Seen and heard: embedding the voices of children and young people who have experienced family violence in programs for fathers

© 2017 Dr. Katie LambFamily violence is a significant issue facing a large number of Australian families. For many children and young people, the impact of family violence on their lives is both serious and enduring. While research is now available to provide insights into children and young people’s experiences of family violence, we know less about their perspectives on their relationship with their fathers. The literature suggests that fatherhood is often used as a motivator to engage fathers in programs to address their violence, yet the content of programs may not always support improved parenting or relationships with children. Further, children and young people are often not told their father is attending a program. When children do know fathers are participating in a program they are seldom involved in any way or given information about what their father is learning at the program. Evaluations of programs for fathers who use violence, rarely consider outcomes for children as a measure of success. In order to address these gaps, the aim of this research was to gain children and young people’s perspectives on fathers in the context of family violence as well as the key messages they have for fathers who attend a program to address his violence. The thesis also trials the use of digital storytelling to embed these key messages in programs and explores what the likely impacts are on programs for fathers who use violence and their participants. A qualitative research method was used and was underpinned by a constructionist epistemology, the new sociology of childhood and a feminist understanding of family violence. The research comprised three stages: interviews and focus groups with children and young people, a digital storytelling workshop and a feasibility workshop with practitioners. The first stage of the research used semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 16 children and young people aged nine to nineteen years who had experienced family violence and were accessed through services they attended for support. The research found that children and young people had strong ideas about what constituted ‘a good father’ and described good communication, meaningful engagement, trustworthiness, protection and good role modelling as important attributes. In contrast, children and young people described their own fathers as disinterested in their lives, emotionally abusive, frightening and controlling. Children and young people also described the impact of their father’s use of coercive control tactics on their everyday lives and the impacts of family violence on their own relationships and plans for the future. Children and young people described reparation and the need for their fathers to ‘make amends’ for their violence as important. The desire for reparation was present for both children and young people who hoped to have a more positive relationship with their father in the future, but also for those who did not wish to have any ongoing contact. Regardless, almost universally children and young people believed that some form of reparation from their father would help them ‘repair’ and allow them to move on with their lives. Young people saw reparation as comprising three key components: addressing the past, commitment to change and rebuilding trust. In the second stage of the research, eight young people attended a digital storytelling workshop where they made three minute digital stories about their key messages for fathers who use violence. Children and young people wrote the script, selected the images and music and recorded the voice-over to accompany the story. The third stage of the research was a workshop run with 21 program facilitators and managers working with men who use violence. Discussion focussed on the possible impacts of introducing the digital stories made by children into men’s programs. The results suggested considerable support for the inclusion of the stories and children’s voices generally in programs for fathers who use violence. The key issues identified for consideration were program planning, the management of emotions and the possible impacts on fathers of watching children and young people’s stories. This research has found that children and young people have much to contribute in the exploration of the relationship between fathers who use violence and their children. Key themes were developed which described both children and young people’s perspectives on good fathers but also their own experiences. In addition, children and young people were particularly interested in the concept of reparation and the need for their father to make amends for his violence and acknowledge the impact that his behaviour has had on their lives. Children and young people supported the idea of their fathers attending a program to address his violence and some expressed an interest in being involved in that process. Like other research with children who have experienced family violence, the results of this study support the need to speak to children and young people about their experiences and the importance of considering their perspectives in the development and programs and policies for fathers who use violence