Social Work - Research Publications
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ItemTalking to my mum: strengthening relationships between mothers and children in the aftermath of family violence(Association of Childrens Welfare Agencies, 2007)The evidence that children are at risk of harm when they live with family violence is remarkably consistent. No study suggests that there are not heightened risks and vulnerabilities to their safety and well-being (Hester et al, 2007). This article draws attention to the harm created through damaging the relationship between children and their mothers. It argues that family violence represents not only an attack on the adult victim (usually woman), or a child victim, but an attack on the relationship between the child and their mother. The article arises from an action research project which worked with women, children and refuge workers to develop activities which could address this destructive aspect of family violence through strengthening the relationship between mothers and their children.
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ItemMental health promotion and socio-economic disadvantage: lessons from substance abuse, violence and crime prevention and child health.(CSIRO Publishing, 2007-12)ISSUE ADDRESSED: Mental health promotion aimed at populations with low socio-economic status (SES) may benefit by investigating prevention strategies that effectively address related child and adolescent problems. METHODS: Evidence from a number of literature reviews and program evaluations was synthesised. First, the impact of SES on development from childhood to adulthood is considered in light of research on substance abuse, violence, crime, and child development problems. Second, evaluations of interventions are reviewed to identify those that have shown outcomes in research studies (efficacy) or in real-world settings (effectiveness) in reducing developmental problems associated with low SES. Low SES is measured in different ways including low levels of education and/or income or definitions that combine several variables into a new indicator of low SES. RESULTS: Factors associated with low SES are also associated to varying extent with the development of violence and crime, substance abuse and child health problems. Interventions that address underlying determinants of low SES show strong efficacy in decreasing adolescent crime and violence and effectiveness in improving child health outcomes. Although there is limited efficacy evidence that substance abuse prevention can be effectively addressed by targeting low SES, programs designed to improve educational pathways show some efficacy in reducing aspects of adolescent substance use. CONCLUSION: Mental health promotion strategies can draw on the approaches outlined here that are associated with the prevention of child and adolescent problems within low SES communities. Alternatively, such interventions could be supported in mental health promotion policy as they may assist in preventing related problems that undermine mental health.
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ItemNight terrors - Women's experiences of (not) sleeping where there is domestic violence(SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 2007-06)The management of sleep is embedded within the social context of individuals' lives. This article is based on an exploratory study using focus groups of the sleep problems encountered by 17 women survivors of domestic violence. It argues that fear becomes the organizing framework for the management of sleep and illustrates how this takes place both while living with the perpetrators of violence and after the women have been rehoused. It argues that sleep deprivation is a method used by the perpetrators to exert control over women and that this has long-term implications for women's physical and mental health.
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ItemDomestic violence and child protection: exploring the robe of perpetrator risk assessments(BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, 2007-11)ABSTRACT This article explores the issue of severity in relation to domestic violence and provides a number of reasons for the necessary engagement by workers with such a contentious issue. The specific role that the assessment of the risks posed by the perpetrator which has now developed in some police forces in the United Kingdom is examined, and its relevance to child welfare intervention discussed. A range of factors are identified that heighten the risks of increased violence. These include prior sexual assault; stalking and controlling behaviour; substance misuse and mental‐health problems; separation and child contact disputes; pregnancy; escalation including the use of weapons and psychological abuse; attempts and threats to kill; child abuse; isolation and barriers to help‐seeking. The ways in which perpetrator risk assessment can be used to inform the filtering of referrals to the statutory child care agency, enhance multi‐agency working, provide a structure for the assessment of the perpetrator, enhance partnership‐working with survivors (usually women) and inform the protection strategies for workers are explored.
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ItemSleep disruption and domestic violence: exploring the interconnections between mothers and children(WILEY, 2009-02)ABSTRACT This paper argues that sleep disruption is both a strategy and an effect of violence and abuse which profoundly affects the lives of women and children. This paper traces the interconnections between the patterns of sleeping (not sleeping) for women and children living with and recovering from the effects of violence and abuse. It highlights the threat to the emotional and physical well‐being of children and women and provides a non‐pathologizing route into an exploration of one of the symptoms of trauma. It is based on a pilot study which interviewed 17 women, 14 of whom were mothers to 28 children. Mothers reported that many of their children experienced nightmares, bed‐wetting, night panics and disrupted sleep patterns. Recovery of the ability to sleep was often slow and uneven with interactive effects between women and children slowing progress.
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ItemA health inequalities perspective on violence against women(BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, 2007-03)The present paper argues that the physical and mental health consequences of gender-based violence constitute a major public health problem in the UK and a source of significant health inequality. The concept of violence against women is explored alongside brief examples of the mental and physical health impact of this violence. While the impact on women's health is relatively uncontested, the extent to which social divisions such as poverty, class and minority ethnic status create specific vulnerabilities to violence are more controversial. A widely held view within the movement to support survivors within the UK has been that violence against women cuts across class and ethnicity, and is found in all communities and classes. A more nuanced discussion of the way in which poverty and ethnic background may create particular vulnerabilities is explored. Disentangling cause and consequence, and also the barriers to help-seeking for minority ethnic women are discussed. The role of social workers in addressing the way in which violence against women is both ubiquitous but marginal in their caseloads is discussed, and appropriate interventions to respond to health inequality issues are proposed.
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ItemProblems in the system of mandatory reporting of children living with domestic violence(ECONTENT MANAGEMENT, 2008-10)Historically, the chasm between services for women and services for children has been problematised in the domestic and family violence arena. However, this paper argues that it is now equally, or more problematic, that the recognition of harm to children in the context of domestic and family violence has ‘grafted’ statutory child protection response to intervention in this area. This paper argues that when judged against the criteria for a functional system, one which is effective, efficient, efficacious or ethical then there are a number of areas in which the child protection system fails in relation to children living with domestic violence. The paper raises three issues of particular concern: (a) responding to a widespread social problem through an individualised response at the tertiary end of provision; (b) undermining the voluntary and empowerment model of intervention for women through compulsory, statutory intervention with children; (c) creating a mandatory pathway to an intervention system which is not set up to work with an adult and child victim or intervene effectively with men who use violence.
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ItemDomestic violence and substance use: Tackling complexity(Oxford University Press (OUP), 2005-12-01)
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ItemMental health and domestic violence: 'I call it symptoms of abuse'(OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2003-03)Research evidence now clearly shows a direct link between women's experiences of domestic violence and heightened rates of depression, trauma symptoms, and self-harm. A research project based in Women's Aid outreach services provides further evidence of women's experiences of severe emotional distress. However, their experiences of mental health services were often found to be negative. A number of practices within the medical model of mental health were unhelpful including: the lack of recognition of trauma or provision of trauma services; making the abuser invisible through focusing on the woman's mental health reified from her experiences of abuse; blaming the victim; offering medication rather than counselling support; the negative, consequent effects on child contact and child protection proceedings if the woman is labelled with mental health problems. Alternatively, women found services, often in the voluntary sector, helpful when they provided the following interventions: helping women name domestic violence; actively asking about the abuse; attending to safety planning; responding to women's specialist needs; and actively working with women to recover from abuse experiences. Support for her children was also seen as very helpful. Implications for practice include the commissioning of further services in the voluntary sector, addressing the inadequate response within the medical model, and increasing the sensitivity of responses to women's emotional distress across all sectors.