scholarly journals “I Thought It Was My Fault Just for Being Born”. A Review of an SEL Programme for Teenage Victims of Domestic Violence

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 784
Author(s):  
Norah Sweetman
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Young People ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Family Service ◽  
Self Blame ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Communications Skills

Research has established the life-altering effects of living with domestic violence on young people. Traumatic experiences negatively impact their education, leisure activities, and social-emotional learning (SEL). The secrecy concerning domestic violence means young people suffer self-blame, shame, fear of disclosure and family separation. The researcher designed a 12-week multimedia programme, ‘up2talk’, to enhance the communications skills and emotional literacy of the participants. Parents and teenagers were fully informed of the aims and previously attended the family service hosting the programme. Domestic violence was identified as a core issue, without the expectation of personal disclosure. This approach enabled young people to voice and explore the effects of domestic violence on their lives. Participants developed the elements of the programme and a family worker co-facilitated the groups. The third-party approaches: ‘how would a teenager feel?’, artistic expression, assertiveness, debates and videoing drama increased SEL and generated discussion, while protecting privacy. Parents provided two interviews concerning their children, and teenagers provided three individual interviews and ongoing group reviews. A thematic analysis showed a reduction in shame and self-blame, enhanced self-esteem and self-efficacy, increased engagement in education and recreation and improved family relationships. Themes were triangulated by facilitators’ observations, interview data, artefacts, group reviews and parental feedback. All families were offered follow-up support. The effectiveness of the interactive group indicates opportunities for its development in educational and youth settings.

Children’s Appraisals as Mediators of the Relationship Between Domestic Violence and Child Adjustment

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrée Fortin ◽  
Martin Doucet ◽  
Dominique Damant
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Child Adjustment ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Self Blame ◽  
Exposure To Domestic Violence ◽  
Attribution Of Blame ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

This study examines the relationships among variables that were likely to mediate the effects of exposure to domestic violence on children’s internalizing problems (i.e., children’s appraisals of domestic violence and their perceptions of family relationships). The study was conducted with 79 children exposed to domestic violence, including 41 boys and 38 girls, aged between 9 and 12 years old. Indicators used for children’s appraisals of violence were attribution of blame and perceived threat. Children’s perceptions of family relationships were based on their levels of parentification and the degree of their loyalty conflicts. A path analysis was used to verify the predictive model’s pathways and to test the multiple mediator effects. Findings confirm the contribution of mediating variables and also reflect the association between self-blame and children’s parentification. The results stress the relevance of evaluating the combined role of different potential mediators to provide a better understanding of the impact of domestic violence on children.

scholarly journals The imprint of trauma on family relationships: an enquiry into what may trouble a ‘troubled family’ and its implications for whole-family services

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry Tew
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Family Support ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
National Study ◽  
Family Services ◽  
Recovery Capital ◽  
Relational Systems ◽  
The Impact

For some families facing complex difficulties, an underlying issue can be the impact of traumatic experiences, such as child abuse or domestic violence. While the impact of trauma on individuals is relatively well understood, its impact on the functioning of family or relational systems is less well theorised. This article takes forward the development of an original theoretical framework by which to understand both the impact of trauma at a collective level and the resources that people may need in order for them to overcome its legacy ‐ building principally building on concepts of family schema and recovery capital. This discussion is grounded in the practice context of whole-family support and decision-making services, and is explored through an analysis of narrative data obtained as part of a wider national study into whole-family approaches.

The Experiences of Children and Young People Who Have Been Exposed to Domestic Violence

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Lapierre ◽  
Isabelle Cote ◽  
Dominique Damant ◽  
Marie Drolet ◽  
Chantal Lavergne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Young People ◽  
Children And Young People

scholarly journals The Emotional Nature of Birth Family Relationships for Care-experienced and Adopted Young People: A Longitudinal Perspective

2020 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2097843
Author(s):  
Montserrat Fargas-Malet ◽  
Dominic McSherry
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Dynamic Nature ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Adoption Research ◽  
Mixed Feelings ◽  
Birth Family ◽  
Theory Research

Research focused on relationships and contact with birth family for children and young people who were separated from them as infants has rarely acknowledged the emotional and dynamic nature of such interactions. Curiosity has been dominant in adoption research. However, in our longitudinal study of young people who entered care at a young age, a range of other feelings and combination of feelings emerged in the youths’ narratives, including contentment and mixed feelings such as anger, affection, loss, guilt, or worry. Type of placement, that is, whether the young people had been adopted, lived with kinship foster carers or non-relative foster parents, did not determine their emotional reactions to their birth family. The young people’s perspectives and emotions often changed over time. In this article, we describe the young people’s emotional responses to birth family, and highlight implications for theory, research, and practice.

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