Case Study: Domestic Violence - identify and respond to children and young people at risk

[grumpy.k82]

Case study : need help to do this as this is the first time

Rebecca (21) is an australian born woman who has been in a defacto -relationship for the past five years with mark (39)

They have two children together jessica 4yrs and paul 18months. neither has had paid employment throughtout there relationship and both are dependent on centrelink benefits. they live in public housing and rebecca is reliant on public transport to access services. Mark has a lengthy criminal record that encompassres break and enter, aggravated assualt, and car theft and fraud.

there has been a history of ongoing domestic violence including psychological, economical and physical abuse and excessive alcohol and drug use which has resulted in regular police intervention. Rebecca has stayed at the yamma wamen's refuge on a number of occasions over the past five years, however has chosen to return to mark after short periods.

Rebeccas parents, second generation Australians, are devout christians are deeply oppsed to the defacto- relationship. However, her parents and other siblings have offered rebecca ongoing practical support, in the form of food and clothing for the children. At the insistence of mark, rebecca has dramatically reduced contact with all of her previous friends and her relationship with her parents and siblings has disintegrated to a point where rebecca is completely isolated from her family.

EMPLOYMENT CONTEXT:
you are employed as a family worker at the mayside family support service and are familiar with rebecca and her circumstances. over the past two years you have provided rebecca with short term episodic case management, finanical assistance and encouraged her to attend activities the service provides.
Three weeks after her last visit rebecca attends the young mothers playgroup with both jessica and paul. You notice that rebecca is moving very cautiously and carefully and despite the very hot day is dressed in clothing that covers her arms and legs. In addition, she is very concerend that she has been away from the home all morning and your conversations have been interrupted numerous times by text message from mark demanding to know where rebecca is.

WORKER OBSERVATIONS AND CONCERNS:
Whilst rebecca attends to the basic needs of her children she has limited interaction with them and often tries to divert any affection and attention they show towards her. you notice that jessica(4) is unusually quiet and withdrawn and shows separation anxiety when her mother moves from her line of vision. you try to initiate a conversation with jessica whilst playing with building blocks, an activity that she now shows little interest in, despite having previously always enjoying it.
You have developed a good relationship with jessica and in the past you have had open and positive interactive conversations with her. Jessica discloses that her mum is alwys crying at home, there is never any food for her mum to cook and that she always falls over and has bruises on her face and body.
you are concerened that jessica is exhibiting emotions and behaviours that could indicate that the child is affected by exposure to chronic domestic violence. you openly discuss these concerns with rebecca whom acknowledges that there has been domestic violence in her relationship however strongly denies that the children are exposed to the violence or that their safety is at risk.

despite reservations about how mark will react. Rebecca is willing to engaged with any services that can provide her family with support and has agreed to meet with you next week.
HELP HELP HELP I STUCK FROM HERE
1. describe your communication with the children and cover the following areas
* what would your age appropriate questions and verbal responses be to the child?
*what would your appropriate non-verbal responses be to the child?
*what are the key elements to consider if responding to a child's disclosure?

2) What child- focused work practices would you use to respond and support the child emotionally?

[Lorina]

Hi Grumpy,

Depressing scenario and some pretty tough questions... I just googled "talking to children about domestic violence" and a lot of articles and information is available for you to view. Im posting a link of a document on how to help children who witness domestic violence. It's basically a workshop guide. If you scroll halfway down to Session 2 it begins to talk about the effects of domestic violence on kids and also provides information on what to say and how to help a child who witnesses domestic violence.

Here is the link: http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/ma ... uctor.html

Hope this helps with your questions,

Cheers ,
L.A