Decision-making in parent-child contact arrangements in situations of domestic abuse in one locality of England: a preliminary qualitative study

The significant impact of domestic abuse on children is well documented, yet when mothers escape violent relationships, professional and legal decision-making leads to children maintaining contact with perpetrator fathers. This small-scale, pilot study used a focus group of professionals and interview with one mother to explore professional and maternal experience of the decision-making process in parent-child contact arrangements in situations of domestic abuse in one locality in England. The research explored the intrinsic and external influences on decision-making for professionals and mothers when making child contact arrangements when parental domestic abuse has occurred. Thematic analysis identified 'Inconsistency' as the dominant concept for two key themes: the inconsistency of application of the concept of 'Good Enough Parenting' and inconsistency of availability of resources to support decision-making and safe child contact arrangements. This study found a lack of specific guidance or assessment tools to support decision-making in contact arrangements. The small-scale nature of this pilot study limits transferability of results, but forms the basis for the next phase of research, which will seek to recruit a larger group of professionals and mothers to further explore the findings of this study.