Northampton Electronic Collection of Theses and Research

Mothers and children? Representations of mothers in research on children’s outcomes in domestic violence

Callaghan, J. (2015) Mothers and children? Representations of mothers in research on children’s outcomes in domestic violence. Psychology of Women Section Review. 17, pp. 13-20. 1466-3724.

Item Type: Article
Abstract: In this short research review I present a gender focused critique of the established literature on children’s experiences of domestic violence (DV). The project ‘Understanding Agency and Resistance Strategies’ (UNARS) is a two-year research and intervention project exploring children’s capacity for agency and resistance, in situations of DV and abuse. Paradoxically, children’s own experiences of DV are largely absent from the academic literature that explores the impact of DV on them. Children are represented in this literature as damaged by violence that they ‘witness’, as impacted by abuse that they are ‘exposed to’, but they are not really represented as people experiencing DV and abuse, and their voices are rarely heard in academic writing in this area. To address this, the UNARS project focuses on facilitating young people’s articulation of their experience of DV, and particularly how they cope creatively and live agentically. Our main domain of interest was in children’s wellbeing and capacity for resilience and resistance, and this shaped the review that we completed. Our aim in the literature review was to understand the dominant discourses of children who experience DV and abuse, exploring how children and family life are constituted in professional and academic talk. Our strategy was to do through a systematic search of peer-reviewed literature, which was then subject to both a corpus analysis (Rayson, 2008)and a targeted critical discourse analysis (Parker, 1992).
Uncontrolled Keywords: Domestic violence, children, mothers, discourse, corpus analysis, interpersonal violence, parenting
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Women > HQ1101 Women. Feminism > HQ1206 Psychology
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Women > HQ755.7 Parents. Parenthood > HQ759 Motherhood
H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology > HV6001 Criminology > HV6251 Crimes and offences > HV6626 Family violence
H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology > HV697 Protection, assistance and relief > HV701 Children
Creators: Callaghan, Jane
Projects: Understanding Agency and Resistance Strategies
Publisher: British Psychological Society
Northamptonshire and East Midlands: Crime
Health
Social Issues
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes: University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Research Centre > Institute of Health and Wellbeing > Centre for Family Life
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Research Centre > The Centre for Children and Youth
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Research Group > Social and Cultural Research in Psychology Group
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > School of Social Sciences (to 2016)
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Faculty of Health & Society > Psychology
Faculties > Faculty of Health & Society > Psychology
Research Centres > Centre for Health Sciences and Services
Research Centres > Centre for Psychology and Social Sciences
Date: 2015
Date Type: Publication
Page Range: pp. 13-20
Journal or Publication Title: Psychology of Women Section Review
Volume: 17
Language: English
ISSN: 1466-3724
Status: Published / Disseminated
Refereed: Yes
Related URLs:
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URI: http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/7486

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