Supporting battered women and their children: Perspectives of battered mothers and child welfare professionals

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the perspectives of child welfare professionals and battered women involved in the public child welfare system about interventions that support battered women and their children. In-depth, semi-structured, individual interviews with 17 mothers and 20 professionals revealed both converging and diverging perspectives on services provided by the public child welfare system. Both mothers and professionals stressed the importance of the provision of materially and emotionally supportive services, especially after women had severed their violent relationships. Mothers' and professionals' beliefs were discrepant in areas of family support; particularly, the appropriateness of focusing primarily on mothers and developing safety plans that separated the couple. Services that assume battered mothers have limited parenting capabilities, such as taking custody of a child and referring mothers to basic parenting classes, were controversial topics receiving some support and some criticism from both mothers and professionals. Findings suggest possible needs of battered women involved in the child welfare system, as well as topics requiring greater communication between mothers and child welfare professionals.

Introduction

Domestic violence, that is, abuse within close, loving, romantic relationships (Walker, 1994) is witnessed by an estimated 3.3 to 10 million children annually in the U.S. (see Stephans, 1999). Rates of exposure are particularly high among our most vulnerable children, those involved in the public child welfare system, with estimates hovering around 50% (Beeman et al., 2001, Carlson, 1990, English, 1998, Hagen, 1994, Haight et al., 2002), and pose significant threats to achieving family permanence (Schechter & Edleson, 1999). This qualitative study explores the perspectives of child welfare professionals and battered women about child welfare interventions that support battered women and their children.

Domestic violence is a threat to children's well being and development. Witnessing domestic violence is a form of traumatic stress that may place children at risk (March et al., 1996, Pynoos et al., 1996). According to the DSM-IV, traumatic stress involves experiencing or witnessing actual or threatened physical injury to the self or other person, especially a family member, accompanied by fear, helplessness, and horror and, in children, disorganized or agitated behavior (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Traumatic stress that results from intentional human design, particularly that caused by parents or other attachment figures, is especially challenging for children (Egeland, Weinfield, Bosquet, & Cheng, 2000). There is extensive empirical evidence that witnessing angry and violent exchanges between adults has detrimental effects on children, even if they themselves are not the targets of abuse (see Holden, Geffner, & Jouriles, 1998). Decades of research testify to the relations between family discord and children's maladjustment (e.g., Baruch & Wilcox, 1944, Carlson, 1990, Cummings et al., 1989, Maughan & Cicchetti, 2002, Mihalic & Elliott, 1997). Clear associations have been found between exposure to violence and post-traumatic symptoms and disorders even in infants and toddlers (see Osofsky, 1995a, Osofsky, 1995b). Infants in violent homes may have difficulty eating and sleeping, and may cry excessively or very little. Toddlers and preschoolers may show language delays, regress to infant-like behavior, or act out aggressively (see Stephans, 1999). Children exposed to domestic violence may show a variety of internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors (see Stephans, 1999 for review; Fantuzzo et al., 1991, Holden & Ritchie, 1991, Kerig, 1996), chronic fear response (hypersensitivity to cues indicating the possible presence of a threat; Perry, 1997), social and emotional adjustment problems (Hughes, 1988, McCloskey et al., 1995, Sternberg et al., 1993), and pro-violence attitudes (Eth & Pynoos, 1994, Kaplan et al., 1994, Osofsky, 1995b). In addition, traumatic stress may disturb children's emerging concepts of self and other, safety, and protection (e.g., Osofsky, 1995a, Pynoos et al., 1996), and interfere with the development of affect regulation (Parens, 1991).

Domestic violence also is a threat to mothers' psychological well-being (Walker, 1994) which may compromise her ability to buffer her child from the domestic violence. For example, the quality of communications with parents is one of several important protective factors in children's responses to traumatic stress (e.g., Bowlby, 1988, Garmezy, 1985, Lynskey & Fergusson, 1997, Pynoos et al., 1996) such as domestic violence. Children may rely on parents for interpreting trauma because they have fewer and less developed psychological resources to respond to trauma than do adults (Marans & Adelman, 1997, Pynoos & Eth, 1985). Following exposure to trauma, parents may begin to scaffold children's emerging interpretation of the event (e.g., Bat-Zion & Levy-Shiff, 1993), for example, through comfort, emotional security and explanations. Parents' own ongoing or unresolved trauma history, however, can negatively impact their interactions and relationships with their own children (Hesse, 1999, van Ijzendoorn, 1995), for example, scaffolding children's interpretations of domestic violence.

The problem of domestic violence has led to the development of policy and interventions. Some state statutes include witnessing domestic violence as a form of child maltreatment (National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information, 2002, Magen et al., 2001, Mills et al., 2000, Rossman & Rosenberg, 1997). The high occurrence of domestic violence in child welfare populations also has led to collaborative efforts between service providers of domestic violence victims and child welfare professionals (Aron & Olson, 1997). Most of the collaborative efforts have focused on increasing the knowledge and understanding of child welfare professionals about the dynamics and causes of domestic violence (Magen et al., 2001, Mills et al., 2000, Mills & Yoshihama, 2002, Postmus & Ortega, 2004), and developing best practice principles for assessing and servicing domestic violence involved cases (Shim & Poertner, 1999).

Despite recent attempts to develop best practice principles, child welfare professionals and adult victims of domestic violence often struggle to build collaborative working relationships (Friend, 1999). For example, battered women who fear the removal of their children and overburdened child welfare professionals may have difficulties establishing open and honest collaborative relationships (Friend, 1999). This paper describes an exploratory study examining the perspectives of battered women involved in the public child welfare system and child welfare professionals concerning child welfare interventions that facilitate or impede reunification. These perspectives, sometimes converging and sometimes diverging, suggest unmet needs of battered women involved in the child welfare system, as well as areas in which communication between child welfare professionals and battered women can be enhanced.