انتساب مسئولیت بدرفتاری با کودک زمانی که با خشونت خانگی همراه است

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine factors that influence how child welfare workers attribute responsibility for child maltreatment and child safety in cases involving domestic violence. Methods The study used a factorial survey approach, combining elements of survey research with an experimental design. Case vignettes were constructed by randomly assigning characteristics to vignettes believed to be related to assessments about responsibility for child maltreatment. Public child welfare workers were systematically sampled and asked to rate vignettes on male and female caregivers’ responsibility for child maltreatment and concerns for safety. Results The presence of domestic violence significantly affected workers’ assessments of the attribution of responsibility and concern for child safety, more so than variables related to child maltreatment. Responsibility for exposing a child to domestic violence differed for males and females, with more factors explaining female responsibility. Substance use by either caregiver was significant in attributing responsibility for physical harm, not watching the child closely enough, and concern for child safety, but not for exposure to domestic violence. Conclusions Domestic violence appeared to heighten workers’ assessments of responsibility for child maltreatment and concerns about child safety, taking precedence over the characteristics of the child maltreatment itself. Battering tends to work against the domestic violence victim in terms of the attribution of responsibility. A greater number of factors affect female responsibility for exposing a child to domestic violence than male responsibility, even though in every case the male was the designated domestic violence batterer.

The child welfare field is increasingly aware of families coming to the attention of child protection agencies that are also experiencing domestic violence. The field is slowly beginning to understand that the fundamental assumption of child protection—the expectation that parents must protect their children from harm—may be complicated in situations where parents are also being victimized by their partners. A recent review of studies on the co-occurrence of domestic violence and child maltreatment found rates between 30 and 60% (Edleson, 1999). Child protection responses to the co-occurrence of child maltreatment and domestic violence have raised tensions between child protection workers and battered women's advocates regarding the rights and safety of children versus the rights and safety of battered women (Fleck-Henderson, 2000; Magen, Conroy, & Del Tufo, 2000). Child protection systems have been criticized for holding only mothers responsible for the protection and safety of children, while fathers have remained “invisible” in the child protection system (Edleson, 1998).