The intersection of woman battering and child abuse

This qualitative study examined the intersection of child abuse and women battering. The sample consisted of 30 women receiving intervention due to child abuse and neglect. Interviews focused on raising children while involved with an abusive male partner. Information was gathered via semi-structured interviews, observation and case records. Research addressed the relationship between battering and a woman\u27s parental role, family functioning, impact on children, and experiences with service systems. The conceptual framework included systems theory, constructionism, and feminist perspectives. Women and children are caught in a violent dynamic in which women\u27s own victimization is mirrored in victimization of their children whether the mother or her partner is abusive toward the children. Although the family is not always safe for women, they maintain it at great cost to themselves and their children. Child abuse and women battering can be understood by looking at the rigid role requirements of women. Batterers use children to control women. Women are reluctant to admit that children have been injured and feel guilt and responsibility. Women are left to raise angry and anxious children who are difficult to manage. Some women use physical discipline to control acting-out children. Mothers tended to place the material and emotional needs of their children over their own needs. They deferred to the abuser out of deference to his role as father and a belief in his importance to the children. Women valued being in a relationship and hesitated to give up their connection with a partner. Drug and alcohol abuse became a glue holding the relationship together and an anchor preventing women from leaving. A social work model for child welfare intervention is proposed with assessment for both child abuse and woman battering. Women can be shown the effects of witnessing abuse on children. Parenting supports strengthen women\u27s authority with children while child-care, housing, and job-training enhance economic security. Community intervention eliminates exposure of women to being dependent on and under the control of a batterer. Coordination of services proceeds with an acknowledgment of women\u27s strengths