This report examines how children’s services respond to domestic abuse and how factors such as poverty, gender, race, ethnicity and age influence both families’ experiences and professional decision-making.
Researchers found significant gaps in the information collected and used by services and policymakers, alongside limited understanding of the social and economic contexts in which domestic abuse occurs. Despite domestic abuse being widely recognised as a complex social problem, responses were often heavily focused on individual casework with children and mothers experiencing harm, rather than wider structural causes and inequalities.
The study also found that poverty and deprivation increased the likelihood of families experiencing domestic abuse becoming involved with the child protection system. Researchers say the findings add to growing evidence about the relationship between social inequalities and state intervention in family life.
The report highlights frustration among practitioners with existing approaches and identifies a strong appetite for change across the sector. Drawing on the experiences of families and professionals, the study sets out a series of principles to support more effective and socially informed responses to domestic abuse.
