Susan Heward‐Belle
Biographic Data
| ID | 6192056 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Susan Heward‐Belle |
| GIVEN NAMES | Susan |
| FAMILY NAME | Heward‐Belle |
| SIGNATURE | BELLE S H |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Sydney |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0833-414X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 72 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Partnering With Lived Experience Experts to Co‐Design and Co‐Facilitate Trauma‐Informed Practice Training for Health Professionals
Disrupting Child Sexual Exploitation in New South Wales
Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is an insidious form of child sexual abuse (CSA) that impacts Australia's most vulnerable children and young people. Reports of CSE abuses experienced by children and young people living in out‐of‐home care (OOHC) have spurred urgent calls for improving responses to CSE in Australia. However, limited empirical research exists to inform policy and practice. This article presents findings from a pre‐training survey c…
Until We Shift the Responsibility to Where it Needs to be, Survivors’ Trauma Will Never End”
Purpose Research about women’s and children’s healing and recovery from domestic and family violence (DFV) has largely examined how individual characteristics of victims-survivors influence this process. As a result, professional practice often pivots on bolstering their psychological, emotional and behavioral resources. Less emphasis is placed on the potential for perpetrator accountability (PA) practices to influence the healing and recovery pr…
Judicial Actors’ Understanding of the Mental Health Impacts of Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global public health issue that has grave physical and mental health consequences for millions of women. The judicial system plays a critical role in responding to IPV principally through the criminal justice system, family law, and/or child welfare jurisdictions. However, victims/survivors who interact with the legal system report negative experiences. An under-researched area of scholarship is the degree to …
Worker Safety in High-risk Child Protection and Domestic Violence Cases
Purpose Few studies have investigated how high-risk domestic and family violence perpetrators threaten staff, how organizations support staff, and whether communities of practice improve service coordination and the safety of workers and the families they serve. The purpose of this article is to explore worker safety among practitioners involved in high-risk domestic and family violence and child protection cases. Methods Participatory action res…
Beyond co‐occurrence
This paper reports an Australian project designed to simultaneously explore and capacity build professional practice when working at the intersection of parental mental health and/or problematic substance use and domestic violence (DV). Data from this paper are derived from two main sources: observations and ethnographic notes obtained during 28 Community of Practice (CoP) meetings and semi‐structured interviews with 28 CoP participants. Particip…
Practice in a Time of Uncertainty
This paper reports findings of a qualitative study examining the perceptions of 21 Australian women professionals who conduct home visiting with families experiencing intimate partner violence. There is scant evidence documenting how home visiting professionals adapted practice to address the safety concerns of women and their children within the context of the pandemic. Practitioners noted an increase in the risk level and complexity of intimate…
Evidencing better child protection practice
Lawyers and child protection workers are actively engaged in the process of constructing and representing domestic violence and risk through the processes of collecting, documenting and presenting evidence. These processes frequently reflect the application of dominant gendered stereotypes commonly perpetuated within patriarchal societies through institutional practices. Such practices commonly include: constructing mothers who parent in the cont…
Fathers who use domestic violence
It is well established in the literature that fathers who use violence harm women and children. Statutory child protection workers and other human service professionals now face strong injunctions to work with these men. However, insufficient attention has been given to considering the processes for intervening with fathers who use violence and the organisational context to support workers in refocusing their practice. Workers lack clear guidance…
Invisible Practices
Data from this article are derived from responses to questionnaires provided by 232 frontline workers and team leaders from a range of organizations across four Australian states who participated in The Invisible Practices Project: Engaging With Fathers Who Use Violence. This project was designed to explore the practices of workers who see perpetrators of domestic violence outside the relative safety of group-work programs. Thematic analysis was …
Assessing Dangerousness
Violence against women and children is one of the most common forms of human rights abuse in Australia (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2012). Given the high rates of domestic violence and chil
Intervening with Children Living with Domestic Violence
This article examines cross-sector relationships that facilitated or impeded effective responses to women and children experiencing domestic violence. It reports on the findings of a study of 54 Australian professionals working in either statutory child protection, family law, or domestic violence and community services. Qualitative data gathered from focus groups with participants is the research base for this article. The study found that overw…
Practitioner Perspectives on Collaboration across Domestic Violence, Child Protection, and Family Law
Australia has two legal systems that address safety where children have been exposed to domestic violence: the state- and territory-based statutory child protection systems and the federal family law system. Numerous reports and recommendations have attempted to address the jurisdictional gap between the state and territory systems of public law and the federal system of private law that result in different approaches, which have implications for…
Exploiting the ‘good mother’ as a tactic of coercive control
This article examines the ways that domestically violent men assault women as mothers and their mothering. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 17 Australian men who had perpetrated domestic violence, this article reports their accounts of using this tactic. This tactic was found to be particularly pernicious and grounded in hegemonic representations of the “good mother.” Domestically violent men deployed this tactic instrumentally to exert power …
Domestic Violence and Protecting Children
Domestic Violence and Protecting Children: New Thinking and Approaches." Australian Social Work, 71(1), pp. 129–130
The Diverse Fathering Practices of Men Who Perpetrate Domestic Violence
Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from in-depth interviews with 17 Australian fathers who were participating in a men's behaviour change program. The study found that men's fathering varied and posed significant, yet different, risks to women, children, and young people. Variations were particularly evident when analysing narratives of masculinity with perceptions of control over the use of domestic violence. Other aspects of men's …
Practitioner Perspectives on Collaboration across Domestic Violence, Child Protection, and Family Law
Australia has two legal systems that address safety where children have been exposed to domestic violence: the state- and territory-based statutory child protection systems and the federal family law system. Numerous reports and recommendations have attempted to address the jurisdictional gap between the state and territory systems of public law and the federal system of private law that result in different approaches, which have implications for…
Exploiting the ‘good mother’ as a tactic of coercive control
This article examines the ways that domestically violent men assault women as mothers and their mothering. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 17 Australian men who had perpetrated domestic violence, this article reports their accounts of using this tactic. This tactic was found to be particularly pernicious and grounded in hegemonic representations of the “good mother.” Domestically violent men deployed this tactic instrumentally to exert power …
The Diverse Fathering Practices of Men Who Perpetrate Domestic Violence
Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from in-depth interviews with 17 Australian fathers who were participating in a men's behaviour change program. The study found that men's fathering varied and posed significant, yet different, risks to women, children, and young people. Variations were particularly evident when analysing narratives of masculinity with perceptions of control over the use of domestic violence. Other aspects of men's …
Intervening with Children Living with Domestic Violence
This article examines cross-sector relationships that facilitated or impeded effective responses to women and children experiencing domestic violence. It reports on the findings of a study of 54 Australian professionals working in either statutory child protection, family law, or domestic violence and community services. Qualitative data gathered from focus groups with participants is the research base for this article. The study found that overw…
Invisible Practices
Data from this article are derived from responses to questionnaires provided by 232 frontline workers and team leaders from a range of organizations across four Australian states who participated in The Invisible Practices Project: Engaging With Fathers Who Use Violence. This project was designed to explore the practices of workers who see perpetrators of domestic violence outside the relative safety of group-work programs. Thematic analysis was …
Worker Safety in High-risk Child Protection and Domestic Violence Cases
Purpose Few studies have investigated how high-risk domestic and family violence perpetrators threaten staff, how organizations support staff, and whether communities of practice improve service coordination and the safety of workers and the families they serve. The purpose of this article is to explore worker safety among practitioners involved in high-risk domestic and family violence and child protection cases. Methods Participatory action res…
Beyond co‐occurrence
This paper reports an Australian project designed to simultaneously explore and capacity build professional practice when working at the intersection of parental mental health and/or problematic substance use and domestic violence (DV). Data from this paper are derived from two main sources: observations and ethnographic notes obtained during 28 Community of Practice (CoP) meetings and semi‐structured interviews with 28 CoP participants. Particip…
Practice in a Time of Uncertainty
This paper reports findings of a qualitative study examining the perceptions of 21 Australian women professionals who conduct home visiting with families experiencing intimate partner violence. There is scant evidence documenting how home visiting professionals adapted practice to address the safety concerns of women and their children within the context of the pandemic. Practitioners noted an increase in the risk level and complexity of intimate…
Fathers who use domestic violence
It is well established in the literature that fathers who use violence harm women and children. Statutory child protection workers and other human service professionals now face strong injunctions to work with these men. However, insufficient attention has been given to considering the processes for intervening with fathers who use violence and the organisational context to support workers in refocusing their practice. Workers lack clear guidance…
Until We Shift the Responsibility to Where it Needs to be, Survivors’ Trauma Will Never End”
Purpose Research about women’s and children’s healing and recovery from domestic and family violence (DFV) has largely examined how individual characteristics of victims-survivors influence this process. As a result, professional practice often pivots on bolstering their psychological, emotional and behavioral resources. Less emphasis is placed on the potential for perpetrator accountability (PA) practices to influence the healing and recovery pr…
The Diverse Fathering Practices of Men Who Perpetrate Domestic Violence
Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from in-depth interviews with 17 Australian fathers who were participating in a men's behaviour change program. The study found that men's fathering varied and posed significant, yet different, risks to women, children, and young people. Variations were particularly evident when analysing narratives of masculinity with perceptions of control over the use of domestic violence. Other aspects of men's …
Exploiting the ‘good mother’ as a tactic of coercive control
This article examines the ways that domestically violent men assault women as mothers and their mothering. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 17 Australian men who had perpetrated domestic violence, this article reports their accounts of using this tactic. This tactic was found to be particularly pernicious and grounded in hegemonic representations of the “good mother.” Domestically violent men deployed this tactic instrumentally to exert power …
Domestic Violence and Protecting Children
Domestic Violence and Protecting Children: New Thinking and Approaches." Australian Social Work, 71(1), pp. 129–130
Intervening with Children Living with Domestic Violence
This article examines cross-sector relationships that facilitated or impeded effective responses to women and children experiencing domestic violence. It reports on the findings of a study of 54 Australian professionals working in either statutory child protection, family law, or domestic violence and community services. Qualitative data gathered from focus groups with participants is the research base for this article. The study found that overw…
Practitioner Perspectives on Collaboration across Domestic Violence, Child Protection, and Family Law
Australia has two legal systems that address safety where children have been exposed to domestic violence: the state- and territory-based statutory child protection systems and the federal family law system. Numerous reports and recommendations have attempted to address the jurisdictional gap between the state and territory systems of public law and the federal system of private law that result in different approaches, which have implications for…
Fathers who use domestic violence
It is well established in the literature that fathers who use violence harm women and children. Statutory child protection workers and other human service professionals now face strong injunctions to work with these men. However, insufficient attention has been given to considering the processes for intervening with fathers who use violence and the organisational context to support workers in refocusing their practice. Workers lack clear guidance…
Invisible Practices
Data from this article are derived from responses to questionnaires provided by 232 frontline workers and team leaders from a range of organizations across four Australian states who participated in The Invisible Practices Project: Engaging With Fathers Who Use Violence. This project was designed to explore the practices of workers who see perpetrators of domestic violence outside the relative safety of group-work programs. Thematic analysis was …
Assessing Dangerousness
Violence against women and children is one of the most common forms of human rights abuse in Australia (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2012). Given the high rates of domestic violence and chil
Evidencing better child protection practice
Lawyers and child protection workers are actively engaged in the process of constructing and representing domestic violence and risk through the processes of collecting, documenting and presenting evidence. These processes frequently reflect the application of dominant gendered stereotypes commonly perpetuated within patriarchal societies through institutional practices. Such practices commonly include: constructing mothers who parent in the cont…
Beyond co‐occurrence
This paper reports an Australian project designed to simultaneously explore and capacity build professional practice when working at the intersection of parental mental health and/or problematic substance use and domestic violence (DV). Data from this paper are derived from two main sources: observations and ethnographic notes obtained during 28 Community of Practice (CoP) meetings and semi‐structured interviews with 28 CoP participants. Particip…
Practice in a Time of Uncertainty
This paper reports findings of a qualitative study examining the perceptions of 21 Australian women professionals who conduct home visiting with families experiencing intimate partner violence. There is scant evidence documenting how home visiting professionals adapted practice to address the safety concerns of women and their children within the context of the pandemic. Practitioners noted an increase in the risk level and complexity of intimate…
Worker Safety in High-risk Child Protection and Domestic Violence Cases
Purpose Few studies have investigated how high-risk domestic and family violence perpetrators threaten staff, how organizations support staff, and whether communities of practice improve service coordination and the safety of workers and the families they serve. The purpose of this article is to explore worker safety among practitioners involved in high-risk domestic and family violence and child protection cases. Methods Participatory action res…
Judicial Actors’ Understanding of the Mental Health Impacts of Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global public health issue that has grave physical and mental health consequences for millions of women. The judicial system plays a critical role in responding to IPV principally through the criminal justice system, family law, and/or child welfare jurisdictions. However, victims/survivors who interact with the legal system report negative experiences. An under-researched area of scholarship is the degree to …
Until We Shift the Responsibility to Where it Needs to be, Survivors’ Trauma Will Never End”
Purpose Research about women’s and children’s healing and recovery from domestic and family violence (DFV) has largely examined how individual characteristics of victims-survivors influence this process. As a result, professional practice often pivots on bolstering their psychological, emotional and behavioral resources. Less emphasis is placed on the potential for perpetrator accountability (PA) practices to influence the healing and recovery pr…
Partnering With Lived Experience Experts to Co‐Design and Co‐Facilitate Trauma‐Informed Practice Training for Health Professionals
Disrupting Child Sexual Exploitation in New South Wales
Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is an insidious form of child sexual abuse (CSA) that impacts Australia's most vulnerable children and young people. Reports of CSE abuses experienced by children and young people living in out‐of‐home care (OOHC) have spurred urgent calls for improving responses to CSE in Australia. However, limited empirical research exists to inform policy and practice. This article presents findings from a pre‐training survey c…
Intimate Partner and Family Violence (14 works) · Medicine (14 works) · Political science (14 works) · Domestic violence (13 works) · Poison control (13 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Law (11 works) · Law (10 works) · Suicide prevention (10 works)