PRACTICE GUIDE
Invisible practices: Working with fathers who use violence
This resource provides a practical guide for working effectively with families, using the Safe & Together model, based upon the findings from the “Invisible practices” research project.
The “Invisible practices” research is grounded in the belief that women and children experiencing domestic and family violence will be better supported by a model of working that involves the whole family. It draws from the Safe & Together Model which entails three core principles:
- Keeping the children together with the non-offending parent
- Partnering with the non-offending parent as the default position
- Intervening with the perpetrator to reduce risk and harm to child.
Practitioners within the child protection systems and family services are well positioned to engage with fathers who use violence. This resource guides and asks reflective questions of those practitioners who work with fathers who use violence by asking, “What does good practice with fathers who use violence look like?”
The resource is structured around five themes that emerged as being important from practitioners who participated in the research:
- Working with fathers who use violence and control
- Partnering with women
- Focusing on children and young people
- Working collaboratively
- Worker safety.
Critically, the resource focuses on the patterns of abuse that a father uses, in order to better assess risk and inform safety planning. This ensures that the safety of women and children remains central, and their voices are always privileged in practice.
Suggested citation
Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety. (2018). Invisible practices: Working with fathers who use violence [Practice guide]. ANROWS.