Title: the Child Protection Systems' Response to Domestic Violence

Title: The Child Protection Systems’ Response to Domestic Violence Name: Julie Des Lauriers Degree: Bachelor of Arts (Women’s Studies) Centre: Centre for Social Change Research Academic Qualification for which the Thesis is Submitted: Masters of Arts Year of Submission: 2007 Keywords for Cataloguing Purposes Spouse abuse, domestic violence, family violence, battered wife/wives, abused women, abused mothers, intimate partner violence, domestic abuse, violence against women And Child abuse, child protection, youth protection, child neglect, children services, child welfare, child mistreatment or child maltreatment ii Abstract The co-occurrence of domestic violence (DV) and child maltreatment is high. Response to both problems has historically been via two different systems. However, child protection workers are increasingly asked to respond to this co- occurrence since research has identified that exposure to DV can negatively impact on children and that child maltreatment often co-occurs with DV. This study looks at child protection systems response to families affected by DV by using two research methods. First, a systematic review was conducted using research papers focusing on child protection workers response to families experiencing DV. Second, a critical discourse analysis of current Australian child protection policies was conducted. Findings from the systematic review show that child protection workers’ response to abused mothers went from treating them as ‘mad’ in the 1980s, to labelling them ‘failure to protect’ in the 1990s and early 2000. These findings showed continued focus on abused mothers rather than on perpetrators of DV. Some contradictions were found around child removal data. However, important links were found between re-notification of children and subsequent removal. Findings from the Australian policy analysis revealed that most policies referred to DV as a child protection issue and used a feminist definition of DV. However, not all states had detailed guidelines on how to intervene safely and effectively with families affected by DV. Discussions and recommendations focus around the pressing need for more DV expertise within child protection systems. It also discusses the issue of responsibility placed on abused mothers while perpetrators of DV remain invisible. Finally, it discusses the response to children exposed to DV compared to the response to children exposed to DV who are also victim of direct child maltreatment. The key recommendations of this study are to have DV expertise within the child protection systems, to empower abused mothers rather than blaming them, which implies putting the responsibility back on the perpetrator of DV and to have resources and systems in place before responding to child exposure to DV as child maltreatment per se. iii Table of Contents Chapter 1: The Importance of Child Protection Systems’ Effective Response to Domestic Violence 1 Significance of the Problem 3 The Need for Effective Child Protection Response 6 Feminist Approach Behind this Study 8 Significance and Design of this Study 11 Overview of the Thesis 15 Chapter 2 - Literature Review: The Interface between Child Abuse and Neglect and Domestic Violence 15 What Is Domestic Violence? 16 Issues around Child Maltreatment 21 Children Exposed to Domestic Violence 23 Impact of Domestic Violence on Parenting 29 Co-occurrence of Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment 34 Incidence Rate of Co-occurrence 35 Child Protection Systems’ Response to Domestic Violence 38 Specific Aspects of Child Protection Work Requiring Feminist Attention 43 Principles Supporting Effective Response 52 Domestic Violence Expertise within Child Protection Organisations 58 Difficulties, Barriers and Risks 64 Legal and Systems Issues 67 Intersection between State and Federal Law 68 iv Chapter 3 - Methodology: How the Study Was Conducted 71 Research Design 72 Conceptual Framework 73 Motives and Goals 74 Methods 75 Systematic Review 75 Critical Discourse Analysis 81 Integrating the Findings of Both Methods 86 Scope and Boundaries of Research 87 Chapter 4 - Systematic Review: Three Decades of Research into Child Protection Responses to Domestic Violence 90 Findings from the 1980’s – Groundbreaking Research 91 Mary Maynard: Abused Mothers as ‘Mad’ 91 Evan Stark and Anne Flitcraft: Early Information on Child Removal 93 Findings from the 1990’s – Increasing Awareness 95 Janet Stanley: Australian Pioneer 95 Catherine Humphreys: Minimisation, Avoidance and Confrontation 96 Melanie Shepard and Michael Raschick – Minimisation and Avoidance of Domestic Violence and Focus on Mothers 99 Jeffrey Edleson and Sandra Beeman – Using the ‘Failure to Protect’ Assessment Category as a Response to Domestic Violence 101 Findings from the New Millennium – A Watershed for Research 103 Loring Jones and Elizabeth Gross – Findings on the Accountability of Perpetrators of Domestic Violence 105 Sandra Beeman, Annelies Hagemeister and Jeffrey Edleson – Children from Families Experiencing Domestic Violence are Assessed at Higher Risks even When the Workers are Unaware of the Domestic Violence 106 Randy Magen, Kathryn Conroy, Peg McCartt Hess, Ann Panciera and Barbara Levy Simon – Workers’ Increase Identification of Domestic Violence when Using a Questionnaire 108 v Chantal Lavergne, Claire Chamberland and Lise Laporte – Canadian Findings on ‘Failure to Protect’ and Need for Services 110 Jude Irwin, Fran Waugh and Marie Wilkinson – Workers’ Response When Exposure Becomes a Formal Form of Child Maltreatment 112 Loring Jones – More Findings on Responding to Perpetrators of Domestic Violence and Child Removal 114 Glenda Kaufman Kantor and Liza Little - More American Findings on ‘Failure to Protect’ 118 Carolyn Hartley – Findings on Response to More Severe Domestic Violence versus Less Severe Domestic Violence 119 Diana English, Jeffrey Edleson and Mary Herrick – Pathways and Outcomes for Domestic Violence Cases 122 Patricia Kohl and Colleagues – Specific Attention to Child Removal and ‘Failure to Protect’ 126 Patricia Kohl and Colleagues – Workers’ Assessment of DV and Families’ Receipt of Domestic Violence Services 129 Key Findings from Research Conducted Between 2000 and 2005 131 Key Response Features Identified in All Included Studies 132 Chapter 5 - Critical Discourse Analysis: The Response of Australian Child Protection Policies to Domestic Violence 141 Domestic Violence Related Concepts in Australian Child Protection Policies 146 Co-occurrence of Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment and Child Exposure Related Concepts in Australian Policies 150 Key Child Protection Practice Features Crucial to Effective Response to Domestic Violence 156 Intake, Assessment and Referral 158 Intervention 160 Conclusion 164 vi Chapter 6 - Discussions and Recommendations: What Can We Learn from these Findings? 166 Domestic Violence Expertise within Child Protection Organisations 168 Recommendations 171 Responsible Abused Mothers and Invisible Perpetrators of Domestic Violence174 Recommendations 181 Child Exposure to Domestic Violence versus Child Exposure to Domestic Violence and Direct Child Maltreatment 183 Recommendations 185 Chapter 7 - Conclusion: The Way Forward 189 Implications for Practice 190 Contribution and Recommendations 192 Recommendations for Future Research 194 Summary of the Study 196 Appendix A – Conceptual Framework Appendix B – List of Included Studies (Systematic Review) Appendix C – Systematic Review Protocol Appendix D – Coding Categories for Australian Policies (Coding Schedule) Appendix E – Keywords for Database Search Appendix F – Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria (Systematic Review) Appendix G – Quality Appraisal Checklist (Systematic Review) Appendix H – List of Policies Analysed and Their Reference Codes Table 1 – List of Australian Policies Analysed 147 References vii Statement of Original Authorship “The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree or diploma at any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made.” Signature: Date: viii Acknowledgements It takes a village to raise a child according to a popular African proverb. I feel as though I would have never been able to finish my thesis without plenty of support from my QUT, family and friends ‘villages’ and I would like to thank them all. First, at QUT I would like to thank my supervisors Judith Burton and Ruth Matchett and everyone else who helped me including Bill MacDonald, Channel Hopkinson, Stephanie Bradbury, Waverney Croft, Barbara Hanna, David Best and Ken O’Brien. My family and friends have also been of tremendous support. I would like to particularly thank my husband, Anthony O’Driscoll as well as my parents Ginette Lavergne and Pierre Des Lauriers for their exceptional support. Other key people in helping me keep sane through the process have been Geneviève Tremblay, my friend at Maison Tanguy, Louise Pouliot, my systematic review expert, Mythiley Iyer, my feminist advisor, as well as Megan Rendell, Marty Russell, Matilda Russell, Mélanie Des Lauriers and Don Hudson for helping me survive my last few weeks in Australia. Finally yet importantly, I would like to thank my previous employer, The Australian Government Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. ix Chapter 1: The Importance of Child Protection Systems’ Effective Response to Domestic Violence Child abuse and woman abuse are the most

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