IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v47y2014ip1p92-101.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Doing the right thing? (Re) Considering risk assessment and safety planning in child protection work with domestic violence cases

Author

Listed:
  • Jenney, Angelique
  • Mishna, Faye
  • Alaggia, Ramona
  • Scott, Katreena

Abstract

The concepts of risk and safety are central to social work practice with survivors of violence against women. Little is known, however, about the interaction between child protection workers and the women with whom they are working, in terms of their understanding of these concepts or how discrepancies between client and worker perceptions may create barriers to developing effective intervention strategies. Employing grounded theory methodology, focus group and interview data were used to explore how both worker and client experiences of the process of risk assessment and safety planning influenced the course of the intervention. Emergent findings reveal that workers and clients held a similar set of beliefs about the social construction/collective representation of woman abuse and the work of child protection. Specifically, for both, the concept of ‘doing the right thing’ was an over-arching theme for understanding how risk and safety are assessed, and determining how cases are opened or closed. Findings illustrate how narrative structures shape interactions that take place within the context of care and prevention, manifesting themselves in complex ways that can lead to risks for both clients and workers, in managing multiple risks, recognizing the complexity of the concept of safety, misunderstanding the impact on children, and the role of men in addressing DV in the lives of their children.

Suggested Citation

  • Jenney, Angelique & Mishna, Faye & Alaggia, Ramona & Scott, Katreena, 2014. "Doing the right thing? (Re) Considering risk assessment and safety planning in child protection work with domestic violence cases," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P1), pages 92-101.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:47:y:2014:i:p1:p:92-101
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.07.015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740914002643
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.07.015?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hoyle, Carolyn, 2008. "Will she be safe? A critical analysis of risk assessment in domestic violence cases," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 323-337, March.
    2. Strega, Susan & Fleet, Claire & Brown, Leslie & Dominelli, Lena & Callahan, Marilyn & Walmsley, Christopher, 2008. "Connecting father absence and mother blame in child welfare policies and practice," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 705-716, July.
    3. Fleck-Henderson, Ann, 2000. "Domestic violence in the child protection system: Seeing double," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 333-354, May.
    4. Hughes, Judy & Chau, Shirley, 2013. "Making complex decisions: Child protection workers' practices and interventions with families experiencing intimate partner violence," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 611-617.
    5. Fusco, Rachel A., 2013. "“It's hard enough to deal with all the abuse issues”: Child welfare workers' experiences with intimate partner violence on their caseloads," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 1946-1953.
    6. Hughes, Judy & Chau, Shirley & Poff, Deborah C., 2011. ""They're not my favourite people": What mothers who have experienced intimate partner violence say about involvement in the child protection system," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1084-1089, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Reif, Katherine & Jaffe, Peter & Dawson, Myrna & Straatman, Anna-Lee, 2020. "Provision of specialized services for children exposed to domestic violence: Barriers encountered in Violence Against Women (VAW) services," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    2. Marwitz, Ulrike & Higgins, Daryl J. & Whelan, Thomas, 2024. "“Kids are in the middle of it” – Child protection practitioners reflect on indicators of coercive control and situational couple violence," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    3. Tutty, Leslie M. & Nixon, Kendra, 2020. "Mothers abused by intimate partners: Comparisons of those with children placed by child protective services and those without," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    4. Olszowy, Laura & Jaffe, Peter G. & Dawson, Myrna & Straatman, Anna-Lee & Saxton, Michael D., 2020. "Voices from the frontline: Child protection workers’ perspectives on barriers to assessing risk in domestic violence cases," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Olszowy, Laura & Jaffe, Peter G. & Dawson, Myrna & Straatman, Anna-Lee & Saxton, Michael D., 2020. "Voices from the frontline: Child protection workers’ perspectives on barriers to assessing risk in domestic violence cases," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    2. Tutty, Leslie M. & Nixon, Kendra, 2020. "Mothers abused by intimate partners: Comparisons of those with children placed by child protective services and those without," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    3. Reif, Katherine & Jaffe, Peter & Dawson, Myrna & Straatman, Anna-Lee, 2020. "Provision of specialized services for children exposed to domestic violence: Barriers encountered in Violence Against Women (VAW) services," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    4. Hughes, Judy & Chau, Shirley, 2013. "Making complex decisions: Child protection workers' practices and interventions with families experiencing intimate partner violence," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 611-617.
    5. de Haan, Irene & Connolly, Marie, 2014. "Another Pandora's box? Some pros and cons of predictive risk modeling," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P1), pages 86-91.
    6. Holt, Stephanie, 2016. "‘Quality’ contact post-separation/divorce: A review of the literature," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 92-99.
    7. Wells, Kathleen, 2011. "A narrative analysis of one mother's story of child custody loss and regain," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 439-447, March.
    8. Fortuna Procentese & Roberto Fasanelli & Stefania Carnevale & Ciro Esposito & Noemi Pisapia & Caterina Arcidiacono & Immacolata Di Napoli, 2020. "Downside: The Perpetrator of Violence in the Representations of Social and Health Professionals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-26, September.
    9. Hughes, Judy & Chau, Shirley & Poff, Deborah C., 2011. ""They're not my favourite people": What mothers who have experienced intimate partner violence say about involvement in the child protection system," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1084-1089, July.
    10. Zanoni, Lee & Warburton, Wayne & Bussey, Kay & McMaugh, Anne, 2014. "Child protection fathers' experiences of childhood, intimate partner violence and parenting," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 91-102.
    11. Friend, Colleen, 2000. "Woman abuse and child protection: A tumultuous marriage (volume ii)," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 309-314, May.
    12. Ayer, Lynsay & Kohl, Patricia & Malsberger, Rosalie & Burgette, Lane, 2016. "The impact of fathers on maltreated youths' mental health," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 16-20.
    13. Bekaert, S. & Paavilainen, E. & Schecke, H. & Baldacchino, A. & Jouet, E. & Zabłocka – Żytka, L. & Bachi, B. & Bartoli, F. & Carrà, G. & Cioni, R.M. & Crocamo, C. & Appleton, J.V., 2021. "Family members’ perspectives of child protection services, a metasynthesis of the literature," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    14. Wood, S. & Scourfield, J. & Stabler, L. & Addis, S. & Wilkins, D. & Forrester, D. & Brand, S.L., 2022. "How might changes to family income affect the likelihood of children being in out-of-home care? Evidence from a realist and qualitative rapid evidence assessment of interventions," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    15. Emily Keddell, 2014. "Current Debates on Variability in Child Welfare Decision-Making: A Selected Literature Review," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 3(4), pages 1-25, November.
    16. Brewsaugh, Katrina & Masyn, Katherine E. & Salloum, Alison, 2018. "Child welfare workers' sexism and beliefs about father involvement," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 132-144.
    17. Stanley, Nicky & Humphreys, Cathy, 2014. "Multi-agency risk assessment and management for children and families experiencing domestic violence," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P1), pages 78-85.
    18. Fusco, Rachel A., 2013. "“It's hard enough to deal with all the abuse issues”: Child welfare workers' experiences with intimate partner violence on their caseloads," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 1946-1953.
    19. Wells, Kathleen & Marcenko, Maureen O., 2011. "Introduction to the Special Issue: Mothers of children in foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 419-423, March.
    20. Friend, Colleen & Shlonsky, Aron & Lambert, Liz, 2008. "From evolving discourses to new practice approaches in domestic violence and child protective services," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 689-698, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:47:y:2014:i:p1:p:92-101. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.