Miller, S. L., & Manzer, J. L. (2021). Safeguarding children’s well-being: Voices from abused mothers navigating their relationships and the civil courts. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(9-10), 4545-4569. DOI: 10.1177/10886260518791599
Abstract Battered mothers often go to great lengths to protect their children from abuse. Most of these efforts play out in private settings such as the home. After their relationships end, women’s actions shift to the public sphere for judgment by the courts. Abusers’ strategies utilize the courts as another tool with which to call into question and challenge their former partners’ parenting. Images of “good mothers” who behave passively are favored by officials who often have incomplete understandings of the dynamics of intimate partner violence and abuse. Existing studies about justice-involved mothers insufficiently portray women’s experiences managing both continued abuse from past partners as well as discriminating treatment by the courts. Semistructured interviews with 25 women in the United States who have terminated their abusive relationships reveal strategies of negotiation and resistance used to protect their children both during and after their relationships; the women also recount instances of paternalism and naïveté present in civil and criminal courts. While their male abusers seemed to receive leniency from court officials, despite, in some cases, violating judges’ direct orders, the women’s efforts were sometimes interpreted as recalcitrance and disobedience when they challenged unfair labels, visitation, and custody decisions. This qualitative study contextualizes women’s efforts and actions taken to safeguard their children during and after their relationships to highlight women’s experiences the courts overlook and misconstrue as well as what happens when women engage with the courts. Policy suggestions include ways to prevent the continued victimization of battered women by the courts, to challenge the pejorative assessment of mother’s protective behaviors, and to illuminate court officials’ malfeasance and toleration of fathers’ tactics. Request a full-copy of the article here: Safeguarding Children’s Well-Being: Voices From Abused Mothers Navigating Their Relationships and the Civil Courts (researchgate.net)
0 Comments
Faller, Y. N., Wuerch, M. A., Rucklos Hampton, M., Barton, S., Fraehlich, C., Jushka, D., Milford, K., Moffitt, P., & Ursel, J. (2021). A web of disheartenment with hope on the horizon: Intimate partner violence in rural and Northern communities. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(9-10), 4058-4083. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518789141
Abstract Intimate partner violence (IPV) has become a worldwide epidemic, yet little is known about the experiences of women survivors living in rural and Northern Canadian communities. Existing statistics suggest that women living in rural areas of the Canadian Prairie Provinces and Northwest Territories (NWT) are at a significantly higher risk of experiencing IPV. To better understand the experiences of IPV in these regions, qualitative interviews were conducted with service providers, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Victims Services, Shelter Services, counselors, and others (e.g., physicians). In total, 122 participants were interviewed. These interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach where the data/results were transformed into a pictorial matrix that documents the struggles that service providers endure. The matrix/results highlight how social issues, such as isolation and poverty, contribute to social oppressions, such as lack of resources, transportation, and/or services. As service providers struggle against these forces, they begin to develop feelings of disheartenment. Yet, they continue to fight because there are opposing forces, such as Emergency Intervention Orders, police transportation, and Victim Services, that demonstrate how societal response is improving the lives and increasing safety in rural and Northern communities. Ultimately, the results suggest that to reduce the incidences of IPV, we must go beyond the violent acts and deal with the social contexts in which IPV resides. Request the full article here: A Web of Disheartenment With Hope on the Horizon: Intimate Partner Violence in Rural and Northern Communities | Request PDF (researchgate.net) Koshan, J., Mosher, J., & Wiegers, W. (2020). COVID-19, the shadow pandemic, and access to justice for survivors of domestic violence. Osgood Hall Law Journal, Osgood Legal Studies Research Paper.
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has co-existed alongside a far less visible “shadow pandemic” of violence against women, with COVID-19 impacting the number and complexity of domestic violence cases and enabling new tactics for coercive control. This article provides a preliminary assessment of the extent to which Canada’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have prioritized the safety of women and children, with a focus on the courts and women’s access to justice. We examine court directives and judicial decisions triaging which cases would be heard as “urgent,” as well as courts’ decisions on the merits in cases involving domestic violence and COVID-19, spanning the areas of family, child welfare, criminal law, and civil protection orders. In the sixty-seven reported decisions in our sample, we find very little awareness overall of the heightened risks for survivors during COVID-19, in keeping with the pre-pandemic tendency of decision makers to focus on incident-based physical violence instead of patterns of coercive control. Our analysis also suggests that survivors’ ability to prove domestic violence and secure court orders that would help to ensure their safety was hampered not only by procedural complexity but also by the reduced availability of a range of services—health, counselling, housing, and supervised access centres, for example— as a result of COVID-19. The cases further reveal significant differences in judicial interpretation of the risks of COVID-19 relative to the risks of domestic violence, often depending on the area of law in question. This again aligns with observations of the judicial treatment of domestic violence prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, with different and sometimes conflicting norms and assumptions prevailing in different legal contexts. We conclude that despite some positive government responses and judicial decisions, COVID-19 has further exposed many of the gaps in knowledge about domestic violence and in the supports and resources necessary to make women and children safe that long pre-dated COVID19. In addressing the ongoing pandemic of violence against women, we offer some suggestions of measures to improve access to justice during this and future disasters. Obtain the full report here: COVID-19, the Shadow Pandemic, and Access to Justice for Survivors of Domestic Violence by Jennifer Koshan, Janet Eaton Mosher, Wanda Anne Wiegers :: SSRN Woodlock, D., McKenzie, M., Western, D., & Harris, B. (2020). Technology as a weapon in domestic violence: Responding to digital coercive control. Australian Social Work, 73(3), 368-380.
Abstract Technology-facilitated domestic violence is an emerging issue for social workers and other service providers. The concept of Digital Coercive Control (DCC) is introduced to highlight the particular nature and impacts of technology-facilitated abuse in the context of domestic violence. While practitioners have become more adept at working with women experiencing DCC, there is still little known about its dynamics and whether this violence requires a change in current service responses. This article explores findings from survey research conducted with 546 Australian domestic violence practitioners about the ways perpetrators use technology as part of their abuse tactics. The findings demonstrate that DV practitioners believe perpetrator use of technology is extensive and has significant impacts on the safety of clients. A major dilemma faced by practitioners is how to promote and facilitate client safety from DCC while still enabling safe use of technology so clients can remain connected to family, friends, and community. IMPLICATIONS
Ahlfs-Dunn, S. M., & Huth-Bocks, A. C. (2014). Infant Mental Health Journal, 35(4), 322-335.
Abstract The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) on infant regulatory difficulties at 3 months of age and infant socioemotional problems at 12 months of age. Maternal trauma symptoms were explored as potential moderators of these associations. Participants included 120 primarily low-income, ethnically diverse women and their infants. Results revealed that infants whose mothers experienced IPV during pregnancy did not have significantly more regulatory difficulties at 3 months than did infants whose mothers did not experience prenatal IPV. However, infants whose mothers experienced IPV during the first year after birth displayed significantly more socioemotional problems at 12 months, as evidenced by both maternal report and observational data. Furthermore, maternal posttraumatic stress avoidance symptoms served as a moderator of the association between prenatal IPV and infant regulatory difficulties at 3 months whereas maternal posttraumatic stress hyperarousal and reexperiencing symptoms served as moderators of the association between IPV during the first year after birth and infant socioemotional problems at 12 months. The findings highlight the detrimental impact that IPV can have on very young children and the importance of maternal trauma symptoms as a context for understanding the effect of IPV on young children’s functioning. Request the full text here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263808148_Intimate_partner_violence_and_infant_socioemotional_development_The_moderating_effects_of_maternal_trauma_symptomswww.researchgate.net/publication/263808148_Intimate_partner_violence_and_infant_socioemotional_development_The_moderating_effects_of_maternal_trauma_symptoms Brassard, A., Tourigny, M., Dugal, D., Lussier, Y., Sabourin, & Godbout, N. (2020). Child maltreatment and polyvictimization as predictors of intimate partner violence in women from the general population of Quebec. Violence Against Women, 26I11), 1305-1323. DOI: 10.1177/1077801219857824 Abstract This study aimed to (a) evaluate the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and revictimization among a representative sample of 1,001 women living in Quebec, Canada; (b) examine whether IPV was predicted by experiences of child maltreatment; and (c) explore the role of polyvictimization on IPV beyond the effect of any type of exposure. Results indicate the prevalence rates of lifetime IPV (10.5%), IPV over the last year (2.5%), and revictimization (7.2%). All forms of child maltreatment predicted an increased risk of IPV victimization, yet polyvictimization was related to IPV beyond the effects of specific forms of child maltreatment. Request the full text here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334611506_Child_Maltreatment_and_Polyvictimization_as_Predictors_of_Intimate_Partner_Violence_in_Women_From_the_General_Population_of_Quebec Beth Archer-Kuhn (2018). In the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law. DOI: 10.1080/09649069.2018.1444446
Abstract: In child custody decision-making experiences of domestic violence and high conflict are not the same. Legislative reform has not yet been guided by the parent voice to inform differentiated responses that keep women and children safe. Available literature in child custody decision-making focuses on outcome research regarding children’s adjustment and well-being. Debates about types of post-separation arrangements have yet to find agreement in three under-researched areas: (a) high conflict, (b) domestic violence; and (c) children under four. Yet, Canadian legislation supports shared parenting arrangements that privilege the dominant, powerful parent in situations of domestic violence. Based on a Canadian study that explores the parent perspectives and experiences of child custody decision-making, this paper privileges a sub-group of participants; five women, all survivors of domestic violence; defined here as both physical violence and coercive control. Data collection includes one-on-one tape-recorded interviews. Thematic analysis reveals that shared parenting is neither the goal, nor does it meet the needs of these women. The findings illuminate the importance of differentiating parent experience as distinct groups, and reinforces the notion of the state’s role in the reproduction of gendered power. Legislative reform and collaborative community practices are critical to facilitate healthy differentiated responses. Read the article here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323531277_Domestic_violence_and_high_conflict_are_not_the_same_a_gendered_analysis Saini, M., Romano, E., Weegar, K., Zak., S., & Gallitto, E. (2019). Child-centered interventions after exposure to intimate partner violence within the context of child custody disputes. In Lyn Greenberg, Barbara Fidler & Michael Saini (Eds). Evidence-Informed Interventions for Court-Involved Families: Promoting Coping and Healthy Child Development. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Outline of the textbook: Children at the center of high conflict divorce and/or child protection cases face increased risks to both current and future health and adjustment. There is a growing research base regarding these risks and the coping abilities skills that children need for successful adjustment, but training gaps and poorly structured services continue to be serious problems. The specific characteristics of these families, and risks faced by these children, underscore the importance of treatment, psychoeducation, and other services adapted to this population and directed to minimizing risks and promoting healthy functioning, autonomy, and resilience for these children. This book provides a critical, research-informed analysis of the core factors to include when developing child-centered approaches to therapy and other family interventions, both in the formal treatment setting and promoting healthy engagement with the other systems and activities critical to children’s daily lives. The book addresses common problems, obstacles, and the backdrop of support from other professionals or the court, which may be necessary for successful intervention. An international team of renowned authors provide chapters covering a variety of service models and drawing on a wide range of relevant research and literature, addressing the legal context, central issues for treatment and other services, and specialized issues such as trauma, family violence, parent–child contact problems, and children with special needs. The book assembles in one place the best of what is known about intervention for court-involved families, along with practical guidance for using relevant research, understanding its limitations, and matching service plans to families’ needs. Purchase a copy of the textbook here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/evidence-informed-interventions-for-court-involved-families-9780190693237?cc=ca&lang=en& Leslie Drozd. & Michael Saini (2019). Domestic violence/intimate partner violence & child custody. In Marc Ackerman, Andrew W. Kane & Jonathan W Gould (Eds). Psychological experts in divorce actions (7th ed.). New York, NY: Wolters Kluer.
Overview of the book: The authors report that this book addresses the following:
Learn more about this textbook here: https://lrus.wolterskluwer.com/store/product/psychological-experts-in-divorce-actions-seventh-edition/ Leslie Drozod, Michael Saini, & Nancy Olesen (2016). Parenting plan evaluations: applied research for the family court (2nd Edition). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Order the textbook here: https://www.oxfordclinicalpsych.com/view/10.1093/med:psych/9780199396580.001.0001/med-9780199396580 |
Archives
May 2022
|