Mothering during domestic abuse: Protective agency as a force for change

Abstract

Background

If women’s use of agency to protect their children from domestic abuse is considered at all, it is usually in terms of women staying or leaving abusive partners. Elsewhere women’s mothering, when they are enduring domestic abuse, is viewed from a perspective that focuses on finding deficits by observation and categorising the relationship between them and their children.

Objective

The study, which informs this article, looked to the lived experiences of women who had mothered while enduring domestic abuse to better understand their thoughts, feelings and actions during that time.

Participants and methods

The qualitative study considers the lived experience of 16 women, residing in South Australia, who raised young children while enduring domestic abuse. Semi-structured interviews followed by focus groups, which utilised creative methodologies were employed to collect data.

Results

The study casts light on myriad ways that women exercise agency to protect their children. When lived experiences inform our understanding, it becomes clear that many women enduring domestic abuse exercise their agency to protect their children.

Conclusion

We posit that, if agency is not a focus of enquiry it is overlooked by social workers focusing on deficits when considering mothering in domestic abuse. Too often, women are perceived solely as passive victims, unable or unwilling to protect vulnerable children. Yet important strategies to enable empowerment of both women and children are uncovered if social workers acknowledge and work with women and children to focus on the ways women exercise agency to protect.