Mothers' and social workers' perspectives on social work interventions in domestic abuse cases

This research will examine the nature of social work involvement with families in cases
involving domestic abuse by looking at mothers' experiences and social workers'
perspectives. Statutory children's services frequently focus primarily on the mother,
including in domestic abuse cases where the mother has experienced the abuse. The
negative consequences, particularly for the women, are well known from research. However,
a more nuanced approach is needed to take into account the complexities of social work
practice in such cases; the wider context of austerity; and newer understandings linking
domestic violence with aspects of a person's context and experiences (including poverty and
ethnicity). An intersectional feminist approach will be used to enable all these issues to be
fully explored.

Intersectionality is a way of understanding the interconnectedness of multiple oppressions
and identities. Gender, heritage, sexuality, income and all other aspects of people's social
context and identity intersect to shape their experiences and therefore their needs. These
experiences need to be understood within a broader analysis of systems of power and
domination.

The research will focus on two questions: How do we understand the differences in mothers'
experiences of children's services in cases involving domestic abuse? What are the social
workers' perspectives on their work with families where there is domestic abuse?
Qualitative interviews with mothers and social workers will be carried out using a narrative
approach. Semi-structured interviews will be used with social workers to facilitate the
focusing on certain topics. The approach will allow the voices and experiences of participants
to be heard. Constructivist grounded theory will be used to analyse the data and really
understand the realities of all participants within wider social structures.

The study will be carried out in two locations: an inner city local authority and an area with
rural poverty, providing a broad range of participants. A scoping study will be carried out in the
MRes year, and the main study will be carried out over the three year PhD period.

The aim of this research is to develop a better informed theoretical understanding of women's experiences and perceptions of social work intervention. A further aim is to improve social work practice with mothers, children and families, and contribute to the development of more sensitive policy and theoretical frameworks for working with families. Understanding and addressing the needs of families requires social workers to understand the experiences and contexts of the families they are working with. This then also needs to feed into social work policy as the policy framework social workers operate within can limit, or enable, work carried out with families. The importance of using an intersectional lens is demonstrated by growing evidence linking socioeconomic factors and domestic abuse, child abuse and neglect.