Understanding Domestic Violence Allegations DVD

Highly conflicted, separated spouses disputing custody put their children at high risk and take up a disproportionately large amount of professional and court time, posing special challenges to all who work in the family justice system. One of the most complex of these circumstances involve allegations of domestic violence. Domestic violence represents a wide range of behaviors from isolated events to a pattern of emotional, physical and sexual abuse that controls the victim. This presentation will address the need for a differentiated approach to developing parenting plans after separation when domesticviolence isalleged.A method of assessing risk by screening for the potency, pattern, and primary perpetrator of the violence is proposed as a foundation for generating hypotheses about the type of and potential for future violence as well as parental functioning.This kind of differential screening for risk in cases where domestic violence is alleged provides preliminary guidance in identifying parenting arrangements that are appropriate for the specific child and family, and if confirmed by a more in-depth assessment,may be the basis for a long-term plan.A series of parenting plans is proposed, with criteria and guidelines for usage depending upon this differential screening, ranging from highly restricted access arrangements (no contact with perpetrators of family violence, and supervised access or monitored exchange), to relatively unrestricted ones (parallel parenting), and even co-parenting. Implications for practice are considered within the context of available resources.

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