Family violence
This page provides an overview of the violence in families practice resource designed to support and strengthen social work practice.
Overview
Violence in families affects the lives of many children and young people in New Zealand. It is a key priority area for Government.
Family violence is a term commonly used to describe a range of behaviours that take place within the family context. The behaviour creates fear and uses power to control. What we know is children and young people are commonly part of that home environment and as such are affected by the violence that takes place.
The way the violence affects children and young people can be difficult to discern and well hidden. The practice resource has been developed from literature reviews and research to support social workers in strengthening their work in this area. The triggers are based on the principles of reflective practice and provide a prompt to draw social work attention to some of the most critical issues to consider when working with children, young people and their families.
The resource also includes key informations to provide additional guidance to social workers, focusing on issues such as the law, understanding a child or young person's needs within the context of violence and assessing risk. The package also contains links to other valuable resources such as papers and articles by experts in the field.
