Intimate Partner Violence & Domestic Violence Courts

Guest Bloggers: Lynette Renner, PhD, Lindsay Anderson, MSW

This information series includes three blog posts and two issues of Practice Notes. The goal of this series is to provide information and to encourage discussion around children’s exposure to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), specifically within the child welfare system. In this first blog post we will provide the prevalence and behavioral effects of children’s exposure to IPV and its co-occurrence with other forms of violence and victimization.

IPV includes physical violence, sexual violence, stalking and/or psychological aggression by a current or former intimate partner (Breiding, Basile, Smith, Black, & Mahendra, 2015). It is estimated that 15.5 million children in the U.S. live in families in which IPV occurred at least once in the past year, and 7 million live in families in which severe IPV occurred (Whitfield, Andra, Dube, Felittle, 2003). Child welfare professionals should place a priority on assessing for IPV because it frequently occurs in the presence of other forms of violence exposure, including direct child maltreatment and community violence.

Exposure to IPV can put children at risk for a number of negative developmental health outcomes. Several researchers have found that polyvictimization (i.e., multiple victimizations of different kinds) is associated with negative outcomes beyond those attributed to a single type of victimization (Hamby Finzelhor, Turner, Hamby, & Ormrod, 2011). Some of the many negative health outcomes that can result from children’s exposure to IPV include increased frequency of illness, internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, decreased emotional regulation, maladaptive attitudes about violence, and decreased cognitive capacities (Howell et al, 2016).

In our next blog post, we will highlight content from the two Practice Notes in this series.

References

Breiding, M., Basile, K., Smith, S., Black, M., & Mahendra, R. (2015). Intimate partner violence surveillance uniform definitions and recommended data elements. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/intimatepartnerviolence.pdf

Hamby, S, Finkelhor, D., Turner, H., & Ormrod, R. (2011). Children’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and Other Family Violence, Juvenile Justice Bulletin – NCJ 232272. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved from http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/jvq/NatSCEV-Children’s%20ExposureFamily%Violence%20final.pdf

Howell, K., Barnes, S., Miller, L, & Graham-Bermann, S. (2016). Developmental variations in the impact of intimate partner violence exposure during childhood. Journal of Injury and Violence Research. 8 (1), p.43-57. doi:10.5249/jivr.v8i1.663

Whitfield, C. L., Anda, R. F., Dube, S. R., & Felitti, V. J. (2003). Violent childhood experiences and the risk of intimate partner violence in adults: Assessment in a large health maintenance organization. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 18(2), 166-185.

Guest Bloggers: Lynette Renner, PhD, Lindsay Anderson, MSW

This is part two of the three-part blog series on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) exposure in child welfare.

In the first issue of Practice Notes, Intimate Partner Violence in Child Welfare we defined exposure to IPV to range from directly observing the violence, to hearing and/or being told about violence, to seeing the aftermath of the violence (Cunningham & Baker, 2007). In this issue, we presented information on the developmental effects of children’s exposure to IPV at various stages of development and made the case for urgent and appropriate interventions to enhance the safety of all family members.

In the second issue of Practice Notes, we present tips for assessing and discussing factors of risk and resilience when interacting with individuals, families and communities affected by IPV. When assessing risk and resilience factors, it is important so consider all levels, individual, community and environmental. When assessing, child welfare professionals need to ensure that all conversations about IPV:

• Focus around safety and respect
• Introduce and de-stigmatize the violence
• Include reminders that the violence is never the child’s fault
• Involve dialogue between parents and children, and model skills for positive interaction and emotion identification (DeBoard-Lucas, Wasserman, Groves & Blair-Merritt, 2013).

When working specifically with children, workers should help to: 1) create a safe and secure home environment for all children; 2) connect children to trusting and supportive adults who will listen to them, believe them and shelter them; 3) create a sense of routine and normalcy; 4) connect children to support services that address the impact violence in the home; 5) teach children that IPV is never okay; and, 6) have adults advocate for their safety and raise awareness of the impact of IPV on children (National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 2010).

In our third and final blog post, we will focus on additional steps that workers can take to expand their knowledge of IPV. The blog post will include information about how to connect with other resources and agencies for further information and training.

References

Cunningham, A. & Baker, L. (2007). Little eyes, little ears: How violence against a mother shapes children as they grow. Retrieved from, http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2007/phac-aspc/HP20-5-2007E.pdf

DeBoard-Lucas, R., Wasserman, K., Groves, B., & Bair-Merritt, M. (2013). 16 trauma-informed, evidence-based recommendations for advocates working with children exposed to intimate partner violence. Futures Without Violence. Retrieved from, ocadvsa.org

National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Domestic Violence Collaborative Group. (2010). Domestic violence and children: Questions and answers for domestic violence project advocates. Los Angeles, CA, and Durham, NC: National Center for Child Traumatic Stress

Guest Bloggers: Lynette Renner, PhD, Lindsay Anderson, MSW

This information series includes three blog posts and two practice notes. The goal of this series is to provide information and encourage discussion around children’s exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV), specifically within the child welfare system.

The purpose of this final blog post is to provide additional resources for child welfare workers who desire to expand their knowledge of IPV. Included are also resources that workers may use to guide interventions with children and families who experience IPV.

The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence provides support for the expansive Domestic Violence Resource Network (DVRN). Funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the DVRN includes two national resource centers, four special resource centers, three culturally-specific resource centers, a National Domestic Violence Hotline and an LGBTQ Domestic Violence Learning Center. The DVRN works with advocates, educators, government leaders, providers and other community members to promote best practices and strategies to respond to domestic violence.

Below are a few of the resources that are available through this network:

Futures Without Violence: National Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence - Includes personalized technical assistance, an online toolkit for advocates and providers as well as a web-based educational series and research bulletin.

National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma and Mental Health - Provides training to support advocates, legal professionals, policymakers and government officials as they work to improve the ways their agencies and systems respond to survivors of domestic violence.

National Resource Center on Domestic Violence - The NRCDV (now known as VAWnet) develops collections of educational fact sheets, research papers, curriculum, funding alerts and technical assistance for the advancement of practitioner and client knowledge.

National Domestic Violence Hotline - This hotline provides 24/7 support in over 170 languages to any person impacted in some way by domestic violence throughout the United States. Services include crisis intervention, resourcing, safety plan development and advocacy.