Coercive control of women as mothers via strategic mother–child separation

Women And Children ◽

Child Separation ◽

Mother Blaming ◽

British Study

This study extends existing research into abusive men’s use of children as part of their strategies to undermine mothering roles: target women as mothers, damage mother–child relationships and cause mother–child separations. It is the first British study into strategic mother–child separation to be conducted with mothers who were actually separated from their children. The purpose of the study was to illuminate the tactics used in this type of coercive control, to assist women and practitioners to address this problem using recent UK coercive control legislation. Qualitative accounts of six women who described having their children turned against them by abusive ex-partners (who were also the children’s fathers) were examined. Thematic analysis identified eight themes as perpetrator tactics of strategic separation: 1) Lying to and manipulating children; 2) Sabotaging children’s contact with their mothers; 3) Weaponising children; 4) Conditioning children through reward and punishment; 5) Exploiting women’s vulnerability, particularly as mothers; 6) Threatening mothers with taking their children from them; 7) Actively employing mother-blaming by exploiting mother-blaming institutions and practices; and 8) Denigrating mothers and elevating themselves in order to supplant mothers as children’s primary caregivers and attachment figures. Because service responses fail to address this aspect of men’s violence against women and children, the article is positioned to inform policy, practice and service provision. Limitations are outlined and areas for further research highlighted.<br /><br />Key messages<br /><ul><li>Abusive men’s strategic interference in the mother–child relationship is achieved through: the direct and indirect use and abuse of children, undermining mothers via mother-blaming; exploiting professionals, and capitalising on patriarchal institutions and mother-blaming theories, systems and practices.</li><br /><li>Recognising this form of abuse as a criminal offence could be addressed using the recent UK coercive control legislation.</li></ul>

Coercive Control, Domestic Violence, and a Five-Factor Framework: Five Factors That Influence Closeness, Distance, and Strain in Mother–Child Relationships

Violence Against Women ◽

10.1177/1077801218824998 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 25 (15) ◽

pp. 1829-1853 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Emma Katz

Keyword(s):

Domestic Violence ◽

Qualitative Interviews ◽

Coercive Control ◽

Child Relationship ◽

Five Factors ◽

Mothers And Children ◽

Children’S Views ◽

Some mother–child relationships become more strained and distant than others in domestic violence contexts, but the processes influencing this are little understood. Qualitative interviews with 15 mothers and 15 children were held to explore their experiences. Findings suggested that five interlinked factors influenced levels of closeness, distance, and strain in mother–child relationships: (1) perpetrator’s/father’s behavior toward children, (2) perpetrator’s/father’s use of domestic violence, (3) perpetrator’s/father’s undermining of mother–child relationship, (4) mother’s ability to emotionally connect to children, and (5) children’s views of mother and perpetrator/father. These findings have global significance for services and practitioners who work with domestic violence–experienced mothers and children and may help to tailor responses more effectively to mothers’ and children’s needs.

Mother–child relations in adulthood within and across national borders: non-Western immigrants in the Netherlands

Ageing and Society ◽

10.1017/s0144686x15000823 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 36 (10) ◽

pp. 2010-2035 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

ILSE N. ROOYACKERS ◽

HELGA A. G. DE VALK ◽

EVA-MARIA MERZ

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Latent Class ◽

Family Relations ◽

Panel Study ◽

Child Relationship ◽

Practical Support ◽

Intergenerational Ties ◽

Mother Child Relations

ABSTRACTWe examined structures of (trans)national mother–child relationships in adulthood among non-Western immigrants in the Netherlands and assessed how acculturation impacted these intergenerational ties. From the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese and Antillean respondents were selected whose mother lived in the Netherlands (N = 360) or abroad (N = 316). First, extending a previous typology of immigrant mother–child relations in the Netherlands, Latent Class Analysis was conducted for transnational relations. As expected, combining information about given and/or received emotional and financial support resulted in an emotional-interdependent and detached transnational mother–child relationship. Second, acculturation effects were estimated by using relationship assignment as a dependent variable, performing Logistic Regressions on our uni-national and transnational sample. Findings were mixed, suggesting acculturation impacts differently on family relations within and across borders. Overall, our results demonstrate the importance of reciprocal affective ties in a transnational context, also in the absence of financial or practical support, and show the relevance of distinguishing different facets of acculturation.

Effect of Emotional Closeness in Mother-Child Relationship on the Child’s Relationships with Peers at Preschool Age

Psychological Science and Education ◽

10.17759/pse.2017220611 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 22 (6) ◽

pp. 118-129

Author(s):

M.V. Bulygina ◽

E.L. Myachina

Keyword(s):

Empirical Study ◽

Peer Interactions ◽

Preschool Age ◽

Emotional Closeness ◽

Child Relationship ◽

Emotional Relationships ◽

Different Types ◽

The paper presents outcomes of an empirical study that aimed to explore the correlation between mother-child relationships and the child’s relationships with peers at preschool age. The hypothesis was that the character and degree of emotional closeness between the mother and the child affects the quality of the child’s interactions with peers. The study involved 166 subjects: 83 children aged 4—5 years from Moscow kindergartens and their mothers. As it was found, different types of emotional relationships between the mother and the child (distant, emotionally close, normal) are associated with certain features of peer interactions. Interacting with peers was most problematic in the children whose mothers are emotionally distant from them. Those children who were in very close emotional relationships with their mothers had much more conflicts with peers as well. The mothers in this group were also less adequate and more permissive when evaluating their child’s proneness to conflict.

Mother-Child Relationships in Rehabilitation of the Physically Disabled

Social Casework ◽

10.1177/104438945103200606 ◽

1951 ◽

Vol 32 (6) ◽

pp. 261-265 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ann M. Powers ◽

Morris Grayson ◽

Joseph Levi

Keyword(s):

Body Image ◽

Social Workers ◽

The Body ◽

Physical Medicine ◽

Child Relationship ◽

Diagnostic Decision ◽

The Social ◽

The Disabled ◽

1. The mother-child relationship may constitute an obstacle to the effective rehabilitation of the disabled younger group. This relationship has to be seen as a dynamic one, involving the body image of the mother as well as that of the child. 2. A casework diagnostic decision regarding whom to attempt to refer—mother, child, or both—which includes psychiatric and psychological evaluation is frequently essential in assisting the social worker with this problem. 3. Following the patient's discharge, the need for continuing a casework contact after a lapse of a few months appears to be a decisive factor in some cases for eventual successful referral of the younger group. Proper handling of referrals, by the caseworker's understanding of the above factors, can mean success or failure in the rehabilitation of the young disabled person. It is equally important that physicians and other disciplines in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation, as well as social workers, recognize and assist in paving the way for proper referrals.

Mothering in the Context of Violence: Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Mothers’ Experiences in Regional Settings in Australia

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260520975818 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 088626052097581

Author(s):

Silke Meyer ◽

Rose-Marie Stambe

Keyword(s):

Indigenous Women ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Face To Face ◽

Sustainable Housing ◽

Single Parent Household ◽

Child Relationship ◽

Women Experiences ◽

Women And Children ◽

Domestic and family violence (DFV) disproportionately affects women and children in Australia and globally. On average, one in three women experiences DFV during adulthood and the majority of these women identify as mothers. The prevalence of DFV is higher for Indigenous women and their experiences disproportionately range at the more severe end of physical abuse. For women affected by DFV, mothering during and post this type of victimization is complicated by strategic entrapment, undermining of the mother–child relationship, and threats of harm directed at children and mothers. While a substantial body of literature has examined the experiences of mothers affected by DFV more broadly, research on the experiences of Indigenous mothers affected by DFV remains scarce. Research evidence is further limited when trying to understand the specific constraints experienced by mothers affected by DFV in regional settings. This article examines the experiences of Indigenous and non-Indigenous mothers affected by DFV in regional Queensland, Australia. Data derived from 17 qualitative face-to-face interviews are used to explore the lived experiences of these mothers. Findings identify the immediate and long-term effects of DFV on mothers and children, including similarities and differences in women’s experiences of mothering in the context of DFV, experiences of entrapment in an abusive relationship, experiences of post-separation abuse, strategies used to mitigate its impact on children, and surviving as a female-headed single-parent household in regional settings. While mothers in this study shared a number of similar experiences, regionality, the risk of cultural disconnectedness, and socio-structural marginalization disproportionately affected Indigenous mothers in this study. Findings raise key implications for supporting mothers and children’s safety and recovery, access to safe and sustainable housing in regional towns, and the empowerment of Indigenous women to overcome the lasting effects of colonization and disproportionate experiences of disadvantage.

Trajectories of mother-child and father-child relationships across middle childhood and associations with depressive symptoms

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579418000809 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 31 (04) ◽

pp. 1381-1393 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jia Yan ◽

Sarah J. Schoppe-Sullivan ◽

Xin Feng

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Youth Development ◽

Middle Childhood ◽

Lower Risk ◽

Emotional Adjustment ◽

Relationship Closeness ◽

Child Relationship ◽

Early Child Care ◽

AbstractUsing a family systems perspective, we examined the trajectories of father-child and mother-child closeness and conflict across Grades 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and their associations with child depressive symptoms across middle childhood among 685 families in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD). Father-child and mother-child relationship conflict increased, whereas relationship closeness decreased from Grades 1 to 6. Girls with more slowly increasing father-child conflict, and more slowly decreasing father-child closeness, were at lower risk for depressive symptoms. Boys with more slowly increasing mother-child conflict were at lower risk for depressive symptoms. These findings highlight the important roles of both father-child and mother-child relationships in children's emotional adjustment during middle childhood.

Maternal incarceration : exploring the impact on children

10.32920/ryerson.14664303 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lia Morrin Jenner

Keyword(s):

Research Study ◽

Exploratory Research ◽

Maternal Incarceration ◽

Individual Interviews ◽

Child Relationship ◽

Child Friendly ◽

The Law ◽

The Impact

The purpose of this exploratory research study was to examine the impact of maternal incarceration on mothers and their children from an ecological perpective. Individual interviews were conducted with four mothers who have previously been in conflict with the law and have been in custody for a minimum twelve months. Two primary workers from Elizabeth Fry Society of Simcoe County were also interviewed for another perspective pertaining to this topic. Participants were recruited by distributing advertisements at the Elizabeth Fry Society of Simcoe County. This study coincided with the literature and found that there are a number of combining factors from the broader system which impact the developmetnal outcomes of a child. After analyzing the data it appeared that there were two main aspects reported by all participants that affect children when their mothers are incarcerated. These include: System Barriers and Resouce Barriers. The participants from this study recommended child friendly centres and physical visitations to rectify and mainain the mother-child relationship while mothers are incarcerated. This study helped to deconstruct norms associated with traditional families and recognized the unique experiences of mother-child relationships during incarceration.

Maternal incarceration : exploring the impact on children

10.32920/ryerson.14664303.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lia Morrin Jenner

Keyword(s):

Research Study ◽

Exploratory Research ◽

Maternal Incarceration ◽

Individual Interviews ◽

Child Relationship ◽

Child Friendly ◽

The Law ◽

The Impact

Victims of Domestic Violence in Shelters: Impacts on Women and Children

The Spanish Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1017/sjp.2018.21 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 21 ◽

Author(s):

Liria Fernández-González ◽

Esther Calvete ◽

Izaskun Orue ◽

Alice Mauri

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Domestic Violence ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Health Problems ◽

Emergency Shelter ◽

Child Relationship ◽

Women And Children ◽

Type Of Abuse ◽

The Impact

AbstractThe aim of this study was to examine the impact of domestic violence (DV) on women and their children. The records of women who were admitted to one of two types of shelter (an emergency shelter [n = 834] and a medium-long stay shelter [n = 84]) for victims of DV in Bizkaia (Spain) from 2006–2015 were analyzed. The results showed that up to 80% of the women had mental health problems. In about 20% of cases, a problematic mother-child relationship was identified. Inadequate parenting was present in around 35% of cases. Around 80–90% of the children had witnessed the abuse suffered by their mother, and more than half had been direct victims of some type of abuse. The findings point to actions that shelters can take to address the needs of DV victims. They also highlight the need for separate interventions targeting the needs of children, as well as mothers.

Links between marital quality, the mother–child relationship and child behavior

International Journal of Behavioral Development ◽

10.1177/0165025416635281 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 285-294 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Katharine M. Mark ◽

Alison Pike

Keyword(s):

Child Behavior ◽

Behavioral Problems ◽

Marital Quality ◽

Romantic Relationship ◽

Differential Outcomes ◽

Child Relationship ◽

Outcomes For Children ◽

Target Children

We investigated the association between marital quality and child behavior, assessing mother–child relationship quality as a potential mediator. The sample included 78 mothers with two target children (mean ages = 9.82 and 12.05 years, respectively). Mothers reported on their children’s behavior as well as their marital quality, while each child reported on their relationship with their mother. Confirming our hypothesis, marital quality did relate to child behavior. Contrary to our expectations, the mother–child relationship provided negligible mediation of the link, but did provide significant prediction of child behavior in its own right. Importantly, our findings show differential outcomes for children within the same family, supporting a differentiated child-specific outlook. Further evidence that both marital quality and shared, as well as differential, mother–child relationships link with child behavior is provided here. Consequently, interventions with the aim of decreasing children’s behavioral problems and increasing more positive conduct can usefully include a focus on the nature of the parents’ romantic relationship, alongside parenting.