Assessments of the social welfare centers on the consequences, security risks and recovery needs of children witnesses of violence in parental relationships

Abstract

The subject of the research presented in this paper is focused on the assessments of experts in social welfare centres on the consequences, security risks and recovery needs of children witnesses of violence in parental partnerships, which were submitted to the court in the proceedings for protection from domestic violence associated with the proceedings in a marital dispute, in which the court decides on the exercise of parental rights. The aim is to describe the characteristics of professional assessments and opinions and to map the present problems and point out possible improvements, in accordance with the principle of safety/security of victims and the standard of best interests of the child. In processing this complex topic, thematic analysis was used, as a qualitative descriptive technique. The sample consisted of two groups of reports on the findings and opinion of the social welfare centres, in 62 cases completed in 2010/2011, and 15 cases completed in 2019/2020. The legal and by-law changes related to the subject of the research were expected to produce a positive effect on the content and quality of expert assessments in the second, later sample. The conducted analysis indicated an unsystematic approach and the absence of relevant data, which is also present in the reports from the later period. A positive change was observed regarding the assessment of security risks, but it was insufficiently integrated with the proposals for entrusting custody and determining the model of contact between children and the violent parent. Although it is acknowledged in public documents that children are also victims of violence when witnessing it and that the safety of the victim is the organizing general principle of protection from domestic violence, assessment methods are insufficiently operationalized and the understanding of the difference between partner conflict and violence/abuse of the woman is inadequate. Decisions on children?s contact with the violent parent remain inconsistent with protection measures against domestic violence, and when they are not respected, there are no or rare guardianship authorities? proposals to ban contact, even when the consequences for children and their relationship with mothers are obvious. Therefore, it would be important to supplement and refine the guidelines in existing treatment protocols, develop and harmonize specific expert guidance for these assessments, specialize knowledge and increase the experts? capacity and resources, develop specific and available services, in line with relevant standards. An increased number of researches on various aspects of professional practice in this sphere would also be important for progress in the field.