Intervening with Children Living with Domestic Violence: Is the System Safe?

ABSTRACT

This article examines cross-sector relationships that facilitated or impeded effective responses to women and children experiencing domestic violence. It reports on the findings of a study of 54 Australian professionals working in either statutory child protection, family law, or domestic violence and community services. Qualitative data gathered from focus groups with participants is the research base for this article. The study found that overwhelmingly the focus group participants described myriad policies and practices in the public sphere that could compound the impact of men’s violence against women in the private sphere.

IMPLICATIONS

• Comprehensive risk assessments should attend to assessing the risks posed by institutions of the state.

• The findings are particularly relevant to practitioners and policymakers who wish to work in socially just ways, which begin with rendering visible the coercive tactics of the state.

本文探讨便利或阻碍有效解决妇女儿童遭遇家暴的跨领域关系，介绍了54位从事儿童保护、家庭法律/家暴以及社区服务机构的澳大利亚专业人士的工作。从焦点小组收集来的定性资料构成本文的研究基础。焦点小组的参与者都曾讲到，公共领域各种各样的政策和实践使得私人领域里男人对妇女儿童的暴力的影响变得复杂化。

KEYWORDS:

• Family and Domestic Violence
• Child Protection

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial and other support it has received from Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS) towards this research and, through it, the Australian Government and Australian state and territory governments. The findings and views reported in this paper are those of the authors and cannot be attributed to ANROWS, the Australian Government, or any state or territory. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the input from the Project’s Advisory Group and participants in each state’s case study research.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Cathy Humphreys http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8997-8993