Callaghan, J. (2015) Children who experience domestic violence: emotional competence and paradoxical resilience. Invited Keynote presented to: British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (BASPCAN) Conference: Beautiful Minds: Nurturing and Promoting Mental Wellbeing in Children, Birmingham, 05 October 2015. (Unpublished)
| Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (Invited Keynote) |
|---|---|
| Abstract: | Academic and professional literature on domestic violence tends to represent children and young people as relatively passive, describing them as ‘exposed’ to violence, as ‘witnesses’, ‘impacted’ by the violence they see (e.g. Øverlien 2013; Mullender et al. 2003). Resilience research in this area tends to rest on a fairly mainstream account of resilience as ‘health despite adversity’ (Masten, 1999). This model relies on a sense of the restoration of ‘normative’ childhood, which, we argue, discounts the complex ways that children are able to resist oppressive and alienating practices of violence in family contexts. In contrast we propose that children who live in conflict laden environments find complex ways of coping and managing themselves and their relationships. Using the example of emotional competence, we highlight the highly contextualised nature of children’s capacity to cope. We highlight particularly how detached observers might pathologise children’s actions and interactions, without understanding sufficiently their function in the context in which children live. In particular, children who experience domestic violence and abuse describe ways of adjusting to and resisting domestic violence that involve an intertwining of ‘damage’ and ‘coping’ – a kind of paradoxical resilience. We outline what this paradoxical resilience might entail, and consider the implications of this construct for understanding the lives and experiences of children who live with violence. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Domestic violence, children, domestic abuse, resistance, wellbeing, emotional competence |
| Subjects: |
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Women > HQ767 Children. Child development 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 |
| Funders or Sponsors: | European Commission (Daphne III) |
| Grant Reference Number: | JUST/2012/DAP-AG-3461 |
| Projects: | Understanding Agency and Resistance Strategies: Children in Situations of Domestic Violence |
| 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: | 5 October 2015 |
| Date Type: | Presentation |
| Event Title: | British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (BASPCAN) Conference: Beautiful Minds: Nurturing and Promoting Mental Wellbeing in Children |
| Event Dates: | 05 October 2015 |
| Event Location: | Birmingham |
| Event Type: | Conference |
| Language: | English |
| Status: | Unpublished |
| Related URLs: | |
| URI: | http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/7845 |
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