Gutowski, E. R., & Goodman, L. A. (2022). Coercive control in the courtroom: The Legal Abuse Scale (LAS). Journal of Family Violence, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-022-00408-3
Abstract: Intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors seeking safety and justice for themselves and their children through family court and other legal systems may instead encounter their partners’ misuse of court processes to further enact coercive control. To illuminate this harmful process, this study sought to create a measure of legal abuse. We developed a list of 27 potential items on the basis of consultation with 23 experts, qualitative interviews, and existing literature. After piloting these items, we administered them to a sample of 222 survivor-mothers who had been involved in family law proceedings. We then used both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Rasch analysis (RA) to create a final measure. Analyses yielded the 14-item Legal Abuse Scale (LAS). Factor analysis supported two subscales: Harm to Self/Motherhood (i.e., using the court to harm the survivor as a person and a mother) and Harm to Finances (i.e., using the court to harm the survivor financially). The LAS is a tool that will enable systematic assessment of legal abuse in family court and other legal proceedings, an expansion of research on this form of coercive control, and further development of policy and practice that recognizes and responds to it. To request a full-copy of the article, visit here: Coercive Control in the Courtroom: the Legal Abuse Scale (LAS) | Request PDF (researchgate.net)
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Bala, N., & Ebsim, Y. (2022, March). The 2021 Canadian parenting reforms: Is shared parenting the new normal? Queen's Law Research Paper Series, 1-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4058375
Smyth, C., Cullen, P., Breckenridge, J., Cortis, N., & Valentine, K. (2021). COVID-19 lockdowns, intimate partner violence and coercive control. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 56, 359-373. DOI: 10.1002/ajs4.162
Abstract: 2020 was a year like no other, with the COVID-19 virus upending life as we know it. When governments around the world imposed lockdown measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, advocates in the domestic and family violence (DFV) sector recognised that these measures were likely to result in increases in violence against women, particularly intimate partner violence (IPV). IPV can take many forms, including physical, emotional, psychological, financial, coercive controlling behaviours, surveillance and isolation tactics. Lockdown conditions provide fertile ground for the exercise of coercive control by encouraging people to stay at home, limiting social interactions to household members, reducing mobility and enabling perpetrators to closely monitor their partner's movements. However, media reports and awareness of IPV are generally dominated by a focus on physical violence and lethality, which are easily defined and measured. By contrast, coercive control as a concept is difficult to operationalise, measure and action in law, policy and frontline interventions. This paper discusses the challenges inherent in measuring coercive control and engages with current debates around the criminalisation of coercive control in NSW. Such reflection is timely as the conditions of COVID-19 lockdowns are likely to lead to an increase in coercive controlling behaviours. Request a copy of the article here: COVID‐19 lockdowns, intimate partner violence and coercive control | Request PDF (researchgate.net) Clements, K. A. V., Sprecher, M., Modica, S., Terrones, M., Gregory, K., & Sullivan, C. M. (2021). The use of children as a tactic of intimate partner violence and its relationship to survivors’ mental health. Journal of Family Violence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-021-00330-0
Abstract Although prior research has established that intimate partner violence (IPV) often leads to increased depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), little is known about how often abusive partners and ex-partners use survivors’ children as an abuse tactic, nor whether this form of IPV also is detrimental to survivors’ mental health. The current study interviewed 299 unstably housed survivors of intimate partner violence shortly after they sought services from a domestic violence agency. All participants were parents of minor children. In-person interviews asked about abuse experienced in the prior six months, including the ways children were used as a form of IPV. Participants were also asked about their current depression, anxiety, and symptoms of PTSD. As hypothesized, the majority of parents reported their abusive partners and ex-partners had used their children as a form of IPV to control and hurt them. Further, after controlling for other forms of IPV, use of the children significantly predicted both increased anxiety and greater number of PTSD symptoms. Results show the importance of focusing on the use of children as a common and injurious form of abuse used against survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). Obtain a full copy of the article here: (PDF) The Use of Children as a Tactic of Intimate Partner Violence and its Relationship to Survivors’ Mental Health (researchgate.net) Gilbert, B., Stewart, A., Hurren, E., Little, S., & Allard, T. (2021). Exploring dual-system involvement for domestic violence victimisation and child maltreatment perpetration: An exploration by gender and race/ethnicity. Child Abuse & Neglect, 124, 105440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105440
Abstract There is an historical separation between system responses to domestic violence (DV) and child maltreatment. Concerns have been noted that DV victims may be over-represented as parents responsible for harm to children in the child protection system. Although there is a growing acknowledgement of the high overlap between DV and child maltreatment within families, little empirical research has been conducted on this relationship. This study aims to longitudinally examine the overlap of being a victim of DV and a perpetrator of child maltreatment, along with the impact of dual-system involvement on the nature and frequency of the violence experienced. The data are linked longitudinal administrative data from the Queensland Cross-sector Research Collaboration (QCRC) repository. These data contain each contact every individual born in Queensland in 1983 or 1984 had with the Queensland DV civil court system and the Queensland statutory child protection system. Of individuals identified as a perpetrator of child maltreatment, 45% have also been a victim of DV and approximately 22% of DV victims were identified as a perpetrator of child maltreatment. Our results also show differences based on Indigenous status, gender, parental status, number of substantiations, frequency of violence, harm type, and number of domestic violence orders. There is considerable overlap between individuals who are victims of DV and individuals who perpetrate child maltreatment. This overlap was influenced by both gender and race/ethnicity. The implications of this study for both policy and practice are discussed. Request a full-copy of the article here: Exploring dual-system involvement for domestic violence victimisation and child maltreatment perpetration: An exploration by gender and race/ethnicity | Request PDF (researchgate.net) Cross, P. (2016). When shared parenting and the safety of women and children collide. Luke's Place Support and Resource Centre.
Introduction Women who have left abusive partners need and deserve a legal system that is able to adequately assess and address the violence they have experienced in its decision-making about child custody and access. Outcomes of family court decisions about custody and access should contribute to the safety of women and children, not detract from it. Yet many of us who provide family court support to women leaving abusive relationships observe that family court systems in Canada do not understand the ongoing impact of intimate partner abuse on women, many of whom are dealing with post-separation abuse, with the result that custody and access outcomes too often force women and children into unsafe – even lethal – contact with their abuser for many years (Harrison, 2008; Hardesty, Khaw, Chung, & Martin, 2008; Holt, 2015). This paper explores this topic from an experience-based perspective: my work as a family law lawyer representing women who had experienced abuse and my work at the systemic level as a community researcher, educator and advocate, working with frontline workers who support women involved with family court after leaving abusive relationships. It reflects the stories and lived experiences of hundreds of women that I have encountered either directly or through their legal support workers. Download a copy of the article here: Microsoft Word - FINAL - Shared Parenting - September 2016.docx (lukesplace.ca) Artz, S., Jackson, M. A., Rossiter, K. R., Nijdam-Jones, A., Géczy, I., & Porteous, S. (2014). A comprehensive review of the literature on the impact of exposure to intimate partner violence for children and youth. International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies, 5(4), 493-587. DOI: dx.doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs54201413274
Abstract Children living in homes where intimate partner violence occurs are often exposed to such violence through witnessing, seeing its effects, hearing about it, or otherwise being made aware that violence is taking place between parents or caregivers. Exposure to intimate partner violence is considered to be a form of child maltreatment, and affected children are often also the victims of targeted child abuse. This paper presents findings from a comprehensive review of the literature on the impact of exposure to intimate partner violence for children and youth, focusing on: (a) neurological disorders; (b) physical health outcomes; (c) mental health challenges; (d) conduct and behavioural problems; (e) delinquency, crime, and victimization; and (f) academic and employment outcomes. The notion of cascading effects informed our framework and analysis as it became evident that the individual categories of impacts were not only closely related to one another, but in a dynamic fashion also influence each other in multiple and interconnected ways over time. The research reviewed clearly shows that children who are exposed to intimate partner violence are at significant risk for lifelong negative outcomes, and the consequences are felt widely in society. Obtain a full copy of the article here: A comprehensive review of the literature on the impact of exposure to intimate partner violence on children and youth | Request PDF (researchgate.net) Meier, J. S., & Sankaran, V. (2021). Breaking down the silos that harm children: A call to child welfare, domestic violence and family court professionals. GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works. 1553. https://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/faculty_publications/1553/
Abstract The intersection of domestic violence and child maltreatment has been the subject of research and reform efforts focused on the need to integrate a better understanding of domestic violence into child welfare system practice. But a similar effort at integration of domestic violence and child maltreatment concerns has never been directed at family courts adjudicating private custody litigation. And while such courts’ responses to domestic violence have been analyzed and discussed extensively in the literature, legal discussions of custody courts’ responses to child maltreatment are few and far between. At the same time, there has been an explosion of traumatic narratives on social media and in the literature describing family courts’ refusals to keep children safe from a parent alleged to be dangerous. This article examines the legal system’s siloed responses to domestic violence and child maltreatment, with a focus on family courts in custody cases. Newly published data have affirmed the growing outcry about family courts frequently rejecting child maltreatment allegations and removing custody from mothers who make such allegations. Custody court judges’ resistance to adjudicating child maltreatment is widespread and helps explain these patterns. Yet child welfare agencies, as well as reformers seeking to reduce reliance on foster care, trust family courts to protect children that come before them. We argue that systemic changes are needed to break down the silos between family courts and child welfare agencies to better protect children. We propose three practicable, concrete reforms to achieve this. We hope that this article will awaken those who care about children’s safety to the real dangers in family court adjudications, and encourage specialists in domestic violence, family court, and child maltreatment to collaborate in effectuating these much-needed changes. Obtain a full copy here: "Breaking Down the Silos that Harm Children: A Call to Child Welfare, " by Joan S. Meier and Vivek Sankaran (gwu.edu) Lux, G., & Gill, S. (2021). Identifying coercive control in Canadian family law: A required analysis in determining the best interests of the child. Family Court Review, 59(4), 810-827. DOI: 10.1111/fcre.12540
Abstract Amendments to the Canadian Divorce Act have required that family violence, specifically coercive controlling behaviour, be considered when making best interest determinations for children. This paper (1) outlines how this concealed, patterned, and harmful behaviour presents in family law disputes and (2) sets out considerations for parenting arrangements. It identifies the perils of subjective impressions as well as where the legal system and its interventions may be vulnerable to misuse. Children in families where coercive control is occurring are at risk of harm. The lack of intentional analysis of coercive control does not serve the best interests of the child. Practitioner’s Key Points: - Coercive Controlling violence is generally the most serious type of violence in family law. - Children are directly impacted by coercive control even after separation. - The subjective perceptions made by Family law and mental health professionals about family violence impacts the identification of this harmful conduct. - Family Law and allied professionals need to identify and understand how the subtle and often concealed patterns of coercive controlling behaviour can present in their files. - Family Law and allied professionals need to understand where the legal system and its interventions may be vulnerable to misuse by a perpetrator of coercive control. - Best Interest Determinations require an intentional analysis of the presence of coercive controlling behaviours on the part of a parent. Request a full copy of the article here: www.researchgate.net/publication/354781515_Identifying_Coercive_Control_in_Canadian_Family_Law_A_Required_Analysis_in_Determining_the_Best_Interests_of_the_Child Ellis, D., Lewis,. T., & Nepon, T. (2021). Effects of historical coercive control, historical violence, and lawyer representation on post-separation male partner violence against mother litigants who participated in adversarial family court proceedings. Violence Against Women, 27(9), 1191-1210. DOI: 10.117/10780122921939
Abstract The primary objective of this study was to test the effects of historical male partner violence and lawyer representation on post-separation male partner violence and coercive control against mother litigants participating in adversarial family court proceedings. Toward this end, staff at two women’s shelters administered a questionnaire to 40 former residents who met the sample selection criteria. Two findings are noteworthy. First, there was a decrease in mother litigant reports of post-separation physical violence requiring a visit to a hospital. Second, post-separation male partner coercive control “most/some of the time” was reported by 97.5% of all 40 separated mother litigants who also reported experiencing historical coercive control by their male partners. Recommendations and limitations are described in the final two pages. Obtain a full copy of the article here: www.researchgate.net/publication/342375380_Effects_of_Historical_Coercive_Control_Historical_Violence_and_Lawyer_Representation_on_Post-Separation_Male_Partner_Violence_Against_Mother_Litigants_Who_Participated_in_Adversarial_Family_Court_Proc |
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