Citation

Tufford L, Mishna F, Black T. Clin. Soc. Work J. 2010; 38(4): 426-434.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10615-009-0234-0

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Some child welfare legislation have recently expanded the definition of `a child in need of protection' to include child exposure to intimate partner violence. Such legislation places clinicians in the challenging position of determining whether a situation falls under their duty to report. The current paper examines a case example in which there was child exposed to intimate partner violence, the clinician made a report to child welfare authorities and attempted to maintain the therapeutic alliance with the couple in treatment. The couple viewed contacting child welfare authorities as a crisis situation both in their marriage and in their family. Practice principles for clinicians are suggested.