Homelessness and domestic and family violence in Queensland mining communities: The experiences of women and families accessing safe and affordable housing

1999 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 53

Author(s):

Kim Robinson

Keyword(s):

Social Welfare ◽

Knowledge Base ◽

Family Violence ◽

Service Providers ◽

Service System ◽

Waiting Lists ◽

Women’S Experiences ◽

Women's Experiences ◽

Experiences Of Women

This study examines the experiences of women who have been in situations of family violence, and identifies the barriers they faced when seeking assistance from a variety of services. The research aims to contribute to the knowledge base of the health, social welfare, legal and policing services which respond to calls for assistance from women faced with family violence. The service system is varied in how it conceptualizes family violence, and in the aims of the services it provides. The research reports that the service system does not always meet the needs of victim/survivors, and reveals that service providers are often ill equipped to deal with the complexity of violence. Due to the length of waiting lists and the quality of interventions women experienced particular difficulty in accessing advice based services. A number of recommendations are made for improvements in services.

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“My Heart Feels Chained”

Handbook of Political Violence and Children ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190874551.003.0011 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 301-320

Author(s):

Bree Akesson ◽

Dena Badawi

Keyword(s):

Food Insecurity ◽

Physical Health ◽

Family Violence ◽

Affordable Housing ◽

Family Members ◽

Health Consequences ◽

Low Resource ◽

Refugee Families ◽

Cycle Of Poverty ◽

Mental And Physical Health

Lebanon currently hosts approximately 1.5 million refugees from neighboring Syria. Within this context, Syrian families face high rates of poverty, burdensome governmental policies and regulations, a lack of affordable housing, food insecurity, family violence, and survival practices. Exacerbated by displacement, these vulnerabilities have a destabilizing effect on parents, who are struggling to meet their individual and families’ needs in a low-resource and inhospitable environment. This chapter explores how parents experience daily economic challenges that can significantly affect their ability to adequately care for their children. Data from Syrian refugee families revealed that parents’ feelings of parental adequacy were tied to their ability to provide for their children. Parents’ feelings of inadequacy contributed to an ongoing cycle of poverty for families. Increased stress on family members manifested in negative mental and physical health consequences or family members not being able to work, thereby pushing families further into economic precarity.

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Mothering through and in Violence: Discourses of the ‘Good Mother’

Sociology ◽

10.1177/0038038520967262 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 003803852096726

Author(s):

JaneMaree Maher ◽

Kate Fitz-Gibbon ◽

Silke Meyer ◽

Steven Roberts ◽

Naomi Pfitzner

Keyword(s):

Family Violence ◽

Abusive Relationships ◽

Contemporary Research ◽

Child Relationship ◽

Good Mother ◽

Negative Impacts ◽

Mother Child Relationship ◽

Experiences Of Women ◽

Mother Blame ◽

Women With Disability

Domestic and family violence research recognises mothering is impacted by and implicated in abusive relationships and increasingly attends to the negative impacts of domestic and family violence on children, whether or not they are direct targets of perpetrator abuse. Contemporary research also situates the undermining of the mother/child relationship as common in abusive relationships. Bringing together data from two projects – one investigating the experiences of women with disability, and one focused on women experiencing family violence from their adolescent children – we examine a further way in which mothering is impacted by family violence. While there were distinct challenges for each group of mothers, we argue that adaptable and damaging discourses of the ‘good mother’ impact mothers in situations of domestic and family violence. We argue that unchallenged accounts of ‘good’ mothers as fully responsible for their children animate persistent discourses of mother-blame. These discourses should be understood as a gendered driver of domestic and family violence.

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