Simon Lapierre

“I made her realise that I could be there for her, that I could support her”: Child Protection Practices with Women in Domestic Violence Cases

This article presents findings from a study that investigated child protection policies and practices, and focuses on data gathered in a child protection agency located in Quebec, Canada. This research project draws upon a qualitative case-study methodology, involving a documentary analysis of both national and local child protection policies, as well as semi-structured individual interviews with child protection front-line workers and front-line managers, managers and reviewing officers. Although the dominant pattern that emerged in the data suggests that child protection workers tend to focus on abused womens actions and to blame them for “failing to protect” their children, this article emphasises practices where the research participants had managed to avoid mother-blaming when working with these women. Indeed, the findings suggest that child protection workers can avoid mother-blaming when working with abused women, despite shortfalls in policies, procedures and resources. Such practices include recognising that there are two victims in domestic violence situations, building a trusting relationship, providing emotional and practical support, and balancing risk and safety. These four dimensions are interrelated and they all require a clear identification of domestic violence, as well as a good understanding of the problem and its impacts. To emphasise individual workers’ positive practices with women in domestic violence situations should not be used to minimise the importance of more structural changes in child protection policies and practices. This would include challenging the tendency to focus on women and finding more effective ways to engage with abusive men throughout child protection procedures in order to challenge their violent behaviours. However, it could lead to an approach that is more sensitive to domestic violence and that has the potential to alleviate the workers’ feelings of powerlessness and frustration in relation to their work with families where there has been domestic violence.

Abortion and Domestic Violence: Women's Decision-Making Process

This article addresses women’s experiences of abortion in the context of domestic violence, more specifically the decision-making process and the influence of the perpetrators in their decision. The data were collected through semistructured individual interviews with four Canadian women, aged between 23 and 36 years at the time of the interviews. Overall, the findings suggest that the factors influencing women’s decision can be grouped into the following four categories: domestic violence, the women’s individual situation, the couple’s situation, and external constraints. Implications for policies and practice are discussed.

Difficult but Close Relationships: Children’s Perspectives on Relationships With Their Mothers in the Context of Domestic Violence:

This article reports findings from a participative and qualitative study conducted with children who had experienced domestic violence, focusing on their perspectives on their relationships with their mothers. Three focus groups and 46 individual interviews were conducted with children to gather their experiences. The research findings demonstrate that women’s and children’s victimizations are inextricably linked, and that domestic violence affects mother–child relationships. They also show that, despite the challenges and difficulties, children generally consider their mothers as very significant individuals in their lives, and have close relationships with them. The findings also reveal a dynamic of mutual protectiveness.

Family Mediation in Child Custody Cases and the Concealment of Domestic Violence

While mediation is commonly used in custody negotiation, there is no consensus regarding its applicability in domestic violence cases. The aim of this qualitative study in Italy was to explore the role of family mediation in the management of child custody in cases involving domestic violence. Semistructured interviews were conducted with lawyers (N = 5), social workers (N = 15), and abused women who had separated from their children’s fathers (N = 13). Legal documents were also analyzed. The results showed that violence against women and children had often been concealed during mediation, as the professionals involved had failed to detect domestic violence or had labeled it as conflicts. Moreover, the “parental couple” had been dissociated from the “marital couple,” and the responsibility for the abuse had been attributed to both parents. As a result, women and children had been blamed and had experienced secondary victimization, while the perpetrators’ patterns of power and control had continued. The results also revealed that those professionals had not known about and had not applied the Istanbul Convention, which provides guidelines to ensure women’s and children’s safety. Recommendations highlight the need to account for the complexity of domestic violence cases, to hold perpetrators responsible for the abuse, and to support the victims.

Enfants et adolescents venus d'ailleurs : la violence vécue dans leur société d'accueil et les effets sur leur santé, une recension des écrits

RésuméOBJECTIF: Cette recension des écrits integrative vise à dresser un portrait global de la violence sociale vécue par les enfants et adolescents immigrants de première génération ainsi que ses effets sur leur santé et leur bien-être.MÉTHODE: Une recherche bibliographique francophone et anglophone a été réalisée dans huit bases de données, sans restrictions de dates de publication. Trente études ont été retenues. Les résultats ont été synthétisés selon trois aspects: 1) formes de violences vécues par les jeunes immigrants; 2) conditions dans lesquelles cette violence survient; 3) effets de cette violence sur leur santé et leur bien-être.RÉSULTATS: Les jeunes immigrants peuvent subir différentes formes de violence physique, verbale ou relationnelle. Elle semble être instiguée surtout par leurs pairs et a été principalement étudiée sous l’angle de la discrimination. La victimisation varierait en fonction de certains facteurs comme la composition ethnique des écoles ou le temps de résidence dans la société d’accueil. La violence serait associée à la fois à une plus grande Symptomatologie psychopathologique et à une santé mentale plus fragile. Enfin, elle serait reliée à une attitude plus négative des jeunes immigrants envers leur société d’accueil ainsi qu’une attitude plus positive envers leur propre communauté d’origine.CONCLUSION: En plus d’avoir de nombreux effets indésirables sur leur santé et leur bien-être mental et social, la violence peut s’avérer être un facteur clé dans l’expérience de marginalisation des jeunes immigrants. Nous proposons quelques pistes de recherche à explorer.AbstractOBJECTIVE: This integrative literature review aims to present a comprehensive portrayal of social violence experienced by first-generation immigrant children and adolescents, and its effects on their health and well-being.METHOD: A French and English languages literature search was conducted in eight databases, without restrictions on dates of publication. Thirty studies were selected. Results were summarized according to three aspects: 1) types of violence experienced by young immigrants; 2) conditions under which this violence occurs; 3) effects of such violence on the health and well-being of young immigrants.SYNTHESIS: Immigrant children and adolescents can experience various forms of physical, verbal, and relational violence. This violence seems to be mostly instigated by their peers and it has mainly been studied in terms of discrimination. Victimization may vary depending on factors such as ethnic composition of schools or time of residence in the host society. Violence may have many effects on mental health of immigrant youth: it is associated with both increased psychopathological symptoms and poorer mental health. Finally, the experience of violence is related to a more negative attitude of young immigrants toward their host society and a more positive attitude toward their own cultural community.CONCLUSION: In addition to its having numerous adverse effects on their mental and social health and well-being, violence may prove to be a key factor in the experience of marginalization of immigrant youth. We propose certain research avenues to explore.