The Planet Metaphor: a challenge for professional practice research & policy practice, research & policy makers .... ADULT we a e app oac ; state intervention.
The Planet Metaphor: a challenge for professional practice research & policy practice, makers Professor Marianne Hester
This talk •
Background
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Th ‘planets’ The ‘ l ’
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Moving forward
Major problem faced by practitioners p act t o e s working wo g with wt women and children: Difficulty in establishing safe outcomes for children
A major problem different, separate, & contradictory ideas and practice approaches to • Domestic violence • Child protection • Child contact t t
Different contexts – three planets Domestic violence: ADULTS
Child p protection: CHILD
Child contact: PARENTS
Domestic violence planet
Domestic violence: considered a crime (civil and criminal law); range of support mainly violent male l partner t
What happens on the DV planet? 1. Refuges/shelters to enable women and children to escape from violent men 2 Other support and advocacy services – mainly for 2. women 3. Criminalisation of domestic violence – making domestic violence a crime like any y other violent crime 4. Perpetrator p p programmes g to challenge g and change g violent and abusive behaviour
Mainly: Heterosexual
MOTHER
DV triangle
FATHER
CHILD
Who is the abuser? What if both men/fathers and women/mothers are violent?
KEY QUESTIONS • Domestic violence: one-way or two-way (uni directional or bi (uni-directional bi-directional)? directional)? • Are women the majority of victims? • Are men the majority of perpetrators? • What about male victims? • Do men and women experience and use violent/abusive behaviour in similar ways in relationships? • What does this mean for the children?
Who is violent to whom? British Crime Survey - a national representative survey, sample of 47,000 adults More women experienced intimate partner violence (women 29% since age 16; men 19%) 19%). p by y the abuse Fewer men than women were impacted or sought help for the consequences
Mainly men to women
Who does what to whom? Hester 2009
• Police records • 540 domestic violence incidents, with 96 male l and d female f l perpetrators….. t t tracked t k d over six years
Key differences between male and female perpetrators of domestic violence. •
Men perpetrators in much greater number of incidents.
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Violence used by men against female partners much more severe than that used by women against men.
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Violence by men much more likely to involve fear by and control of f female l victims, i ti ii.e. ‘i‘intimate ti t tterrorism’. i ’
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Women more likely to use weapons, and often in order to protect themselves.
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Female perpetrators more likely to be seen as alcoholic, or mentally ill.
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Children were p present in the majority j y of incidents ((55%). )
(Hester 2009)
Who does what to whom – dual perpetrators • Where both partners are perpetrator – cases very varied; highest number of incidents; post postseparation violence; alcohol . • Mostly male-to-female f violence • Manyy instances where both partners p were heavy y drinkers or alcoholics and circumstances appeared quite chaotic (Hester 2009)
Who does what to whom: key practice issues • Gender is crucial to understanding g the dynamics y of domestic violence • There are differences where one or where both partners are perpetrators • Alcohol and drugs misuse, and mental health problems may be due to domestic violence … [why does she drink?]
domestic violence and child protection Domestic violence: considered a crime (civil and criminal law); gendered ge de ed ADULT
Child protection: (public law) welfare we a e approach; app oac ; state intervention in abusive families; CHILD
Separate development: Domestic violence – perceived as gendered, increasingly criminalised Child abuse b – perceived i d as family f il dysfunction, welfare approach with decriminalisation
Impacts on children FEELING fear, fear depression HEALTH injury, M t l Mental, brain
ACHIEVEMENT Education, under, over
Impacts on children of living with domestic violence BEHAVIOUR acting out out, withdrawn
WELFARE bedwetting
DEVELOPMENT d l delay, b brain i
BUT not all children (resilience), and not all the same (age, gender, ethnicity, disability)
English Adoption and Fostering Act 2002 • ‘emotional abuse’ as a category g y for registering g g children impairment suffered from seeing • section 120 - ‘impairment or hearing the ill treatment of another’
(domestic violence implied. No gender)
But… But p y • Expectation that woman will eventually exclude the abuser - using civil protection g the intervention of remedies or through criminal justice agencies. • Responsibility for protecting children is placed on mothers • Dynamics of gender violence ignored
And mother blaming And…mother blaming… • Jaffe et al. (2003): if witnessing domestic violence is seen as child abuse women experiencing domestic violence will continue to be accused of ‘secondary abuse’ or as having ‘engaged in domestic violence’’ (p101-102). ( 101 102)
Fathers as domestic violence perpetrators
Fathers • men’s ’ violence i l tto ffemale l partners t iis th the mostt common context for child abuse; • male domestic violence perpetrators are more likely to be abusive to children and more extremelyy so; • the more severe the violence to a female partner, the more severe the h abuse b off children hild i the in h same context • children hild may experience i multiple lti l fforms off abuse. b
Difficult to focus on violent men • Difficult and dangerous to deal with • Disappear • Manipulate practitioners (see Farmer 2006)
Impact on mothering…
Across many studies - the research shows • The risk of domestic violence for women is nearly doubled where children are present • There e e is s a cclose ose relationship e at o s p bet between ee tthe e safety of mothers and the welfare and safety of their children
Impact p of men’s violence/abuse on women: Varies from woman to woman woman… • can cause great harm to a woman’s woman s physical and mental health, • affect her behaviour • her economic security • and her networks of social support
I Impact on mothering… h i UK survey found some women had lost confidence in their mothering, emotionally drained and had little to give… compounded by d difficult cu be behaviour a ou o of cchildren. de Greatest impact p was from father’s deliberate undermining of mother’s abilities. (Radford & Hester 2006)
Need to recognise: The majority of women experiencing violence from male partners cope quite well and parent successfully (Radford & Hester 2006; Sullivan et al. 1999) Key practice issue – high impact on mothering probably means high level of dv from male partner to both mother and child
Women’s W ’ needs d should h ld nott b be conflated with children’s needs. ….They are linked, but separate
Women s reactions are in Women’s response to & in context of the male l perpetrator’s t t ’ violent i l t and d controlling behaviour
English Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act of 2004 • section 5 - causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable adult adult… was or should have been aware of the risk and failed to take steps to protect them. • Used against mothers who “stood by” when their male partners killed their child…
In May 2005 Rebecca Lewis, aged 21, was sentenced to 6 years in prison for failing to prevent the murder of her baby baby, Aaron Gilbert Gilbert, at the hands of her partner, Andrew Lloyd, with whom she had lived for six weeks. The court was told that Lewis was largely absent during Lloyd’s attacks and was not present when he killed the baby. However, she k knew th thatt Lloyd Ll d h had d fli flicked k dA Aaron’s ’ ears and d ffeett when h h he cried; i d had picked him up by his ears and ankles; and had thrown him onto a bed. (Crim. L.R. 927), in) … In sentencing her the judge said: “You put your own interests first, above and beyond y that of your y vulnerable child. You could have stopped the violence that Lloyd was subjecting Aaron to. You could so easily have got the authorities to stop it.” At the trial Lewis had explained that she did not summon help because Lloyd had said he would kill her if she left.
…and d child hild contact? ?
Domestic violence: considered a crime (civil and criminal law); range of support violent male partner
Child protection: (public law) welfare approach; pp ; state intervention in abusive families; mother seen as failing to protect Child contact: (private law); negotiated or mediated outcome; good enough fat e father
Lessons from research • there is a close relationship between the safety of mothers and the welfare and safety of their children • contact mayy not necessarilyy be useful to or in the best interests of children • quality of contact is especially important where children’s welfare is concerned (see Radford & Hester 2006)
Tension between right to know & right to safety: • emphasis on children’s right to know their two parents increase in (abusive) fathers’ rights • compromises children’s right to safety and protection • Undermines mothering and women’s safety
Lif b Life beyond d th three planets? l t ?
Domestic violence: considered a crime (civil and criminal law); range of support violent male partner
Child protection: (public law) welfare approach; pp ; state intervention in abusive families; mother seen as failing to protect Child contact: (private law); negotiated or mediated outcome; good enough fat e father
Conclusion For effective intervention to combat b t domestic d ti violence i l Need to bring the ‘three three planets’ into line: •
Common understanding
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Co-ordinated approaches
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Dealing with perpetrators perpetrators, victims and children
Lif b Life beyond d th three planets? l t ?
Domestic violence: considered a crime (civil and criminal law); range of support violent male partner
Child protection: (public law) welfare approach; pp ; state intervention in abusive families; mother seen as failing to protect New initiatives: MARACs IDVC
Child contact: (private law); negotiated or mediated outcome; good enough fat e father
References • Hester, M., Pearson, C. & Harwin, N. with Abrahams, H. (2007) Making an Impact - Children and Domestic Violence A Reader Violence. Reader, 2nd Edition. Edition London: Jessica Kingsley. [this has other references referred to in the presentation] • Radford, R df d L L. & H Hester, t M M. (2006) Mothering M th i th through h Domestic Violence. London: Jessica Kingsley. ( ) Tackling g • Hester,, M. & Westmarland,, N. (2005) Domestic Violence: Effective Interventions and Approaches. Home Office Research Study 290, London: Home Office. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hors290.pdf • Hester, M. (2009) Who does what to whom? Gender & domestic violence perpetrators perpetrators. Bristol: University of Bristol & Northern Rock Foundation
