Young Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence Describe their Abused Parent: A Qualitative Study

The negative impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) begins early in the child’s relationship with a caregiver. Children’s relationships with, and internal working models of, abused parents have rarely been documented. The aim of this study was to collect and interpret young children’s accounts of their abused parent. Interviews were conducted with 17 children aged 4 to 12 years who had witnessed IPV. Thematic analysis identified three main themes and seven sub-themes: “Coherent accounts of the parent” (sub-themes of “general benevolence”, “provision of support, protection, and nurture”, and “parental distress”); “Deficient accounts of the parent” (“vague accounts” and “disorganized narrations”); and “The parent as a trauma trigger” (“avoidance” and “breakthrough of intrusive memories and thoughts”). The results indicate these children may hold integrated, deficient, or blocked internal representations of an abused parent, and they illustrate the benefit of including young children as informants in research.     

Children Resisting Contact with a Parent Due to Abuse,Alienation, or Other Causes: Can a Proactive Role for Lawyers Contribute to Better Outcomes?

Lawyers have a significant role to play in cases where children are resisting contact with a parent, or the family appears to be going down that path, in the context of parental alienation, family violence or other factors. These cases pose great challenges for lawyers dealing with parents, as their clients are often anxiety‐ridden, angry, scared, and may have difficulty focussing on the long‐term interests of their children or themselves. A lawyer may be one of the first professionals encountered by the parents; lawyers for parents are advocates, but they are also in a position to provide wise counsel, to help triage the situation, provide practical advice, and early, helpful solutions. This article sets out practical suggestions for lawyers acting for parents. What can and should lawyers do to ensure they are part of the solution, not part of the problem? Lawyers need to be able to identify the potential problems and provide practical help to the family – whether they are acting for the “preferred” parent, the “rejected” parent, or the involved children.     

Parental Abuse Towards Their Children with ADHD in Iran

This study assesses whether or not the three different forms of child abuse, parental “Nonviolence discipline”, “psychological abuse” and “physical abuse”, are associated with ADHD symptoms. The parents of a clinical sample of 108 ADHD children and 102 mothers of school children reported their behaviors using Parent–child Conflict Tactics Scales (CTSPC). The age range of children was from 6 to 15 years old. The mean scores of all the three types of abuse in the ADHD group were statistically higher than those in the comparison group. Inattentiveness and hyperactivity/impulsivity scores are not associated with the scores of abuse in ADHD children. Parental abuse occurs in a cluster of different types of abuse. Mental health professionals can be involved for all the three types of prevention of parental abuse.     

Breaking The Cycle Of Intergenerational Child Maltreatment: A Case For Active Efforts For Dependent Minor Parents And Their Children In State Custody

Dependent minor parents placed in foster care with their children often face significant hurdles. These parents are responsible to make caregiving decisions for their children, while they themselves fall under the caregiving responsibility of the state child welfare system. As such, dependent minor parents live in a “twilight zone” – they hold full parental rights, but limited rights as teenagers. For a number of reasons, the children of minor parents in foster care often come into state custody. When two generations are in foster care at the same time, states must balance the safety and best interests of the children with the rights of minor parents to care for their own children. Currently, the state child welfare system is only required to provide “reasonable efforts” to reunify parents with children when they have been removed from their care for abuse, neglect, or dependency. However, dependent minor parents in state custody often require more supportive services in order to successfully reunify with their children than in a typical child welfare case. This article places the circumstance just described in the context of dependent minor parents’ constitutionally protected rights, and advocates for a higher standard which would require states to provide “active efforts” to protect and preserve these young families.     

MOVING BEYOND GENERALIZATIONS AND STEREOTYPES TO DEVELOP INDIVIDUALIZED APPROACHES FOR WORKING WITH FAMILIES AFFECTED BY PARENTAL INCARCERATION

Competing narratives about incarcerated parents and their children are provided by the Adoption and Safe Families Act (“ASFA”) and the Children of Incarcerated Parents Bill of Rights (“Bill of Rights”). Both the “child‐at‐risk” narrative of ASFA and the “good mother” narrative of the Bill of Rights are stereotyped and oversimplified and contribute, in opposite ways, to misperceptions about incarcerated parents and their children by suggesting a uniformity of situations and appropriate responses that does not actually exist. The time‐driven approach of ASFA—and many state termination of parental rights statutes—is overly rigid, while the Bill of Rights overlooks important differences among families, as well as tensions and trade‐offs among policy choices. In actuality, the situations of the parents and children involved vary widely and defy easy analysis and solutions. We should therefore be taking an individualized, qualitative approach that is nuanced and based on actual information about incarcerated parents and their children, rather than a quantitative, categorical approach based on generalized and simplistic assumptions. Only if we recognize and grapple with the complexities of parental incarceration can we develop sound legal and social policy to meet the needs of these families.     

STATE CHILD EMOTIONAL ABUSE LAWS: THEIR FAILURE TO PROTECT CHILDREN WITH GENDER IDENTITY DISORDER

Emotional abuse of children with Gender Identity Disorder by parents is very difficult to identify and prevent. State investigators of abuse and neglect often have a hard time determining if the reasons for mental illness and psychological harm in children are due to the actions of their parents, or if they stem from other sources. Once identified, it becomes even harder to prove in court for purposes of ordering services or removing the child from the home if the abuse is severe enough. With children who are gender non‐conforming, this task becomes exponentially more difficult due to the low prevalence rate, discrimination, stereotypes, and a parent's right to bring up their child as they choose. These youth face discrimination and violence in school, work, their communities, and also within their own families. Emotional abuse statutes are too vague to protect youth who are gender non‐conforming. The vague and unclear laws lead to inconsistency in the application of the law and lack of protection of the children because judges and investigators are not aware of how parent's actions harms youth with gender identity disorder. Therefore, states should adopt the model statute within this Note which defines specific actions by parents which would not qualify as abuse when involving gender conforming youth but qualifies as abuse for children with gender identity disorder. Many states already have statutes which define physical abuse, sexual abuse and abandonment by specific actions by parents towards their children. This proposal will enable both the state and the judges to properly identify victims with gender identity disorder of emotional abuse and provide for their protection.     

Personality Disorders in a Sample of Parents Accused of Physical Abuse or Neglect

The objective of this study was to provide a psychological profile of parents who have been formally accused of child maltreatment. A clinical group of 16 parents accused of physical abuse and 22 parents accused of neglect were compared with 18 parents from a control group. The MCMI-III was administered individually for each parent. Both groups of maltreatment showed significant differences on different scales of the MCMI-III. No difference was seen between the parents of both groups of child maltreatment. Many parents of both child maltreatment groups reported at least one form of abuse during their childhood, suggesting that a childhood marked by abuse or neglect on the part of a parent could result in personality disorders and that these disorders may have something to do with the intergenerational transmission of abuse.     

INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTIONS: INSTITUTING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS IN THE ADOPTION PROCESS TO FACILITATE AWARENESS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY ISSUES

In 1995, China first claimed the designation as the number one location for parents from the United States seeking to adopt children. The children, for the most part girls, are between 6 and 20 months old, when they are adopted. Most of the girls that were adopted in 1995 are now entering into their preteen years, and if they have not already confronted the issue of who they are, they will soon be forced to. Adoption is a complicated and emotional process that affects the entire family. Traditionally, parents who adopt have been able to consciously choose when and how they will first tell their child that they are adopted. However, when the adopted child is a member of a transracial family, where the parents and adoptive child are obviously of a different race, this decision can sometimes be taken out of their hands by a stranger thoughtlessly asking, “Is she yours?” The parents who choose to adopt from a foreign country should be prepared to answer this question and numerous others before they bring their adopted child home. This note will explore the concept of incorporating educational programs into the intercountry adoption process as an effective method of educating prospective parents on the challenges that transracial families will confront.     

Contradictory interests: Work, parents, and offspring in early modern Holland

The consistory notes of the Dutch Reformed Church (1573–1700) reveal conflicts over work between parents and children during the early modern period. Two issues that caused particular tension were the labor experience of future sons-in-law and the division of household tasks. Parents' concerns about the financial position of their future son-in-law were sincere and realistic. Skills definitely bettered the new family's chances to survive financially. Children were not expected to take care of their destitute parents nor were parents obliged to support their poverty-stricken married children. Power struggles between children and stepparents also resulted in conflicts over work. After a widowed parent remarried, children and stepparents had to redefine their roles in the new situation. The child who had assumed responsibilities when a parent died resisted a stepparent who took over those tasks. Although the cases presented may not represent everyday interactions between parents and children, they do provide insights into how work caused problems between parents and older children.     

Law and Family Formation Among LGBQ‐Parent Families

This article addresses how the law affects family formation among families with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) parents in the United States. Our discussion draws on a socio‐legal approach to law that focuses not only on the law on the books (what we refer to as “legal barriers”) but also on issues like how the law is practiced, how people experience the law in everyday life, and how the law serves as an interpretive framework through which people understand themselves and their families (what we refer to as “social barriers”). In our review, we highlight how attorneys can play a role in valuing and advancing rights for LGBQ‐parent families and LGBTQ prospective parents.     

Contradictory interests: Work,parents, and offspring in early modern Holland

The consistory notes of the Dutch Reformed Church (1573–1700) reveal conflicts over work between parents and children during the early modern period. Two issues that caused particular tension were the labor experience of future sons-in-law and the division of household tasks. Parents' concerns about the financial position of their future son-in-law were sincere and realistic. Skills definitely bettered the new family's chances to survive financially. Children were not expected to take care of their destitute parents nor were parents obliged to support their poverty-stricken married children. Power struggles between children and stepparents also resulted in conflicts over work. After a widowed parent remarried, children and stepparents had to redefine their roles in the new situation. The child who had assumed responsibilities when a parent died resisted a stepparent who took over those tasks. Although the cases presented may not represent everyday interactions between parents and children, they do provide insights into how work caused problems between parents and older children.     

Is There Touch in the Game of Twister®? The Effects of Innocuous Touch and Suggestive Questions on Children's Eyewitness Memory

Preschool children (ages 48–70 months, N = 48) experienced 2 to-be-remembered events (i.e., the games Twister^® and Shapes) that included either innocuous bodily touch or no touch. Participants were interviewed 7 days later and asked direct (“Did Amy kiss you?”) or suggestive “tag” questions (“Amy kissed you, didn't she?”) equated for content. Results indicated that children who were innocuously touched were no more likely to falsely assent to “abuse-related” touch questions (e.g., “Amy touched your bottom, didn't she?”) than were children who were not touched. However, children who were asked tag questions responded at chance levels, thereby making high errors of commission in response to abuse-touch questions relative to their no-tag counterparts who responded to “abuse questions” accurately 93% of the time. Children who were asked tag questions assented at a higher rate to general forensic questions (“Amy took your picture, didn't she?”) than did children asked direct questions, and children assented at higher rates to “abuse-touch” questions than to general forensic questions. Results are discussed in terms of prior research on interviewing techniques and adult influence on children's testimony.     

Who made the disclosure? Recorded discussions between children and caretakers suspecting child abuse

Within investigations of suspected child abuse, the child's account is often at the core of the judicial process. When analysing the child's account, it is therefore important to consider how parents may have discussed the suspected abuse prior to the official investigation. However, no studies up to the present time have investigated discussions in real cases where parents suspect that their children have been abused. We analysed a sample (N = 19) of recorded conversations between parents and their children, delivered to the police as evidence for alleged physical or sexual abuse. Analyses of the questions used and the information provided in the discussions showed that the parent's strategies when questioning their children were extremely leading and that in the majority of the cases, all new information was provided by the parents. In spite of this, the parents deemed the recorded conversations as records of the children's accounts. While the sample was small and likely to be unrepresentative of child abuse suspicions in general, the findings have important practical implications. The results indicate that when planning an interview in a case where the alleged abuse relies on what a child allegedly has told a parent, particular caution should be taken when referring to these conversations.     

Breaking the Cycle: Association of Attending Therapy Following Childhood Abuse and Subsequent Perpetration of Violence

Despite “cycle of violence” (Widom Psychological Bulletin, 106, 3–28, 1989, p. 4) theories prevailing for the past 30 years, few studies have looked at the empirical relationship between experiencing childhood physical abuse and becoming perpetrators of violence in adulthood. Those studies that do exist omit consideration of intervening therapeutic experiences. In the present study, archival data from an outpatient mental health clinic was used to examine whether therapeutic experiences mediate the relationship between experiencing childhood physical abuse by a parental figure and subsequent involvement as a perpetrator of physical violence. Treatment-seeking individuals (N?=?816) responded to three items about whether they had experiences of childhood physical abuse, whether they acted violently in adulthood, and whether they had ever before received counseling or therapy. Past counseling/psychotherapy treatment was a significant mediator between experiencing childhood physical abuse and perpetrating physical violence in adulthood, even after controlling for the effect of the victims’ gender. Findings suggest that psychotherapeutic experiences after experiencing childhood physical abuse may decrease the likelihood of perpetrating violence in adulthood. Limitations, implications, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Unintended and Unavoidable: The Failure to Protect Rule and Its Consequences for Undocumented Parents and Their Children

Parents without immigration status in the United States regularly face the threat of deportation and separation from their children. When an undocumented parent is brought to the attention of law enforcement through the child welfare system, they also face the potential of the loss of legal custodial rights to their children. The child welfare system and immigration enforcement mechanisms operate independent of one another with little regard for how actions in one can impact a parent's legal rights in the other, often permanently separating children from their parents. This article examines the particular issue of undocumented parents who are charged with the failure to protect their children from witnessing or otherwise experiencing abuse committed by a third party. It explores how such a charge, whether founded or unfounded, can result in loss of eligibility for immigration relief to which the undocumented parent would otherwise be entitled, as well as deportation of the parent and permanent separation of parent and child. These issues are situated within the larger context of the normative guideposts of both family and immigration law, namely, the best interests of the child and family unity. It identifies issues for further academic inquiry as well as tips for practitioners who may represent undocumented parents in either the family or immigration systems.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:
• Learn about the potential consequences under family law and immigration law when an undocumented parent's child is abused by a third party
• Gain strategies for planning with undocumented parents to avoid the loss of the custody of their children in the event of a sudden deportation
• Be able to identify and address particular concerns for clients who are undocumented victims of domestic violence

     

New York State of Mind: Parental Incarceration and Children's Visitation in New York State

The incarceration of a parent has a variety of negative effects on a child's psychological, academic, and developmental success. Children can end up in foster care as a result of the state terminating parental rights due to the parent's incarceration. Despite imprisonment of their parent(s), maintenance of visitation with the parent(s) is still important for their children. However, not all prisons have visitation programs that are suitable to visiting children. This Note proposes a model state statute that will recognize the importance of visitation, implement “child friendly” visitation programs, facilitate training for prison staff, and provide transportation for children in major cities to the prison facilities.     

Parents’ Potential for Child Abuse: An Intergenerational Perspective

This study examined predictors for parents’ potential for abusing their children. Two hundred and thirteen Jewish and Arab parents of children up to 6 years of age completed six questionnaires assessing child-abuse potential, childhood history of abuse/neglect, attachment style, emotional control, perceived stress, and cognitive appraisal of parenthood. Results indicated that parents who experienced childhood abuse and neglect scored significantly higher in child-abuse potential than parents without a history of abuse or neglect. A Structural Equation Model indicated that anxious and avoidant attachment mediated the experiences of abuse and neglect in childhood and emotional control; whereas emotional control deficits mediated the relationship between insecure attachment and parenthood as challenge vs. threat, leading to greater child-abuse potential. Clinical implications were discussed.     

The State as Parent: The Reluctant Parent? The Problems of Parents of Last Resort

This paper will explore the idea of the local authority as a reluctant parent. It will consider the extent to which this reluctance is produced by the care proceedings system and its consequences for children. Local authorities are both expected to refrain from intervening (care proceedings are a measure of last resort) and to be fully prepared for intervention (whilst leaving children with their parents). Amongst the themes which will be developed here are the impact of the juridification of social work and the emphasis on the courts for holding local authorities to account; the balance between voluntary accommodation and compulsory care; and the problems of resourcing care services. Its main focus will be on children who enter care because of abuse or neglect. Its thesis is that the conflicting expectations on local authorities, resource constraints, and considerations of legal process make them reluctant parents.     

MANDATED CUSTODY EVALUATIONS AND THE LIMITS OF JUDICIAL POWER

Kelly and Ramsey are clearly correct that a shift from a “how to” approach to custody evaluations to one that asks the more fundamental question “why” is long overdue. However, in addition to assessing the efficacy of custody evaluations (which Kelly and Ramsey propose), the legal system must also clarify the justification for imposing this extensive—and often expensive—intrusion into the privacy of parents. Three possible justifications for these intrusions are examined in this article: privilege, harm, and voluntariness. Is divorce a privilege, rather than a right, and can qualifications (including intrusive and expensive ones) be attached to requesting that privilege? Are custody evaluations instead justified as a means of avoiding harm to children? If a harm justification is asserted, exactly what harm do evaluations prevent, and how do they accomplish this harm avoidance? Finally, given the high value placed on parental cooperation by the family courts, is it simply too perilous for a parent to oppose a custody evaluation if one is suggested, either by the other parent or by the court? If so, are consents to custody evaluations truly voluntary?