Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Reporting bad results: the ethical responsibility of presenting abused women’s parenting practices in a negative light
Other Titles:	Child and family social work
Authors:	Eisikovits, Zvi Buchbinder, Eli
Keywords:	Parenting;Child protection;Impact on children and young people;Leaving/Staying
Year:	2004
Publisher:	Blackwell Scientific
Citation:	9 (4), November 2004
Notes:	This paper discusses the ethical concerns that are involved when presenting research findings that describe abused women’s parenting practices in a negative light. It mentions the dilemma of who is the client (the mother or child) that social agencies face when intervening in domestic violence situations where children are involved. Two contrasting views are discussed with women’s advocates criticising the public welfare system for treating child protection and abused women’s issues as dichotomous entities while child protection services are child-focused and see the child as the primary victim. Data were collected from 20 Israeli abused women (all with children) whose ages ranged from 25 to 45 years. All the women had been married for periods ranging from 6 to 25 years and all had taken active steps to stop living with the violence while staying with their perpetrator. The semi-structured interviews covered 5 important areas: three areas related to the “turning point” when women made the decision to stop living with the violence and took active steps toward this. The impact on children was addressed as well as relationships with formal and informal support systems. Of significance to the authors were two issues. The first was the battered women’s functioning as mothers at the turning point at which they decided to refuse living with violence and took active steps to change the situation. The second related to the ethical position taken by researchers in cases where unanticipated findings present the informants of the study in a negative light. The data were interpreted using both text (the words as they were spoken) and subtext (an interpretation of what has been stated, for example, meanings, emotional and attitudinal inferences). A dominant theme emerged from the interviews: the accounts constructed by women concerning the role of children in a life immersed in violence. Although some of the women’s actions were accounted for by the ‘best interests of the children’ both before and after the turning point, further examination revealed that the children’s interests became secondary to those of the mother’s. Analysis of responses showed that abused women could not act on their children’s needs when their own needs were made acute by the violence and emotions involved in their relationship with their partner. Some women reported knowing the high level of risk to their children, but still remained in the abusive relationship. The authors assert that there is a need to achieve some kind of balance between blaming abused women too much or too little for parenting practices. It is suggested that in balancing the needs and rights of women with those of their children, empowerment for both parties could be operationalised. By highlighting the complexities involved in attempting to understand abused women as mothers, this paper has shown that questions concerning mothering failures can be asked without disempowering these women.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/16618
ISSN:	1356-7500
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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