Are mothers who stay with their physically violent partners failing to protect their children?

Abstract

Tensions exist between the perceived roles and responsibilities of the protective mother, and the lived experiences of mothers in domestic abusive relationships. This paper challenges the prejudices faced by mothers by society, professionals and the law when living with abuse; specifically, exploring the concept of ‘failure to protect’ in order to understand the repercussions of this label on the mother-child dyad. A theoretical analysis of the literature examines an alternative view of the complex and multifactorial measures taken by women to protect their children. In doing so, the ecological model is examined to consider the term ‘mother blame’.