Helen Baker

Involving Children and Young People in Research on Domestic Violence and Housing

This article argues that a lack of research on domestic violence which engages with children and young people has led to a paucity of effective service provision for such young people. Methodological issues and ethical concerns involved in conducting research on sensitive topics such as domestic violence, together with presumptions relating to the social status of children in society, have limited the amount of empirical research which engages with this vulnerable group. The article discusses such issues in light of the experience of conducting a 12‐month child‐focused project. The importance of ascertaining childrens views is demonstrated through new and important housing‐related findings that were identified by the young people interviewed during this project.

‘Potentially violent men?’: teenage boys, access to refuges and constructions of men, masculinity and violence

This article discusses the challenges of meeting the needs of teenage boys who become homeless as a result of domestic violence. In particular it focuses upon the impact of age limitation policies upon teenage boys, which many refuges still operate. It considers the reasons for these policies which, it is argued, still include reliance upon so-called ‘cycle of violence’ or ‘intergenerational transmission of violence’ theories. It is argued that such theories are problematic as they correlate being a man and being violent. Consequently, teenage boys of violent men are constructed as ‘potentially violent’. The ways in which absent fathers are discursively constructed as responsible for any possible future violent, criminal behaviour of their sons is also problematised. Such assumptions which presume a casual effect between absent fathers and the future behaviour of teenage boys, are argued to be part of the reason why theories, such as the ‘cycle of violence’, persist. The article contends that there is a need for more adequate theorising of the relationship between men, boys and violence. It also argues that access to refuge service provision should be based solely on physical and economic resource constraints, and not by reference to such problematic theories.

Problematising the Relationship between Teenage Boys and Parent Abuse: Constructions of Masculinity and Violence

Although research into parent abuse is scant in the context of the UK, there is now a burgeoning of interest into how this form of family violence fits into the historically well-defined arena of domestic violence research. This article investigates one aspect of the phenomena of parent abuse; that is, how teenage boys, who are often perceived as perpetrators of such violence due to problematic ‘cycle of violence’ or ‘intergenerational transmission of violence’ theories, are constructed in relation to it. These now widely discredited theories, which correlate being a man with being violent, are problematic, but may re-emerge as a possible explanation for parent abuse. This article questions these theories in the context of both domestic violence and parent abuse by demonstrating how they are based upon a culturally constructed notion of masculinity.

Exploring how teenage boys are constructed in relation to parent abuse

Historically, the impact of domestic violence on children and young people has been relatively neglected in comparison to its effects upon adult women. Recently however, there has been increasing awareness of its effects upon this vulnerable group, with a recognition that they can and are profoundly affected by domestic violence (Hester et al., 2007). This growing awareness has been part of a broader trend of increased understanding of the many forms which domestic violence can take and its effects.

Father's rights, fatherhood and masculinity/ies

A key aim of the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law is to link legal issues and the social context to which these relate. In this Editorial, we highlight briefly some of this wider context, drawing attention to key aspects of contemporary debates about masculinities and fatherhood. We then outline the contours of the rich territory covered by the in-depth articles that follow. In recent decades a continuing preoccupation in political and cultural debates, which has had a powerful influence on the development of family law, has been that of ‘masculinity in crisis’. Weaving together disparate (and often contested) evidence such as the decline in male manufacturing jobs, educational ‘underachievement’ among boys, and high suicide rates among young men, concerns about the ‘marginalisation’ of fathers have been an important part of this narrative. A significant motor, particularly in relation to fatherhood issues, has been the high-profile campaigns of ‘fathers’ rights’ activists, particularly in the UK but also internationally, around contact with children following separation (see articles by Collier and Jordan in this collection). Yet far from proving that men are ‘losing out’ to women (and in relation to family law becoming the supposed ‘new victims’), the overall picture is a complex mix of change and continuity, reflecting profound economic, social, and cultural shifts affecting men, women and children and the relations between them (Ruxton 2009). On the one hand the enduring dominance of what Connell (1995) has famously described as ‘hegemonic masculinity’ – associated with white, middle-class, and heterosexual men who wield extraordinary power over other men, women and children – has become more visible as a result of the credit crunch, but their privileges remain largely intact. On the other hand, evidence of any difficulties facing men and boys is newsworthy precisely because it bucks the assumption, often unquestioned, of male dominance which has become built into social relations and structures. Fears about ‘masculinity in crisis’ are not new. The late-Victorian period, for instance, was characterised by shifts in gender relations which in some ways parallel those today. These included a growing emphasis on women’s rights, a rise in female employment, a shifting balance within marriage, and the emergence of sexuality issues (Tosh 2005). In relation to family law, legal studies have also analysed how ideas about men and masculinities have been constructed at different historical moments. Drawing on the work of the Critical Research on Men in Europe (CROME) network (http://www.cromenet.org) (see Hearn and Pringle 2009, Pringle et al. 2006) it has been argued that it is essential to analyse both the problems that men cause and the problems they experience, and to examine the connections between these two perspectives. Whilst all men benefit from being part of the dominant group in society, it is also important to

Speculating on the Exclusion of the Feminine

This article investigates Frenchfeminist philosopher, Luce Irigaray, with aview to discussing how a critique ofocularcentrism is a focus in articulating herproject of sexual difference. It will discusshow an ocularcentric tradition intersects withissues of sexual difference and language, andhow these together enact relations of powerthat erase the feminine from view. Irigaraystextual strategies are explored as possessingthe potential to engender a new femininesubjectivity. This article is divided into foursections. In the first section, the privilegingof the visual in western philosophical thoughtis discussed, with particular reference tolanguage. In the following section, Irigaraysintellectual project will be introduced, payingparticular attention to her use of language andthe role of vision. In the light of thesediscussions, Irigarays re-reading of Platosmyth of the cavern will then be subjected toclose examination and critique, to demonstratehow an ocularcentric tradition operates indiscourse. Finally the article will conclude bysuggesting an analysis of Irigarays work interms of how language, vision, light, sexualdifference operate as relations of power isessential in the creation of a new femininesubjectivity.