Domestic violence as child maltreatment: Differential risks and outcomes among cases referred to child welfare agencies for domestic violence exposure

Lawson, Jennifer Nicole

doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.12.017

Cited by 30 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 117 publications

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“…Second, interviews were gathered from a purposive sample of workers whose approach to DV cases and use of the RA may differ from others in Midwest State and nationally. The points of connection between our findings and previous scholarship on decision-making and outcomes in DV-CM cases (Coohey, 2007;Henry, 2018;Hughes & Chau, 2013;Jenney et al, 2014;Lawson, 2019;Victor et al, 2019) suggest the processes we describe may occur similarly elsewhere. Further systematic, empirical inquiry into both issues is needed.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Contradictions and Their Consequences: How Competing Policy Mandates Facilitate Use of a Punitive Framework in Domestic Violence–Child Maltreatment Cases

Armstrong

Bosk

2020

Child Maltreat

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Research shows child welfare cases involving caregiver domestic violence (DV) continue to produce punitive consequences for non-abusive adult victims. This occurs despite the adoption of a supportive policy framework that emphasizes perpetrator responsibility for DV-related harm to children. Risk assessment procedures have been implicated in punitive outcomes, but we know little about how they shape child welfare workers’ decision-making practice. Focusing on a state with a supportive policy framework, this paper uses grounded theory to examine how policy contradictions, procedural directives around risk assessment, and informal interventions produce punitive consequences for adult victims of DV and unmitigated risk to children. Data include state policy and procedural documents and interviews with child welfare workers describing decision-making in their most recent completed case and most recent case involving DV. Findings point to the need for active alignment of policies and procedures, greater integration of knowledge across practice areas, renewed commitments to differential response, and greater inclusion of DV specialists in child welfare settings.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Contradictions and Their Consequences: How Competing Policy Mandates Facilitate Use of a Punitive Framework in Domestic Violence–Child Maltreatment Cases

Armstrong

Bosk

2020

Child Maltreat

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“…Tools that are complemented by clinical expertise and analysis as well as clear connections to intervention are essential (Houston, 2014). Another growing body of literature centres around the idea of risk assessment tools that are based on the different typologies of DV as a means to inform type‐specific interventions (Cavanaugh & Gelles, 2005; Lawson, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ontario child protection workers' views on assessing risk and planning for safety in exposure to domestic violence cases

Olszowy

Jaffe

Dawson

et al. 2020

Child & Family Social Work

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The use of standardized tools to assess risk for children is mandatory in the child protection sector in Ontario. Factors that can be used specifically to assess the risk of lethality in exposure to domestic violence (DV) cases, however, are largely missing from these tools. Using data from an online survey of 138 child protection workers in Ontario, the current study examines practitioners' risk assessment and safety planning practices with DV cases. Findings provide an overview of the frequency of risk assessment and management strategies within various environmental contexts (e.g., urban and rural) and populations (e.g., indigenous and immigrants/refugees). According to the practitioners sampled, assessing and managing risk are frequently and consistently completed across the province, although specific strategies and challenges vary. Although mandatory provincial child protection tools are commonly used, some workers report using other specific DV risk assessment tools to complement their own measurement of risk and planning for safety. Respondents emphasized the importance of working collaboratively with families and professionals in other sectors to address risk. Implications for future research include exploring the barriers and challenges of using DV-specific risk assessments in child protection and factors contributing to these challenges as identified by practising child protection workers. K E Y W O R D S child protection, child welfare, domestic violence, risk assessment, safety planning 1 | INTRODUCTION Domestic violence (DV) is a serious public health and social concern that can result in homicide (World Health Organization, 2013). DV impacts the family system-not only the parent-victim but also the developing child (Jenney & Alaggia, 2018) and the caregiver-child relationship (Wendt, Buchanan, & Moulding, 2015). Estimates indicate that over half of DV incidents in Canada include children who witness violence (Kaukinen, Powers, & Meyer, 2016). In rare cases, children may be harmed or killed as a result of DV, either by being caught in the crossfire or being targeted in an act of revenge against the primary victim for leaving the relationship (Jaffe, Campbell, Olszowy, & Hamilton, 2014). Even if children survive a homicide or homicide-suicide, they have to deal with the trauma of horrific deaths, losing one or both parents and the complete disruption of their sense of stability and security (Alisic, Krishna, Groot, & Frederick, 2015). Domestic homicides do not happen out of the blue; prior risk factors and warning signs often exist, but formal agencies and informal supports often miss opportunities to properly assess them or intervene (Reif & Jaffe, 2019).

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“…Either the validation studies do not present evidence or they only present correlation matrices between variables of a nomological network without controlling for social desirability effects (Mikulic et al, 2016) or reliability attenuation effects (Domínguez-Lara, 2017) while that with regard to discrimination by item and discriminant validity, there are no indicators that demonstrate them. Finally, although both instruments have versions in different languages, there is no version that presents validity or reliability indices in the Mexican population, a crucial aspect considering that its use is common in child abuse prevention programs (Chacón-Moscoso et al, 2016, 2019.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Family functioning (Thornock et al, 2019 ), parental relationship (McCoy and Keen, 2014 ), preparation of parents in parenting strategies and parental knowledge (Albertos et al, 2016 ; Morrongiello et al, 2019 ), parental values (McCoy and Keen, 2014 ), the participation of the child in family activities (McCoy and Keen, 2014 ), social support (Cutrona et al, 1994 ; Piko, 2000 ), and even community environments and characteristics of the physical properties of the home (Labella and Masten, 2018 ) are some of the most important protective factors (McCoy and Keen, 2014 ). In terms of risk factors, poverty (Delgado, 2016 ), family stress (Musitu and Callejas, 2017 ), family and intimate partner violence (Henry, 2018 ; Lawson, 2019 ), among others have been reported (McCoy and Keen, 2014 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spanish Adaptation of the Inventory Brief Child Abuse Potential and the Protective Factors Survey

et al. 2021

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Child maltreatment is a public health problem with different consequences depending on the form of abuse. Measuring risk and protective factors has been a fertile ground for research, without involving instruments with sufficient evidence of validity. The aim of the study was to gather evidence of validity and reliability of the Inventory Brief Child Abuse Potential (IBCAP) and Protective Factors Survey (PFS) in the Mexican population. The instruments were translated into Spanish. In a non-probabilistic sample of 200 participants, the 7-factor model for the IBCAP [comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.984; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.067] and the 4-factor model for the PFS (CFI = 0.974; RMSEA = 0.061) were confirmed, showing adequate fit indices. Reliability was estimated and evidence of convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity was collected, controlling for effects of social desirability. We also report interpretability statistics of the scores. We achieved solid progress in the development of instrumentation that allows determining the presence or absence of protective and risk factors for child abuse.

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Domestic violence as child maltreatment: Differential risks and outcomes among cases referred to child welfare agencies for domestic violence exposure

Cited by 30 publications

References 117 publications

Contradictions and Their Consequences: How Competing Policy Mandates Facilitate Use of a Punitive Framework in Domestic Violence–Child Maltreatment Cases

Contradictions and Their Consequences: How Competing Policy Mandates Facilitate Use of a Punitive Framework in Domestic Violence–Child Maltreatment Cases

Ontario child protection workers' views on assessing risk and planning for safety in exposure to domestic violence cases

Spanish Adaptation of the Inventory Brief Child Abuse Potential and the Protective Factors Survey

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