Age Groups

Group programmes are based on the developmental age of the children. Usually this falls into the following age bands:

• 7-10 years
• 11-13 years
• 14-16 years

Group eligibility and structure

Main Points:

• Groups include children of mixed ethnicity and gender.
• The size of the group will be 6-8 children.
• The group may include siblings.
• Caregivers must attend information sharing sessions so that they can better support their children, know what is happening in the group and discuss issues that arise for the children between group sessions.
• A child's mother or main caregiver must have taken steps to ensure her own safety and that of the children. Ideally she would have completed a Living Without Violence programme or had some other form of support to help her deal with the effects of living in a violent and abusive relationship.
• If the child has ongoing contact with the mother's violent partner or ex partner, he must have completed a men's Stopping Violence programme (and the facilitator must consider him to be genuinely concerned for the child's safety).

Length of programme
Child, adolescent and teenage programmes are for 1.5 hours per week over eight to ten weeks, ideally within a school term.

Protocols for safety

• Children must be living in a safe, violence free environment
• Children will discuss ground rules for the group in the first session and clear guidelines will be established for behaviour in the group, with consequences (e.g. calming down space) if these expectations are not met.
• If a child discloses mother is being abusive or violent, mother must be informed and encouraged to act to make child safe in the future. If concerns are on-going after this action then obligation to report to Dept. of Child, Youth and Family.
• If father abuses child physically or emotionally during contact or is violent to mother, the same procedures as above apply. The woman will be encouraged to take out a Protection Order, or if she already has one, report breaches to the police.

Confidentiality

Children will be informed that what they say in the group stays in the group but if we have any worries about them not being safe we would want to talk to them and their mothers about it. Mothers will be advised about the confidentiality of the children's group and the exceptions to it.

Rationale of Group Teenage programmes

These are designed for small groups of teenagers who have lived with and been witness to domestic violence. They have the same theoretical base as our Women's Support and Education programme. Family violence is seen in a social/political/historical context and this is best described by feminist theory, which sees violence towards women and children as an abuse of power.

Children's rights will have a strong focus in the programme, especially their right to live free from intimidation and violence.

The programme is educational, skills based and experiential, using a variety of activities including art, story telling, singing and games.

We believe being in a group of peers is informative and conducive to new learning. Closed groups create a culture that is safe and secure for the teenagers or children who are participating. Research shows that group work is more effective than individual work in helping to recover from the effects of violence.

Critical Content-Living Without Violence Teenagers and Children's Programme

• Safety
• Children/teenagers not responsible for violence or family break up
• Breaking secrecy and isolation
• Affirmation and self esteem
• Normalising feelings about violence and expressing feelings
• Anger and conflict resolution, problem solving and responsibility for choices
• Validation of experiences
• Children's rights
• Flexibility, the ability to respond to children's needs in any given session
• Fun - providing a positive experience for the children or teenagers.