Anna Maria Rosso. (2022). Psychoanalytic Interventions with Abusive Parents: An Opportunity for Children’s Mental Health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(13015), 13015. https://doi-org.ezproxy.tru.ca/10.3390/ijerph192013015
Summary: Studies have shown the truth that is “most people who experience maltreatment in their childhood develop mental disorders, psychosocial adjustment problems, &, in many cases, becoming maltreating adults themselves” (Rosso, 2022, p.2). A child’s environment will ultimately shape their future beliefs & morals, which is why having a healthy relationship between parent & child is crucial. In 1989, the Children Act stated that “striking a balance between protecting children & ensuring that they can remain with their families” (Rosso, 2022, p.2) should be a priority, and social service workers should seek help for the mental health of the parents before acting in removing the children from the environment. In many cases, children are removed from their homes & placed in foster homes or with adoptive families, but what is often overlooked are the long-term effects that the displacement of the child has on their future self. “While removal from the family protects the child from the risk of maltreatment, it also exposes him/her to permanently undermining the possibility of repairing the relationship with his/her parents, understood both as real persons and as his/her internal representations” (Rosso, 2022, p.2).
“A recent meta-analysis confirmed that sensitive, stable, and secure relationships can break the cycle of abuse” (Rosso, 2022, p.3). Being able to form positive & healthy relationships, and receiving both emotional & social support from adults can help children differentiate their experience with abuse from the healthy relationships between a child & parent or adult.
Archway society for domestic peace, Vernon BC. Archway Society. (2022, September 20). https://archwaysociety.ca/
Summary: The Archway Society is an agency from Vernon which offers women’s outreach programs, child and youth counselling, homelessness prevention, victim services, child and youth advocacy, and sexual assault services.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, April 6). Risk and protective factors|child abuse and neglect|violence prevention|injury Center|CDC. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/riskprotectivefactors.html
Summary: The Website talks about how children are not directly responsible for any harm or abuse they experience; however, studies have shown there are factors consistent with being responsible for an increased risk of facing maltreatment. Factors including societal, individual, community, & relational factors contribute to the likelihood of experiencing or perpetrating abuse; although may not directly be the root cause. The website then points to all of the factors for both victims and perpetrators.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, October 15). Prevention strategies|child abuse and neglect|violence prevention|injury Center|CDC. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/vacs/prevention.html
Summary: The website highlights Inspire Strategies. Inspire was designed by ten agencies including the Centres for Disease Control & Prevention and the World Health Organization. Inspire is an evidence-based approach to ending & preventing violence against children & youth. The Inspire tools are a resource to available to anyone looking to prevent violence against children & youth in all aspects of life.
Cole, A. (2015, July 30). Domestic violence: A child’s perspective | Abi Cole | TedXDurhamUniversity. YouTube. Retrieved November 5, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cadKzL0Ec00
Summary: In this TedTalk, Abi Cole shares a powerful story about her lived experiences growing up with Domestic Violence in her childhood home, hoping to bring a new perspective of awareness to Domestic Violence & its effects. She begins her talk by sharing important statistics on Domestic Violence, shedding light on the fact that “every week two women are killed by their current or former partners in the UK. Thirty percent of the women & 16 percent of the men in the UK will experience Domestic Violence within their lifetimes” (Cole, 2015). Adding to this shocking percentage of people, she expresses how men are twice as likely to keep their experiences with Domestic Violence hidden from the rest of the world. The new perspective Abi brings to the audience is that there are not always only two people involved in Domestic Disputes or in Violent relationships. The fact Abi brings to the table is that “disturbingly, ninety percent of the Domestic Violence incidents reported in the UK involve a family setting where children are present or nearby, & over half of these cases children are also directly abused” (Cole, 2015). Abi points to the fact that society pays greater attention to physical injuries, rather than mental traumas, which in fact take longer to recover from than physical injuries. She explains how the most important thing to do is recognize the long-term effects of the mental illness that arise from Domestic Abuse, & base sentencing on the weight of that as opposed to overlooking it completely & focusing solely on the physical abuse aspects.
Herbst, A. (2018, January 9). Domestic violence from a son’s perspective | Adam Herbst | tedxyouth@parkcity. YouTube. Retrieved November 5, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD52ne0rRw0
Summary: Adam Herbst was a senior high school student attending Park City High School in Utah at the time of his TedTalk. Adam begins his talk by diving into what Domestic Violence is, according to the ‘National Coalition Against Domestic Violence’, it is defined as “the willful intimidation, physical & sexual abuse as a pattern of power & control”. Adam does not deny the truth of this definition; instead, he elaborates on it. He talks about how yes, those are characteristics of Domestic Violence, but that definition is missing much more. One major element of someone experiencing Domestic Violence is the effect on their mental health, Adam announces. He dives into this from the perspective of someone with lived experiences, he speaks to how maybe the child sitting alone at the back of the classroom isn’t just the ‘weird kid’, or maybe the student refusing to bring their parents to ‘parent-teacher night’ at school, is not because they fear discipline based on their academic performance, but because they fear the behaviour of their parents. But what is being done about this? “We’ve thrown money at the problem, we haven’t seen much difference, we have coalitions and government actions so something should be happening right? not exactly. We’ve moved this into the realm of a social issue, we have stopped working in tandem with the government to try to minimize Domestic Violence, we have created a society where this is allowed” (Herbst, 2018), Adam goes on to say. He brings up a great point about how Domestic Violence has become in a sense, ‘normalized’ in today’s society. You can see aspects of Domestic Violence in television shows that run back as far as 20 years ago, Adam brings shows like the Simpsons & Family Guy, both shows running themes include family drama & include violence in the home. Adam goes on to say how society can not just claim this issue to be a problem for the generations to come, & discusses how the time is now to work together to end Domestic Violence.
Interior Community Services. https://www.interiorcommunityservices.bc.ca/
Summary: Interior Community Services offer a range of programs for child and family services. these services offer so many support options which include support for abuse victims or children who witness violence.
Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre. (2022, July 7). https://www.ksacc.ca/
Summary: Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre offers programs such as adult, youth, and child counselling services and also community based victim-services for victims of abuse or sexual assault.
Logan-Greene, P., & Semanchin Jones, A. (2022, September 23). Predicting chronic neglect. Casey Family Programs. Retrieved November 5, 2022, from https://www.casey.org/a2a-predicting-chronic-neglect/
Summary: This scholarly website showcases a conducted study for the purpose of specifically examining the ‘use of risk assessment tools in predicting subsequent chronic neglect’ (Logan-Greene & Semanchin Jones, 2022). The study grouped participants into groups (A) or (B). Group (A) consisted of families with no reported chronic neglect, whereas group (B) consisted of families who had at least four more neglect reports screened between 2009 & 2014.
“N.A, (2022,10,19), The daily: Victims of police-reported family and intimate partner violence in Canada, 2021, Statistics Canada” https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/221019/dq221019c-eng.htm
Summary: Since COVID, the number of reported abuse has gone up. In 2021, a rate of 336 victims per 100,000 population. The rate of family violence is twice as high for women and girls than it is for men and boys. This jump in 2021 marked the fifth consecutive year of increase. From 2020-2021, the abuse rate of intimate partner violence jumped up by 2%, while partner violence from non-intimate settings increased by 6%. In comparison to before the pandemic in 2019, intimate partner violence has increased by 4% in 2021 and non-intimate partner violence increased by 2% (Statistics Canada, 2022). In addition, looking at the stats for 2021 children and youth up to 17 model one in five victims of family violence reported to the police (which is 19%). Out of this demographic, more than 64% were girls which is nearly twice as high as boys. Family violence against youth and children in 2021 was 9% higher than it was pre-pandemic in 2019. Since looking back to 2009, family violence towards children and youth has increased 25% (Statistics Canada, 2022). Along with victims in 2021, there was a big increase in the number of level 1 sexual assault, which was a 19% increase compared with 2020. The overall police reported violence increased to a lesser degree at 5%. With intimate partners more specifically, there as well was a large scale increase of level 1 sexual assault in comparison to 2020 and that is 22% (Statistics Canada, 2022).
Need help? Ending Violence BC. (2022, October 25). https://endingviolence.org/need-help/
Summary: Ending Violence BC is a website that offers many programs to help victims of abuse such as VictimLink BC, community-based victim services, counselling programs, outreach programs, and programs educating people on sexual violence.
“Peace for Children & Youth Experiencing Violence.” PEACE for Children and Youth Experiencing Violence, https://www.options.bc.ca/program/peace-children-youth-experiencing-violence.
Summary: For children and youth that reside in Surrey. PEACE stands for Prevention, Education, Advocacy, Counselling, Empowerment
This website provides education and supportive counselling for children and youth that have witnessed/experienced domestic violence/abuse
- PEACE helps children and youth better understand their feelings and how to express them in a safe but strong manner, as well as to help improve their communication and problem-solving skills. Knowing the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships is something that children that have been around violence and abuse really need, it can also help them identify the difference between being angry and abusive behaviour.
Programs. Seniors First BC. (2020, April 15).https://seniorsfirstbc.ca/programs/
Summary: This program is offered by Seniors First BC to seniors of BC who are experiencing abuse, victim services, and legal programs.
Ragavan, M. I., Skinner, C. M., Killough, E. F., Henderson, C., Eichman, A. L., & Randell, K. A. (2022). Child Protective Services Reports in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence: A Delphi Process Examining Best Practices. Academic Pediatrics, 22(5), 833–841. https://doi-org.ezproxy.tru.ca/10.1016/j.acap.2022.02.019
Summary: Intimate Partner Violence, also known as (IPV) is a health epidemic in the United States, studies have shown that 1 in every 5 children experience it. Child Protective Services, also known as (CPS), is used to report incidents of IPV, & CPS has the authority to do what is necessary to protect the children experiencing maltreatment by their parent, guardian or caregiver. Reporting maltreatment to CPS is not as straightforward as some assume, there are certain factors which make this complex. Pediatric healthcare providers face difficulty when supporting IPV survivors because of their role as reporters to CPS by the law of duty. The goal of reporting to CPS is so measures can be taken to protect the child; however, abusers are known to manipulate IPV survivors using Child Protective Services reports. They will manipulate survivors by threatening them with custody battles in court, or reports made also have the ability to increase the abuse the survivor is experiencing. This can be an issue for healthcare providers because IPV survivors may fear the obligation of the provider to file a CPS report, which then creates barriers for the family & healthcare practitioner. “Establishing clear recommendations for CPS reporting in the context of IPV would enable providers to consistently use best practices, ensuring IPV survivors and their children are safely supported and empowered throughout the filing process” (Eichman et al, 2022).
“Scottish Women’s Aid, 2019, Hidden in Plain Sight- Coercive Control and Domestic Abuse, [Video], YouTube.com” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36mQFefBylM
Summary: Coercive control is a pattern of deliberate abuse that leaves the victim feeling intimidated, dependent and isolated over time. Coercive control is illegal, it makes the victims feel lost and very alone from everyone including themselves. Coercive abuse is not visible and it’s unpredictable and manipulative, the abusers in this scenario blame their anger on their partner and make them feel as though it’s their fault. Coercive abusers often will need control over their partner and can show up at their place of work, frequent/constant calls and check ups, has access to personal emails and messages, controls what they eat and wear etc. Coercive control is silent yet so impactful and causes so much harm to the victims.
“Sexall video & animation, 2021, Tash: A short film by Natasha Anderson: Family Safety Victoria, , youtube.com” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCpB024UIZY
Summary: This video shows the trauma of family violence and abuse from the perspective of the children. After being the child of an abusive household where herself, her mother and brother were being abused and threatened by their father. This video talks about the long lasting trauma that comes not only from being around violence, but also being put through the system after. She speaks about the different tolls it played on her brother and her being separated and placed in separate locations. She hopes she can support and bring more light to the silent problem and can help more children like her and her brother get out of those dangerous situations and help provide them with tools to have healthy relationships in life.
“TED, 2013, Why domestic violence victims don’t leave- Leslie Morgan Steiner, , youtube.com” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yW5IsnSjo&t=6s
Summary: Overall this video showed from the perspective of a woman (Leslie Morgan Steiner) that had been in an abusive relationship herself, a very real and relatable pattern of thinking for a victim in a situation like that and why they ‘don’t leave’. Leslie talks about the different stages of abuse and some warning signs or patters you can keep and eye out for. She also talks about why domestic abuse is so confusing, and how violence in an intimate and personal relationship-like a family, is hard for some people to fully grasp and understand.
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN INTERVENTION AND SUPPORT SERVICES – SUPPORTING WOMEN AND CHILDREN TO FIND SAFETY. Kamloops YMCA-YWCA. https://www.kamloopsy.org/vawiss.htm
Summary: This website offers programs which help victims of violence find housing as well as other programs to help coping.