Children in Northern Ireland: Domestic Violence and Professional Awareness

Author(s): PricewaterhouseCoopers
Commissioned by: Equality Unit, Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM)
Document Type: Report
Year: 2001
Publisher: PricewaterhouseCoopers
Place of Publication: Belfast
Subject Area(s): Domestic Violence
Client Group(s) : Children, Families

Abbreviations: NI - Northern Ireland, RUC - Royal Ulster Constabulary, GP - General Practitioner

Background to the Research

  • Whilst some research has been done to investigate the ways in which children may be affected by domestic violence, there is no widely available information regarding the extent of the problem in NI. This research aimed to comprehensively review the available quantitative information on domestic violence and to gather data and information regarding the extent of domestic violence affecting children in NI.

Research Approach

  • Baseline data were collected from relevant organisations and agencies that come into contact with people experiencing domestic violence. The project involved a number of key stages: an information and literature review; in-depth interviews with relevant key informants; a survey of health professionals; a survey of organisations involved in childcare; and a data collection snapshot amongst RUC Domestic Violence Liaison Units, Senior Social Workers and Health Visitors.

Main Findings

  • Almost half of the health professionals and two-thirds of the childcare organisations did not have an agreed and consistent definition of domestic violence. Health professionals were using a wide range of different definitions - no less than twelve were quoted. Although a clear definition for use by all relevant agencies and organisations had been developed, levels of awareness of this definition were relatively low. In-depth interviews with health professionals confirmed the need for the application of a consistent definition and revealed a significant level of misunderstanding and confusion in relation to domestic violence.
  • More than half of health professionals had no clear procedures laid down on what to do if they suspect that a child has been a victim of domestic violence. Amongst those that did have procedures, there was a general lack of consistency of approach. In addition, the majority of health professionals (85%) did not have or were not aware of any systematic questions to enable routine screening for domestic violence.
  • GPs were an important frontline contact, whereas contact with social workers or health visitors was less common. It is therefore interesting to note the very limited screening awareness and activity that was reported by GPs.
  • Whilst the majority (65%) of health professionals did keep a record of all the domestic violence cases that they encounter, the remainder did not. The qualitative findings highlighted the need for recording as a means of protecting and making the necessary provisions for victims. Those who did keep records document a wide range of information, including the nature and severity of the violence, the relationship of the perpetrator to the child and the number of children affected.
  • Whilst potentially valuable data on domestic violence is being collected by a variety of sources, there is a lack of consistency in the data collection methods being used, and in many cases the data are not being collated or analysed.
  • Most of the health professionals agreed that it is feasible for members of their profession to record certain information for each incident of domestic violence encountered, such as the number of adults and children in the household experiencing domestic violence, the gender and age of each child and adult in the household, whether or not the children are on the child protection register or known to social services and the type and severity of violence.
  • Barriers to systematic evidence gathering were identified as the desire to respect confidentiality; lack of time and resources; denial on the part of the victim; concerns over the risk of further violence as a result of disclosure; the absence of effective data collection systems; and the lack of computerised data collation. The in-depth interviews highlighted the need for additional training in the area of data collection and screening.
  • Less than half (46%) of the health professionals had received training on how to deal with individuals that are believed to be victims of domestic violence. Amongst those who had received training, the main courses attended were organised by Women's Aid and the RUC.
  • Most (79%) health professionals stated that they need more support to assist them to handle domestic violence cases more effectively. The support requested was largely in relation to training, particularly screening, data collection and monitoring. A number of health and childcare professionals stated that their patients/clients could benefit from having access to specialists, e.g. counsellors.
  • A range of problems were identified by childcare organisations in respect of the day to day provision of services. One key problem was a lack of resources to provide a specialist service and there was also considered to be a lack of specialist advice available on working with children, families and perpetrators.
  • At the time, there were limited domestic violence related services available for children and certainly none developed in any strategic fashion.
  • The absence of awareness of a regional strategy for providing services to organisations working with children and families in domestic violence situations was cause for concern amongst childcare organisations.
  • The quantitative research findings indicate that a minimum of 11,000 children were known to be living in a domestic violence situation in NI at the time. This figure should be treated with caution, as only a limited proportion of all domestic violence cases present to statutory agencies.
  • Based upon survey responses, on average, each senior social worker comes in contact with 10.4 cases of domestic violence involving children in a year. Amongst General Practitioners, an average of 5.8 patients per year present with obvious symptoms of domestic violence. Each health visitor encounters an average of 4.9 domestic violence cases per year.
  • Amongst the individual respondents in each health professional group, the numbers of cases encountered varied considerably. One in 10 stated that they had no clients in the past year who had been involved in domestic violence, whilst 2% recorded around 100 cases in the same time period. The vast majority encountered between 3 and 7 cases per annum.
  • Very few cases of domestic violence were being encountered in private day care nurseries and child minder settings.
  • Domestic violence appeared to be equally as likely to be witnessed or experienced by boys and girls. However, as highlighted in the literature review, the impact could be distinctly different depending upon a number of factors such as context, society and the individuals themselves.
  • The majority of social workers, health visitors, GP's and childcare organisations did not keep detailed records of the gender and ages of children involved in domestic violence incidents.
  • Physical domestic violence was the most prevalent type experienced or witnessed by children. Three quarters of the domestic violence incidents recorded in the RUC snapshot data collection exercise involved physical violence, a quarter was classified as emotional violence and 1% as sexual.

Conclusions

  • This research highlighted a number of areas where improvement is required under the following headings: defining domestic violence; screening; data collection, collation and monitoring; confidentiality; training and support; inter-agency co-operation; and further research.

 

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