Social work with violent men: What has changed? Polly Baynes pollybaynes@yahoo.co.uk Introduce self

Background to the study Families known to SSD complex High levels of violence Failure to engage with men Failure to engage with violent men Invisible man/responsible woman Key references at end of handouts Some people suggest sws avoid violent men out of fear for own safety. SCR Unclear if distinct phenomena

The study 40 cases in one local authority Unrepresentative group of men Child protection files All registration categories Quantitative and qualitative analysis Limited findings, untypical local authority, esp ethnic mix All files included regardless of whether male violence identified as key concern

Quantitative questions Who are the men in vulnerable children’s lives? What is the level of violence in these families? Are social workers working with men? Are social workers working with violent men? Wanted to consider whether issues remained same. Has recent focus on domestic violence and fatherhood changed the levels of engagement?

The men 40 families, 63 men Less than a third were resident fathers Files searched for birth fathers (whether or not they had contact), step parents, mother’s partners, peripheral men 21 families had more than one man involved, four in one family

Levels of violence Domestic violence most common trigger to meeting 42 men had recorded history of violence Violence to women, children, outside home, self Some examples of violence included in handouts

Social work with men 60% of men had no contact with SW prior to meeting 48% invited to the meeting 32% attended the meeting Name and address of 22% of men was missing or incomplete No police checks recorded for a third of men May have been good reasons, but not given By contrast every mother invited to cp meeting, 73% attended Significant implication for risk assessment Resident fathers highest rates of engagement Absent fathers not contacted even though child at risk of LAC Meeting did not challenge this lack of engagement in most cases

Social work with violent men More contact with social workers More points in CP plans Assessment and treatment of violence part of plans Women still held responsible in majority of cases Impact of participation on process unclear Significant change from 1995 But women still asked to sign contracts, presented with ultimatums Violent men concealed within no concerns category

Qualitative findings Text searched for prevailing themes in the ways families and professionals discussed and reported male violence

Making sense of male violence Children Graphic description Severity debated Small sample Women Sanitised language Lack of detail Research cited Failure to protect Shared responsibility Although male violence was a common trigger to meeting, focus rapidly shifted to concerns about maternal care and protection. The identity pair of responsible woman/ invisible man still has considerable influence.

Responsible women Mother is working with the department and is remorseful about her actions Mother attracts abusive men due to her low self-esteem The Mother’s emotional needs caused such intensity that disputes started Grabbed by the hair and strangled No man characterised as choosing a vulnerable woman He tried to suffocate her

There were no concerns about the father being violent, but there were concerns about the mother and emotional abuse Theme also arose in small sample of men who were violent to children.Man had stamped on child’s head.Mother reported this to police

Responsible men I want him to sort him out She wanted her children more than anything else…it was him that was violent, not her Mother suffered the most appalling domestic violence for years from a bully of a man Some women and professionals challenged this

Invisible men Absent from the process Violence to women not described Male parenting un-assessed Little concept of male failure to protect Good father identity asserted

Despite father’s violence, suicide attempts and intimidation, he is still a good father Father is a good and caring father who stimulates the child and is protective to him Father is uncaring and horrible but…he will be alright with the baby and wants to bond We have got better at noticing male violence, can’t see beyond it to look at implications for parenting

Implications for practice Establish what men are involved Carry out basic checks Review level of engagement throughout Risks and benefits of participation Assess male parenting Recognise differences

Violence to children ‘slapping a baby, hitting a child with a belt, grabbing or pinning a child by the throat, threatening a child with a knife, throwing a child on the bed, punching a child in the face, throwing coffee over children, hitting a child and a baby, and a man who trod on a child’s head. Children suffered injuries including bruising, chipped teeth, and a split lip’.

Violence to women ‘assaults on women included slaps and punches to the face, smothering, strangling, banging her head against a concrete floor, being pulled downstairs by her hair, threats to kill and sexual assault. One man kicked the door in when refused entry. Those injuries to women that were described included bruising, a pierced lung and diaphragm, and loss of consciousness’.

Violence outside the home ‘violence to a landlady, sexual assaults, death threats and fights with neighbours, slashing a person with a sword, slashing a man’s face and violence to paramedics and the police. One man armed himself with a carving knife and was chased across fields by police dogs. Several of the men owned offensive weapons such as Samurai swords. Two men physically harmed animals’.

Violence to self Men inflicted violence on themselves by stabbing, cutting their face with a knife, setting fire to themselves and by suicide attempts including hanging.

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