Child-parent contact in cases of alleged or confirmed abuse - children´s psychological health and participation

Research idea and purpose Child abuse can have significant negative effects on mental health, emotional and cognitive development. Most parents who have used violence have contact with their children.

The purpose of the project is to lay the groundwork for a larger study through a pilot study on the implications of children´s interactions with an allegedly or documented violent parent for children´s mental health and social relationships, as well as how work with these children can be developed.

Work plan, methods, and project realisationThrough focus group interviews and individual interviews with practitioners in social services, child and adolescent psychiatry, family law secretaries, visitation support, and relevant representatives from civil society such as children´s rights organisations, experiences and reflections regarding interventions for children who have contact with an allegedly or documented violent parent are explored.

The focus is particularly on implications of contact for children´s opportunities to benefit from treatment, but also on experiences of other possible implications of contact, children´s participation, needs in the short and long term, as well as professional collaboration concerning this group of children. 4-5 focus group interviews with relevant professionals who work with this group of children will be conducted.

In addition, 3-5 individual interviews with representatives from authorities such as the Authority for Family Law and Parental Support, the Gender Equality Authority, and the National Board of Health and Welfare will also take place.

After the completed focus group interviews, a workshop is organised where representatives from the professions that participated in the focus groups discuss the preliminary results, focusing on the need of improvement of work with children who have experienced violence.

Social relevance and utilisation The knowledge produced by the project is intended to enhance the preparedness of key stakeholders to promote mental health, resilience, and to better meet the rights to participation for victimised children and is thus important. Conclusions from the larger study will contribute to improving practice.

A central area of development is to make well-informed decisions regarding the conditions under which contact can be assumed to be in the child´s best interest. Further, the future research study will potentially produce knowledge that can develop treatment for violent parents.