Child Abuse Review Vol.

18: 215 216 (2009) Book Review

Published online 11 May 2009 in Wiley InterScience
(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/car.1065
Making an Impact: Children and Domestic Violence: A Reader by
Marianne Hester, Chris Pearson and Nicola Harwin, with Hilary
Abrahams, Jessica Kingsley, London, 2007. 287pp. Second Edition. ISBN
1-84310-157-2 (Pbk) 22
The second edition of Making an Impact is a welcomed updated version
of the seminal text. In this edition, the Reader has been completely revised
to take account of recent developments that have taken place since the
publication of the first edition in 2000.
The Reader is composed of three main sections. The first section sets
the scene and addresses what is known about domestic violence, the link
between domestic violence and child abuse, and its traumatic and devastating effects on children. The chapters in this section synthesise current
knowledge and provide a comprehensive overview of the research base
to explore the key concerns for practice. The research that draws on
childrens own perspectives in this section is particularly illuminating. Part
Two addresses legislative developments and remedies for safeguarding
childrens welfare and has been extensively updated to take account of
changes, in particular: the Every Child Matters agenda, the new remedies
under the Domestic Violence and Crime Bill (2004) and the Adoption and
Children Act 2002, which amended the definition of harm in the Children
Act (1989) to include impairment suffered from seeing or hearing the
ill-treatment of another. Part Three of the Reader deals with practice
interventions and provides a wealth of information for furthering understandings of how practice might be improved for safeguarding children.
I found this section to be particularly insightful in giving a clear account
of the complexities surrounding practice interventions. Child and family
social workers can draw much from this research to expand understanding for multi-professional working.
The chapter on working with male perpetrators has been updated to take
account of the more recent research evidence on perpetrators programmes,
as well as violence and fathering. As the authors note, assessing the
parenting capacity of fathers in the context of domestic violence is often
an area that practitioners struggle with in practice. Central to any discussion of safeguarding childrens welfare in situations of domestic violence
is the assessment of risk posed by fathers, or by men who take father-figure
roles in childrens lives. This chapter provides powerful insights into mens
minimisation and denial, and challenges us to engage more fully with
asking the difficult questions about violent and abusive behaviour in
assessing the safety of mothers and their children.
The last chapter in the Reader is new and its focus is on working with
and supporting women living with domestic violence. Hester et al. unpick
the mother-blaming discourse and offer an informative base from which
to make assessments of womens mothering in the context of domestic
violence. Whilst putting forward the importance of understanding the
complex realities for mothers, there are also good explorations of the
tensions inherent in ensuring that the right balance is struck between
supporting mothers around their own needs, without losing sight of the
specific needs of their children.
Making an Impact succeeds in its aims, which are to review existing
knowledge and to examine the remedies for effective interventions in the
Copyright 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

215

Book
Review
Edited by Jacqui Casher

The Reader has

been completely
revised to take
account of recent
developments that
have taken place
since the
publication of the
first edition in 2000

Child and family

social workers can
draw much from
this research to
expand
understanding for
multi-professional
working

Child Abuse Review Vol. 18: 215216 (2009)

DOI: 10.1002/car

216

An accessible and
practical book and
represents an
important resource
for practitioners
working in child and
family welfare

Copyright 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Book Review

field of domestic violence. The authors provide extensive overviews of

the research on domestic violence and cover a range of substantive areas
to illuminate current knowledge on appropriate practice interventions and
legal responses. Case study materials are used throughout the book to highlight key issues and provide a set of tools for practitioners and trainers. It
is an accessible and practical book and represents an important resource
for practitioners working in child and family welfare.
Dr Claudia Bernard
Senior Lecturer in Social Work
Department of Professional and Community Education, Goldsmiths,
University of London
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/car.1065

Child Abuse Review Vol. 18: 215216 (2009)

DOI: 10.1002/car