redress practices that support patriarchal views of family roles and responsibilities and has implications for understanding the capacity of social workers and other professionals to intervene with fathers who use violence.