Mothers’ experiences with child protection following domestic violence : hear their voices

This study analyses women's experiences with the child welfare system following episodes of domestic violence. Narratives have been gathered through interviews with three voluntary participants. Two of the women who participated are Aboriginal and the third is an immigrant woman from a South American country. The women described how they were treated by social workers, how their involvement with the child protection system motivated them toward change, and what they experienced while accessing recommended support services. The three mothers provided details of the contact that they had with child welfare services in their interviews. There were three main themes that characterized the mother's stories. These themes were Benefit of the Doubt, Catalyst for Action and The Right Resources. In Benefit of the Doubt, they spoke of how the workers expectations and manner of working with them impacted their lives and feelings of what was happening. They spoke about themselves as mothers and how they wanted social workers to see them in this role. In Catalyst for Action, the mothers spoke about how the involvement of the child welfare system motivated them towards change - either voluntarily or by feeling forced into change. In The Right Resources, they spoke of the services that they accessed and how the provision of supports assisted them. Knowledge of the experiences of mothers gathered directly from their told stories provides direction to the field of child protection.Arts, Faculty ofSocial Work, School ofGraduat