How Child Protection Workers Support or Further Victimize Battered Mothers

This study explored battered mothers ’ perceptions of their interactions with child protective services (CPS) workers to increase understanding about how child welfare workers and poli-cies can have negative as well as positive impacts on women’s and children’s lives. The research was guided by two feminist frameworks: structured action theory and social entrap-ment theory. Twenty women participated in the in-depth, qualitative interviews. Most felt mis-understood and unsupported by their CPS workers and thought that this treatment directly harmed them and their children. Many batterers manipulated caseworkers and escaped sanc-tions, which contributed to negative consequences. Some women received helpful responses from their caseworkers and viewed such support as invaluable. Implications for social work practice are discussed