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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Dragiewicz, M., Woodlock, D., Salter, M., & Harris, B. (2021). "What's mum's password?": Australian mothers' perceptions of children's involvement in technology-facilitated coercive control. Journal of Family Violence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-021-00283-4
Abstract This is the first article to analyze children’s involvement in technology-facilitated coercive control in Australia. The primary research question was ‘‘How do mothers describe their children’s involvement in technology-facilitated coercive control?”. This article is based on incidental findings from a larger study on Australian women’s experiences of technology-facilitated abuse in the context of domestic violence. Although children were not the focus of the study, semi-structured interviews with twelve mothers yielded discussion of children’s involvement in the abuse. We used thematic analysis to identify key dynamics and contexts of this abuse. We found that mothers and their children are co-victims of coercive control. Mothers interviewed for the study reported that children were involved in technology-facilitated coercive control directly and indirectly. This study bridges the gap between the extant research on children and coercive control and technology-facilitated abuse by highlighting the ways children are involved in technology-facilitated coercive control. The social and legal contexts of co-parenting with abusive fathers exposed mothers and children to ongoing post-separation abuse, extending abusive fathers’ absent presence in the lives of children Request a copy of the full article here: (PDF) “What’s Mum’s Password?”: Australian Mothers’ Perceptions of Children’s Involvement in Technology-Facilitated Coercive Control (researchgate.net) Heward-Belle, S. (2017). Exploiting the 'good mother' as a tactic of coercive control: Domestically violent men's assaults on women as mothers. Affilia: Journal of women and Social Work, 32(3), 374-389. DOI: 10.1177/0886109917706935
Abstract: This article examines the ways that domestically violent men assault women as mothers and their mothering. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 17 Australian men who had perpetrated domestic violence, this article reports their accounts of using this tactic. This tactic was found to be particularly pernicious and grounded in hegemonic representations of the “good mother.” Domestically violent men deployed this tactic instrumentally to exert power and control over women and children. Raising awareness of private and public assaults on women as mothers and their mothering is a critical step toward countering oppressive constructions of women mothering through domestic violence. Obtain a fully copy of the article here: Exploiting the ‘good mother’ as a tactic of coercive control | Request PDF (researchgate.net) Laing, L. (2017). Secondary victimization: Domestic violence survivors navigating the family law system. Violence Against Women, 23(11), 1314-1335. DOI: 10.1177/1077801216659942
Abstract This qualitative study explored the experiences of 22 domestic violence survivors attempting to negotiate safe post-separation parenting arrangements through the Australian family law system. Their allegations of violence put them at odds with a system that values mediated settlements and shared parenting. Skeptical responses, accusations of parental alienation, and pressure to agree to unsafe arrangements exacerbated the effects of post-separation violence. Core themes in the women's narratives of engagement with the family law system-silencing, control, and undermining the mother-child relationship-mirrored domestic violence dynamics, suggesting the concept of secondary victimization as a useful lens for understanding their experiences. Request a copy of the full-text here: Secondary Victimization: Domestic Violence Survivors Navigating the Family Law System | Request PDF (researchgate.net) Khaw, L., Bermea, A. M., Hardesty, J. L., Saunders, D., & Whittaker, A. M. (2021). “The system had choked me too”: Abused mothers’ perceptions of the custody determination process that resulted in negative custody outcomes. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(9-10), 4310-4334. DOI: 10.1177/0886260518791226Click
Abstract Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health problem that continues to affect abused mothers after separation from an abusive partner. In addition to the risk of ongoing control and violence by abusers, the custody determination process may present challenges for mothers who end up with negative custody outcomes (e.g., share custody with abusers or lose custody). Using constructivist grounded theory techniques, we conducted a qualitative analysis of interviews with 24 abused mothers with negative custody outcomes to understand how they perceive and make sense of the process as a whole, and how they cope with these outcomes. The custody determination process was reportedly complex and stressful, and most mothers did not anticipate a negative custody outcome. Mothers’ perceptions and experiences followed three phases: “trusting “the system” to protect them and their children, adapting to “the system” in search of positive outcomes, and, once custody decisions were determined, coping with the aftermath of the judicial system process, either by accepting or resisting the outcome. This study echoes previous calls for further training and policies that make the custody determination process less burdensome and harmful for survivors and their children. Request a copy of the full article here: “The System Had Choked Me Too”: Abused Mothers’ Perceptions of the Custody Determination Process That Resulted in Negative Custody Outcomes | Request PDF (researchgate.net) Gutowski, E. & Goodman, L. A. (2020). “Like I’m invisible”: IPV survivor-mothers’ perceptions of seeking child custody through the family court system. Journal of Family Violence, 35, 441-457. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-018-00063-1
Abstract This qualitative descriptive study examines the perspectives of 19 mothers who survived intimate partner violence (IPV) and sought custody of one or more children through the family court system. We explored these mothers’ perceptions of the nature of court processes from start to finish, their understandings of the impact of court processes and outcomes on their well-being, and their recommendations for improvements to facilitate a process that is sensitive to survivors’ experiences with IPV. Mothers interviewed in this study described an experience that was largely invalidating and distressing, compounding the adverse effects of IPV on their well-being. Qualitative content analysis yielded six clusters: 1) survivors must enter into a court environment that implicitly presumes the absence of trauma, 2) survivors face obstacles to getting their stories of abuse across and heard, 3) survivors experience harmful and helpful interactions with court professionals, 4) survivors endure distress in the courtroom, 5) survivors suffer psychosocial consequences outside of the courtroom, and 6) survivors make recommendations for an improved custody process that is sensitive to experiences of IPV. Results paint a picture of a family court system that has the potential to cause grave, lasting harms to survivor-mothers who are separating from abusive partners. Obtain a full copy of the article here: (PDF) “Like I’m Invisible”: IPV Survivor-Mothers’ Perceptions of Seeking Child Custody through the Family Court System (researchgate.net) 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) Birnbaum, R., & Saini, M. (2015). A qualitative synthesis of children's experiences of shared care post divorce. The International Journal of Children's Rights, 23(1), 109-132. DOI: 10.1163/15718182-02301005
Abstract Objectives: Children’s views and experiences of shared care arrangements post separation were explored to provide their voices to the ongoing discussions of shared parenting. Methods: Qualitative synthesis included a systematic and transparent method for retrieval, screening, and analysing qualitative studies. The inclusion criteria accepted studies that were: qualitative in design; included children as participants in shared care parenting time post-separation. Results: Ten qualitative studies in six different countries with 466 children and young adults were included in the final analysis. Children’s experiences of shared care parenting post separation were mixed and varied depending on contextual factors related to their relationship with both parents, as well the quality of these relationships and the flexibility/rigidity of the parenting arrangement. Implications: Hearing from children and young adults directly helps to move the shared care debate away from binary arguments about sole versus shared care based on parents’ rights and advocacy views. Read the full article here: (PDF) A Qualitative Synthesis of Children’s Experiences of Shared Care Post Divorce (researchgate.net) Tubbs, C. (2010). African American women's perspectives of shared parenting after dissolution of a violent relationship. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 22, 130-152. DOI: 10.1080/08952831003787875
Abstract This study examined the perspectives of women who engaged in shared parenting with an estranged partner after dissolution of a violent relationship. Focus group data from five African American women were analyzed using content analysis. Findings indicated that new types of awareness emerged over time consistent with transitions in personal narratives, roles, and systemic changes. Notable shifts in participants’ perceptions of the role that violence played in their lives occurred as children matured. Implications of these shifts on the conceptualization of shared parenting interventions are examined. Request a copy of the article here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/244886660_African_American_Women%27s_Perspectives_of_Shared_Parenting_After_Dissolution_of_a_Violent_Relationshipwww.researchgate.net/publication/244886660_African_American_Women%27s_Perspectives_of_Shared_Parenting_After_Dissolution_of_a_Violent_Relationship |
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