Presentación utilizada en la charla “Comprendiendo agencias y resistencias: niñ@s en situaciónes de violencias doméstica.” realizada por Jane Callaghan dentro del marco del Foro Debate “Violencias de género desde la metodología de investigación feminista” organizado por SIMReF durante 2014.
Título original
“Comprendiendo agencias y resistencias: niñ@s en situaciónes de violencias doméstica.”
Presentación utilizada en la charla “Comprendiendo agencias y resistencias: niñ@s en situaciónes de violencias doméstica.” realizada por Jane Callaghan dentro del marco del Foro Debate “Violencias de género desde la metodología de investigación feminista” organizado por SIMReF durante 2014.
Presentación utilizada en la charla “Comprendiendo agencias y resistencias: niñ@s en situaciónes de violencias doméstica.” realizada por Jane Callaghan dentro del marco del Foro Debate “Violencias de género desde la metodología de investigación feminista” organizado por SIMReF durante 2014.
SITUATIONS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE Jane Callaghan, Jo Alexander, Judith Sixsmith, Lisa Fellin University of Northampton Understanding Agency & Resistance Strategies: Children in Situations of Domestic Abuse (UNARS) Project aims: To explore young peoples capacity for resistance, agency and resilience in situations of domestic abuse To enable an articulation of young peoples voice, in situations of domestic abuse To challenge dominant professional & academic representations of young people as damaged or as passive victims of domestic abuse To build an intervention for young people to facilitate the expression and development of agency and resistance, and to build resilience To develop a training intervention for professionals working with young people in situations of domestic abuse.
Project Overview Methods Semi-structured, one-to-one interviews with children & young people Creative methodologies are used in conjunction with interview Photovoice Policy analysis conducted in each participating country Focus groups with carers & professionals
Progress Conducted 74 out of the 100 planned individual interviews 12 Focus groups with professionals, 5 with carers
Challenges Recruitment of young people in some countries - dual parental consent required Austerity Politics Statutory funding allocation - competition Vs collaboration What does the literature say? all academic literature published between 2002 and 2013 focused on children, mental health, resilience and domestic abuse 183 articles were included in the review: 84 papers described psychopathological consequences of exposure to violence 5 papers focused on damage to neural system 6 articles outlined other poor outcomes like educational difficulties, criminality The term exposure appears in 85% of the articles included in the review The term witness is used in 67% of the articles 77% of the articles described children as victims or as victimised Intergenerational cycle of violence Children as contaminants (e.g. Carrell and Hoekstra, 2009: Externalities in the Classroom: How Children Exposed to Domestic Violence Affect Everyone's Kids)
Pulse para editar los formatos del texto del esquema Segundo nivel del esquema Tercer nivel del esquema Cuarto nivel del esquema Quinto nivel del esquema Sexto nivel del esquema Sptimo nivel del esquema Octavo nivel del esquema Noveno nivel del esquemaClick to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Mother blaming Childs response to violence is seen as mediated by the mothers pre-relational psychological functioning and her coping responses Discursive construction Mothers experience violence, children watch A significantly large number of children are exposed to maternal addiction and mental illness, as well as interpersonal violence... Children witness between 68% and 87% of all domestic violence incidents, and are aware of violence toward their mothers 90% of the time. From Finkelstein et al, 2005: Building Resilience in Children of Mothers Who Have Co-occurring Disorders and Histories of Violence wmatrix analysis revealed that mother(s) was the fourth most frequently appearing term in the dataset, appearing 607 times. More common than domestic! In contrast, father(s) appeared just 17 times
How does this translate into practice? These constructions of the child have implications for professional and social discourses around children in situations of DV They have implications too for how children are able to position themselves their capacity to construct a self-identity as agentic, resistant, capable...
UNARS We want to explore childrens capacity to think and act to cope, to be creative, to manage, and to resist Challenge dominant representations of children as passive witnesses
What are we finding? The creative and complex coping responses young people use in situations of domestic abuse At odds with policy and professional discourses that position young people as passive victims Gatekeeping practices
Why use creative methods? Counter-hegemonic experience can be difficult to articulate verbally Photo elicitation, drawing and other creative approaches enable articulation of complex self accounts that extend beyond the dominant categories of witness and victim Enables an articulation of spatial and systemic dynamics to enable consideration of resilience and resistance as contextual and processual, not just individual Enables young people to re-vision the world in which the violence took place Enables the envisioning of alternative futures and alternative understandings of self-in-context .
Safe Disclosure and Risky Speech
Lucy: Id always hesitate of what I would say...even if I said Hello, Id always think before like, is he just going to shut me out? Is he going to respond in a nice way, or be angry or anything like that? Id always think ahead of what I was saying
Pulse para editar los formatos del texto del esquema Segundo nivel del esquema Tercer nivel del esquema Cuarto nivel del esquema Quinto nivel del esquema Sexto nivel del esquema Sptimo nivel del esquema Octavo nivel del esquema Noveno nivel del esquemaClick to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Production of sanitised narratives and rehearsed or therapeutised accounts George: Sometimes you dont want to say stuff but you need to. Int: Does it help to talk or ? George: It helps because then you can leave the past behind and you dont get in trouble and stuff. Int: Do you want to leave the past behind? George: Yeah. () Int: Why? George: Because you can start fresh
Int: What does it feel like when youre with your mum George: Nice Int: Nice? George: Yes Int: Tell me a little bit more about nice? George: Its just nice. Paul: You need to put it another way! Int: How do you feel about yourself when youre with you mum? George: Happy
Taken for grantedness Ali: It just happens for everyone, like eating, everyone has to eat so whats the same, whats the same with learning. You learn maths and science in here ((referring to school)) so whats the difference about learning how to protect yourself at home.
Unterhalter (2013) the limitation of voice in research with children Creative Methodologies
Family Configurations Inclusion & Exclusion Draw your family Double moon Ecograms and systemic maps
Spaces Exploring the family home
Photovoice Imaging agency & resilience, photo elicitation & community exhibits
Family Configuration Functionalities:
On a practical level- drawings of the family aid researcher understanding into configurations & hierarchies from the childs perspective
Act as a shorthand during interview e.g. Children can refer to particular family members
Participant choose who they bring into the room, who they include & exclude
Family drawings can elicit participants reflections when used in conjunction with interview
Pulse para editar los formatos del texto del esquema Segundo nivel del esquema Tercer nivel del esquema Cuarto nivel del esquema Quinto nivel del esquema Sexto nivel del esquema Sptimo nivel del esquema Octavo nivel del esquema Noveno nivel del esquemaClick to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Inclusion & Exclusion Absence of fathers in family drawings Out of 13 family drawings 9 did not include a father. Of the 4 which included a father, 3 were talked about or drawn in a negative light. Only 1 child included a neutral representation of their father. Oliver, 12 years old Dylan, 15 years old Sophia, 14 years old Pulse para editar los formatos del texto del esquema Segundo nivel del esquema Tercer nivel del esquema Cuarto nivel del esquema Quinto nivel del esquema Sexto nivel del esquema Sptimo nivel del esquema Octavo nivel del esquema Noveno nivel del esquemaClick to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Self-Defining Family: Choosing relationships Int: ...Josh, I notice you dont call him Dad. Josh: No I dont call him Dad Int: Did you ever call him Dad? Josh: erm not really, I just called him (name), even at home when I still lived with him Int: Why was that? Josh: Because I dont want my mind to think hes my dad, cause hes not, I dont want a dad that hits me.
Family members are included according to reliability & trustworthiness: Rachel: Ive only put people on my picture who like I know I can rely on and I talk to and I have to go to and stuff like that, like people who have always been there for me
Josh, 9 years old Pulse para editar los formatos del texto del esquema Segundo nivel del esquema Tercer nivel del esquema Cuarto nivel del esquema Quinto nivel del esquema Sexto nivel del esquema Sptimo nivel del esquema Octavo nivel del esquema Noveno nivel del esquemaClick to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Self Defining Family When asked to draw a picture of her family, Jess represents perceived familial divisions Boundary lines and the creation of sets Redefines Family by including her friend Jess: Shes not even family, but I class her as family, I class her as my sister because shes always there for me, shes been there through everything, but them (People who are there) they just dont bother.
Pulse para editar los formatos del texto del esquema Segundo nivel del esquema Tercer nivel del esquema Cuarto nivel del esquema Quinto nivel del esquema Sexto nivel del esquema Sptimo nivel del esquema Octavo nivel del esquema Noveno nivel del esquemaClick to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Bethany Refused to include father Wont be pinned down to a single close relationship She is both central, and coloured in under a bright smiley sun Brothers initial sad face (linked to family division, and his desire to see father) is re-drawn by her as happy Legs? Bethany, 10 years old Pulse para editar los formatos del texto del esquema Segundo nivel del esquema Tercer nivel del esquema Cuarto nivel del esquema Quinto nivel del esquema Sexto nivel del esquema Sptimo nivel del esquema Octavo nivel del esquema Noveno nivel del esquemaClick to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Family Roles & Hierarchies Int: Okay Nancy, so were here with your picture of your family. To start with could you tell me a little bit about yourself? Nancy: Im the youngest. Im the scaredest. Int: Youre the scaredest? Nancy: ((smiles)) Im scared about everything Int: Youre scared about everything? Nancy: (Nods), I love animals, I run away from arguments so I dont get hurt ((.)) Umm.
Nancy: Me being like ((.)) cowardly, and being, like when people start being nasty to me, I like, I feel like Im shrinking ((gestures with her body shrinking with her hands)) Int: Youre shrinking? Nancy: Yeah, like getting smaller and smaller and theyre getting bigger and stronger, and my, sometimes, my family come up and stick up for me, and braver , and they make the other person feel all sorry and scared and they go away and leave me alone. Nancy, 10 years old Pulse para editar los formatos del texto del esquema Segundo nivel del esquema Tercer nivel del esquema Cuarto nivel del esquema Quinto nivel del esquema Sexto nivel del esquema Sptimo nivel del esquema Octavo nivel del esquema Noveno nivel del esquemaClick to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Birth Order Angels Cheated Death Alison: Im protecting my family by being alive, if I wasnt here, I couldnt do nothing could I? Used within the family to mock
Confides in absent sisters: Alison: For me, if I was closest, Id be closest to my two dead sisters. People say this is weird and all that, but I can see them, I can feel their presence. At night, Ill just lay there and Ill be having a conversation, and theyll (family) be like who the hell is she talking to? ...I suppose Im closest to them (sisters) because I can tell them a secret and theyd keep it a secret because they couldnt go and say it to no-one else.
Alison, 15 years old Spaces Exploring the family home Functionalities: Drawings of the family home layout can generate rich data when used in conjunction with semi-structured interviews Tells us how children experiencing DA use space within their immediate family homes Risky places Vs Safe places Risky times Vs Safe times What/who helps children to cope (Material, personal or relational) Pulse para editar los formatos del texto del esquema Segundo nivel del esquema Tercer nivel del esquema Cuarto nivel del esquema Quinto nivel del esquema Sexto nivel del esquema Sptimo nivel del esquema Octavo nivel del esquema Noveno nivel del esquemaClick to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Josh- Identifies Living room & Bathroom as places of conflict Seeks safety & solitude in the Garden Shed:
Int: Was there anywhere you felt safe? Josh: In my bedroom, or I would have hid in my shed Int: What was it about those places that made you feel safe? Josh: Because he didnt know really where I am, they just kept me safe because I kept things in there that meant a lot to me.
Josh, 9 years Pulse para editar los formatos del texto del esquema Segundo nivel del esquema Tercer nivel del esquema Cuarto nivel del esquema Quinto nivel del esquema Sexto nivel del esquema Sptimo nivel del esquema Octavo nivel del esquema Noveno nivel del esquemaClick to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level
Rachel: ...sometimes wed go into the garden when they were fighting and like Id push Marcus on the rope swing and ((umm)) Id like lay on the hammock and stuff, wed like get the net and go like fishing in the pond and stuff trying to catch the fish ((said with joy)). ______________________________________ _____ Accesses place of safety prior to active observation: Int: So you were scared about going home and when you were actually there, what was it like? Rachel: I went straight upstairs to my bedroom, ((umm)) Id sort of like sneak downstairs and check that no one was arguing or anything and if it was all OK, Id come downstairs and sit down ((umm)) ((.)) and watch TV with my brother ((umm)) but if there was an argument Id run downstairs, grab my brother and take him upstairs.
Rachel, years Pulse para editar los formatos del texto del esquema Segundo nivel del esquema Tercer nivel del esquema Cuarto nivel del esquema Quinto nivel del esquema Sexto nivel del esquema Sptimo nivel del esquema Octavo nivel del esquema Noveno nivel del esquemaClick to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Negotiating unsafe spaces Int: When there was fighting going on, where was it most likely to be? Jess: Well when it would happen with (older brother) it was always in the bathroom, but with mum, it was between the kitchen, the garden, living room all downstairs basically. Downstairs was never safe if Dad was about because theyll be an argument. Hed make an argument out of an old argument, so downstairs was all his power, I suppose. ________________________
Emma:...when I had friends round, nothing would happen, he wouldnt dare try anything, so...then when I did realise that I used to get friends round all the time. Int: ...And how did you feel, when they were there...? Emma: Safe, I could just go wherever I wanted, Id go downstairs, sit in the living room, be a bit of a daredevil, in my head.
Jess, 18 years Pulse para editar los formatos del texto del esquema Segundo nivel del esquema Tercer nivel del esquema Cuarto nivel del esquema Quinto nivel del esquema Sexto nivel del esquema Sptimo nivel del esquema Octavo nivel del esquema Noveno nivel del esquemaClick to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Hideaways Int: You know you said that when you go to your dads and if theres fighting, you go to a tight space, why a tight space? Nancy: That way they, they couldnt get to me Int: Who? Nancy: Everyone. It means like, they cant come and start bothering me, which means I feel safer, which means when I feel calm, I go back, ((.)) and being in a tight space it feels like part of a game, like being in a cave Int: Was there a particular space in the house that you felt safest? Jess: Upstairs cupboard Int: Why did you feel safest there? Jess: Because it was dark and I could close the door behind all of it. Lizzy: ...hed take her into the living room and sometimes I had to hide in a tiny cupboard with little like piles of blankets and stuff in there and just hide in there and then I just, there was a neighbour next door and every time that he used to start I used to get out, I used to run over to the other people. Int: So when there was fighting in the house, where would you go to?... Rachel: My brothers room. Int: You went to your brothers room? Rachel: Yeah, we used to hide under the bed ((jovial)) and stuff like that cause he had his little den built and we used to hide in there. Photovoice The Process Following initial interview children are invited to take photos: Telling us about their lives How they cope & manage difficult circumstances & what helps Participants are also invited to include text with their photos
Children & young people are asked to be mindful of their own & others privacy when taking photos and not to take identifiable pictures of people
Photo elicitation - Second interview talking through photos Creative collaboration All Photovoice participants meet as a group & work together to build a community exhibition using their photographic work
Dichotomous relational constructions Nice Mums & Bad Dads
Int: What does it feel like when youre with your mum George: Nice Int: Nice? George: Yes Int: Tell me a little bit more about nice? George: Its just nice. Paul: You need to put it another way! Int: How do you feel about yourself when youre with you mum? George: Happy
George: We get to do swimming, fun things, thats fun Paul: But only with our mum, never with our dad Photovoice - capturing the complexities within familial relationships: Father rendered relatively unspeakable Boys smuggled him in through photos of his dogs
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Conclusions Overwhelmingly the imagery and talk associated with children and domestic violence positions them as passive recipients of damage, and as consequently pathologised. Need for alternative ways of talking about children and young people that enables positioning as agentic, resistant and resilient Make space for young people to articulate their experiences and take possession of their sense of agency and creative coping Create space for positive framing of young people in situations of violence - a future for young people to populate Finding us
UNARS website www.unars.co.uk Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/JaneEMCallaghan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/428946693916205/?fref=ts (yes, thats a really handy, memorable address)