CRFR Seminar: Relationships between women and their children following domestic abuse: Reasons to be hopeful

Title: Relationships between women and their children following domestic abuse: Reasons to be hopeful

Speaker: Fiona Buchanan PhD, Senior Lecturer at the University of South Australia and author of Mothering Babies in Domestic Violence, 2018, Routledge.

When domestic abuse is endured, research shows that the relationships between women and children may be based on protectiveness. The research which informs this presentation contributes to understanding maternal protectiveness from the perspectives of mothers and former children. The findings have practical implications for practice with women, children and those who have grown up with domestic abuse. Exploring experiences of protectiveness from the viewpoints of former children and mothers increases our understanding of children’s and women’s support needs in the context of domestic abuse. An analysis of participant interviews indicates a need for practitioners to raise the issue of protectiveness and unpack complex feelings that result from domestic abuse. The seminar explores how recognition and acknowledgment of maternal protectiveness can offer a different frame for women’s and children’s experiences of relating to each other and help adults who grow up with domestic abuse to reassess relationships with their mothers.