The case of the missing perpetrator : a cross-national investigation of child welfare policy, practice and discourse in cases where men beat mothers

Abstract

This thesis examines in detail the introduction, development and reification of the concepts of ‘children witnessing’ and mothers ‘failing to protect’ as powerful and currently dominant concepts in child welfare in the UK (with particular attention to Southampton) and in Canada (with particular attention to British Columbia).  Drawing on literature and research within child welfare and feminism, and my own data analysis, this thesis explored the construction, deployment and enactment of these concepts. A feminist discourse analysis was employed to examine legislation, policy and practice in both jurisdictions.  Relevant documents were analysed in both jurisdictions.  Conversational, introspective interviews were undertaken with social workers and mothers in both jurisdictions.  Discourse analysis methods from a number of sources were drawn on to reveal and interpret how the discourse of ‘failure to protect’ has emerged, and how it shapes and informs child protection practice and policy. This thesis argues that the concepts of ‘children witnessing’ and mothers ‘failing to protect’ are constructed, enacted and deployed in ways that maintain and may even increase the nature and extent of violence against women.  Further, I demonstrate that the rhetoric and actions engendered by this discourse are in themselves injurious to women, both individually in cases where mothers lose or are threatened with the loss of their children, and collectively in contributing to a continuing failure to hold responsible or even notice men who perpetrate violence against mothers.</p