The contact connundrum : exploring children's experiences of post-separation contact with domestically abusive fathers

Abstract

This thesis presents an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of post-separation child contact between a defined sample of children and their fathers living in Ireland, where there has been a pre-separation history of domestic abuse perpetrated by their father against their mother. The research on which it is based is concerned with both ascertaining the extent and understanding the nature of post-separation paternal contact. With a principal aim of directly seeking, capturing and representing the child's own unique views and subjective experiences of contact, this thesis also presents an understanding the broader processes and dynamics that ultimately influence the subjective experiences of those children. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were employed in a mixed methodological research design, conducted over two phases. Phase One involved the collection of survey data from 219 mothers, accessed through a national network of refuges and support services, to establish an estimate of the extent and nature of post-separation contact for children with their fathers in a domestic abuse context. Informed by the analysis of the Phase One findings, qualitative data was gathered via individual and focus group interviews in Phase Two of the research. Participants included sixteen children and young people aged 7-24 years of age whose parents had separated because of domestic violence; nine mothers who had separated from their partners because of domestic violence; six fathers (likewise) and thirty professionals whose work brought them into contact with victims of domestic violence. This mixed method approach which also included non-participant observation, was underpinned and predominantly influenced by interpretive and critical theories.