The Nexus between Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment

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The Nexus between Domestic Violence and Child
Maltreatment

• Randy H. Magen, Ph.D.
• School of Social Work
• University of Alaska Anchorage

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Handouts

• PowerPoint Slides
• List of References
• On Display (please dont remove)
• Child Protection in Families Experiencing
  Domestic Violence by the Childrens Bureau
• Nicholson v. Williams opinion
• Effective Intervention in Women Battering Child
  Maltreatment Cases by the National Council of
  Juvenile Family Court Judges

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The overlap between woman abuse and child
maltreatment

• The majority of the studies indicate that in
• 30 to 60 of families where one form of
• abuse is occurring you will find the other form
• of abuse

See Edleson 1999
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Recent Study by Kohl et al.
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Recent Study by Kohl et al.
False Positive
False Negative
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Different Histories Services
While child protective service workers and
battered womens advocates both, ...share an
interest in stopping the violence, their
perspectives and approaches are frequently in
conflict.
Source Cummings and Mooney (1988)
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What is holding us back from doing better?

• Different History
• Different Ideology
• Different Services
• Mistaken Beliefs

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Different History
Child Maltreatment
Domestic Violence

• Rediscovered in 1962 with
• The battered child syndrome
• by Kemp

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Different History
Child Maltreatment
Domestic Violence

• Rediscovered in 1962 with
• The battered child syndrome
• by Kemp

• Battered Wives by
• Del Martin in 1976

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Different Ideology
Battered Womens Shelters
Child Protective Services

• Child or family centered
• approach

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Different Ideology
Battered Womens Shelters
Child Protective Services

• Child or family centered
• approach

• Woman-centered approach

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Different Services
Battered Womens Shelters
Child Protective Services

• Child or family centered
• approach
• Goal of working in the best
• interests of the child
• Permanency

• Woman-centered approach

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Different Services
Battered Womens Shelters
Child Protective Services

• Child or family centered
• approach
• Goal of working in the best
• interests of the child
• Permanency

• Woman-centered approach
• Goal of safety and empowering women.

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Myths We May Hold

• Violence begets violence or the Intergenerational
  transmission of violence.
• Research by Cathy Spats Widom
• early child abuse and neglect place one at
  increased riska large portion of abused or
  neglected children do not succumb. (Widom,1989,
  164)

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Are pregnant women at greater risk of DV than
non-pregnant women?

• Please choose one of the following
• Yes
• No
• Maybe/I dont know
• Im afraid to answer

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Are pregnant women at greater risk of DV than
non-pregnant women?

• Review of the literature by Jasinski (2004)
• Research using national probability sampleshave
  consistently reported no difference in risk due
  to pregnancy. (p. 52)
• these studies, although finding no increased
  risk for victimization, also have not found a
  decreased risk. (p. 52)

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Effects of Witnessing

• Children between ages of 8 and 12 are more likely
  to be affected
• Both boys and girls are affected
• A child may act more aggressively, more
  vigorously or more impulsively
• Boys are more likely to be aggressive
• High exposure increases the degree to which boys
  engage in serious violence

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Effects of Witnessing

• Externalized problems
• Conduct disorder, delinquency, antisocial
  behavior, aggression
• Internalized problems
• Depression, anxiety, withdrawal

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Effects of Witnessing

• Acting out behaviors
• High levels of stress
• Depression

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Effects of Witnessing

• Children between ages of 8 and 12 are more likely
  to be affected
• Both boys and girls are affected
• A child may act more aggressively, more
  vigorously or more impulsively
• Boys are more likely to be aggressive
• High exposure increases the degree to which boys
  engage in serious violence

Television Violence
From Liebert, Sprafkin Davidson (1981) The
Early Window
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Effects of Witnessing

• Externalized problems
• Conduct disorder, delinquency, antisocial
  behavior, aggress
• Internalized problems
• Depression, anxiety, withdrawal

Marital Conflict

• From Emery (1994)

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Effects of Witnessing

• Acting out behaviors
• High levels of stress
• Depression

Community Violence

• From Garbarino (1992)

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What does Witnessing Domestic Violence mean?

• Directly involved in the violence?
• Within visual range of the violence?
• Hearing the violence?
• Observing the aftermath of the violence?

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Witnessing Domestic Violence

• Well, I dont know how it started or anything,
  but he began hitting me. The kids were outside.
  He told them to stay out. I remember he was
  pulling my hair and he was hitting me with his
  fist and he had hit me on the mouth and my lip
  was bleeding (p.5)
• He shouted at the children, but he didnt beat
  them (p.121)

• From McNulty (1980). The Burning Bed

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Impact of Domestic Violence on Children

• Effects seem to be affected by
• Frequency and severity of abuse
• Exposure to and involvement in the violence
• Developmental stage of child (age)
• Gender of child
• Time

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Effects of Witnessing Domestic Violence

• No cause-effect relationship
• Some children develop active coping strategies
• Some children are resilient and buffered from the
  effects

See for example Child Protection in Families
Experiencing Domestic Violence pg. 11-12 Kolbo,
1996
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Resiliency Most Likely When

• When abuse is isolated from other sources of
  adversity
• When emotional support is available from another
  important adult in childs life
• (Shonkoff Phillips, 2000, 255)

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The importance of a primary caregiver

• Who fills this role is far less important than
  the quality of the relationshipA child may not
  care who cuts his hair or takes his money at the
  toy store, but he cares a great deal about who is
  holding her when she is unsure, comforts her when
  she is hurt, and shares special moments in her
  life.

(Shonkoff Phillips, 2000, 266).
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OCS Practice

• Safety Appraisal Form
• The immediate evaluation of present danger
• Done in all investigations on the same day as the
  first face-to-face contact
• Has one question about domestic violence
• 10 Domestic violence exists in the home and
  poses a risk of serious physical and/or emotional
  harm.

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OCS Practice

• Safety Appraisal Form definitions
• Child previously injured in domestic violence
  incident
• Child exhibits severe anxiety (e.g. nightmares,
  insomnia) related to situations associated with
  domestic violence
• Child cries, cowers, cringes, trembles, or
  otherwise exhibits fear and domestic violence
  exists in the home
• Child is at potential risk of physical injury
• Childs behavior increases risk of injury (e.g.
  )
• The is use of guns, knives or other instruments
• Evidence of property damage resulting from
  domestic violence

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OCS Practice

• Future Risk of Abuse/Neglect (FRAN)
• Question N7 and A8 cover Problematic Adult
  Relationships in the Household
• History or or current domestic violence receive a
  score of 2.

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OCS Policy

• 2.2.6 Screening for Domestic Violence
• in danger because of domestic violence orthe
  child needs protection as a result of the
  presence of domestic violence in the familythe
  worker shall take appropriate steps
• Prevent removal from non DV offender
• Remove the offender
• Protect child from being placed or having
  unsupervised visits with offender.

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Failure to Protect

• does the mother have an obligation to take her
  child out of a situation that is dangerousthe
  answer is not yes or no but it depends.
  (p.287)

• From Berliner, L. (1998). Battered women and
  abused children
• The question of responsibility. Journal of
  Interpersonal Violence, 13,
• 287-288.

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Failure to Protect

• Failure implies circumstances that are
  controllable
• Fathers are equally responsible
• Onus to control and predict the abuse is placed
  on the battered women rather than the perpetrator.

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Separation Violence

• Separation is time when potential violence is
  high, even if none existed before.
• Violence prior to separation likely to escalate.
• If power control were central in nonviolent
  relationship, violence may be used.
• Separation violence can be deadly.
• See Mahoney, M. R. (1991). Legal images of
  battered women
• Redefining the issue of separation. Michigan
  Law Review Association, 90 , 1-94.

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Separation Violence

• NVAWS
• Women who live apart from husbands report more
  violence than women who live with husbands (20
  vs. 5.4)
• However, only stalking more likely to occur after
  termination of relationship

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Separation Violence
From National Violence Against Women Survey
Tjaden Thoennes (2000)
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Failure to Protect

• Remedy of affirmative defense
• that at the time of the neglect there was a
  reasonable apprehension in the mind of the
  defendant that acting to stop or prevent neglect
  would result in substantial bodily harm to the
  defendant or the child in retaliation. Minn.
  Stat. Ann., 609.378 (West 1993)

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Nicholson v. Williams

• New York City class action. Decision in March
  2002 by Judge Weinstein
• Removalsbased on the battering of the mother
  rather than treatment of the childrentreats the
  mothers unequally from other parents who are not
  abused.
• New York City should not have a CINA finding of
  child neglect in regard to battered mothers
  solely because of domestic violence
• New York Citys practices in cases involving
  domestic violence harm children more than they
  protect them from harm.

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Best Practices

• Mothers should not be accused of neglect for
  being victims of domestic violence.
• Batterers should be held accountable.
• Children should be protected by child welfare
  agencies by offering battered mothers appropriate
  services and protection.
• Separating battered mothers and children should
  be the alternative of last resort.
• Child welfare employees should be adequately
  trained to deal with domestic violence.
• Agency policy should provide clear guidelines to
  caseworkers.

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Therapeutic Jurisprudence

• In many of todays cases, the traditional
  approach yields unsatisfying results. The
  battered wife obtains a protection order, goes
  home and is beaten again. Every legal right of
  the litigants is protected, all procedures
  followed, yet we arent making a dent in the
  underlying problem. Not good for the parties
  involved. Not good for the community. Not good
  for the courts
• Judge Judith S. Kay, Chief Judge State of New
  York. Newsweek October 11, 1999

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What should you do?

• Is the assessment happening?
• Is OCS following best practices?
• Is Alaskas law and its implementation just?

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Questions Comments?