“Witness” to violence? Psychological discourses of children in situations of domestic violence

Callaghan, J. and Sixsmith, J. (2013) “Witness” to violence? Psychological discourses of children in situations of domestic violence. Paper presented to: Congress of Critical Social Psychology: Discourse, Materiality and Politics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, 2013-02-08.

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Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Abstract:	This paper takes a critical discursive and feminist perspective on psychological accounts of children who experience domestic violence. Academic, popular and professional discourses around domestic violence (DV) tend to represent children and young people (CYP) as passive witnesses and victims - as individuals who watch, who suffer from and who are damaged by the violence (e.g. Rivett and Howarth, 2006; Spilsbury et al, 2007). We consider how constructs like ‘witness’, ‘trauma’ and ‘exposure’ operate in psychological and other health and social care discourses of children, exploring the implications of such constructions for young people’s identities. In particular we explore how such accounts constrain the articulation of more agentic and resistant subjectivities in children living with domestic violence
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Domestic violence, agency, children, domestic abuse, mental health, resilience, resistance
Creators:	Callaghan, Jane and Sixsmith, Judith
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes:	Faculties > Faculty of Health & Society > Psychology Research Centres > Centre for Health Sciences and Services Research Centres > Centre for Psychology and Social Sciences
Date:	8 February 2013
Date Type:	Publication
Journal or Publication Title:	Congress of Critical Social Psychology: Discourse, Materiality and Politics
Event Title:	Congress of Critical Social Psychology: Discourse, Materiality and Politics
Event Dates:	2013-02-08
Event Location:	Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Event Type:	Other
Language:	English
Status:	Published / Disseminated
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/11413

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