Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-30T20:44:21.387Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘It's Been an Absolute Nightmare’ – Family Violence in Kinship Care in Victoria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2018

Rachel Breman ,
Ann MacRae  and
Dave Vicary
Rachel Breman*
Affiliation:
Head of Research Policy and Advocacy, Baptcare
Ann MacRae
Affiliation:
Senior Researcher, Family and Community Services, Baptcare
Dave Vicary
Affiliation:
State Manager, Family and Community Services, Victoria and Tasmania, Baptcare; Adjunct Professor, School of Psychology, Deakin University
*
address for correspondence: Rachel Breman, Head of Research Policy and Advocacy Baptcare, Level 1, 1193 Toorak Road Camberwell, 3124 Victoria. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Kinship care has become the fastest growing form of out-of-home care in Victoria and is the preferred placement option for children who are unable to live with their parents. Little is known about family violence in kinship care that is perpetrated by a close family member of the child in care (usually the child's mother/father) against the carer(s) and children once the placement has started. In this context, family violence means any act of physical violence, emotional/psychological violence, verbal abuse and property damage. In 2017, Baptcare undertook research with 101 kinship carers to gain a better understanding of how family violence was impacting on children and families in kinship care in Victoria. The study used a mixed design that specifically targeted kinship carers who had direct experience of family violence during their placement. This study has demonstrated that significant amounts of violence from family members are being experienced by kinship carers in Victoria and the children in their care. As a response to these findings, Baptcare is proactively addressing family violence in kinship care, across a range of domains, to provide solutions to the issues identified in this research.

Keywords

out-of-home carekinship carefoster careviolencefamily violence
Type
Commentary
Information
Children Australia , Volume 43 , Issue 1 , March 2018 , pp. 7 - 12
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Argent, H. (2009). What's the problem with kinship care? Adoption & Fostering, 33 (3), 6–14.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2016). Child protection Australia 2014–2015 (Child welfare series no. 61). Canberra: AIHW.Google Scholar
Berrick, J. D. (1997). Assessing quality of care in kinship and foster family care. Family Relations, 46 (3), 273–280.Google Scholar
Boetto, H. (2010). Kinship care: A review of issues. Family Matters, 85, 60–67.Google Scholar
Boxall, H., Rosevear, L., & Payne, J. (2015). Domestic violence typologies: What value to practice? Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice (494), 1.Google Scholar
Briggs, F., & Broadhurst, D. (2005). The abuse of foster carers in Australia. Journal of the Home Economics Institute of Australia, 12 (1), 25.Google Scholar
Brown, L., & Sen, R. (2014). Improving outcomes for looked after children: A critical analysis of kinship care. Practice, 26 (3), 161–180.Google Scholar
Campo, M. (2015). Children's exposure to domestic and family violence: Key issues and responses. Journal of the Home Economics Institute of Australia, 22 (3), 33.Google Scholar
Connolly, M. (2003). Kinship care: A selected literature review. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/18570384/A_kinship_care_literature_review.Google Scholar
Cooper, C. (2012). Kinship families: Grandparents and other relatives as primary caregivers for children. International Journal of Childbirth Education, 27 (4), 27–31.Google Scholar
Dunne, E. G., & Kettler, L. J. (2008). Grandparents raising grandchildren in Australia: Exploring psychological health and grandparents’ experience of providing kinship care. International Journal of Social Welfare, 17 (4), 333–345.Google Scholar
Farmer, E. (2009a). Making kinship care work. Adoption & Fostering, 33 (3), 15–27.Google Scholar
Farmer, E. (2009b). How do placements in kinship care compare with those in non-kin foster care: Placement patterns, progress and outcomes? Child and Family Social Work, 14, 331–342.Google Scholar
Font, S. A. (2015). Are children safer with kin? A comparison of maltreatment risk in out-of-home care. Children and Youth Services Review, 54, 20–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiraly, M., & Humphreys, C. (2013a). Family contact for children in kinship care: A literature review. Australian Social Work, 66 (3), 358–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laing, L., & Humphreys, C. (2013). Social work and domestic violence: Developing critical and reflective practice. London: Sage.Google Scholar
O'Brien, V. (2012). The benefits and challenges of kinship care. Child Care in Practice, 18 (2), 127–146.Google Scholar
Richards, K. (2011). Children's exposure to domestic violence in Australia. Trends and Issues in Crime And Criminal Justice (419), 1–7.Google Scholar
Smyth, C., & Eardley, T. (2007). Out of home care for children in Australia: A review of literature and policy. SPRC Report No. 3 (08).Google Scholar
Tinning, B. (2010). Working with the family law sector–exploring domestic violence as a form of coercive controlling violence. Australian Domestic & Family Violence Clearinghouse Newsletter, 40, 5–7.Google Scholar
Uliando, A., & Mellor, D. (2012). Maltreatment of children in out-of-home care: A review of associated factors and outcomes. Children and Youth Services Review, 34 (12), 2280–2286.Google Scholar
United Nations General Assembly (2010). Guidelines for the alternative care of children. New York: United Nations.Google Scholar
Winokur, M., Holtan, A., & Valentine, D. (2009). Kinship care for the safety, permanency, and well-being of children removed from the home for maltreatment. Oslo: Campbell Collaboration.Google ScholarPubMed