This fully updated Reader provides a comprehensive review of recent research and legislation relating to domestic violence and its consequences for children, and identifies the implications for practice.

It is divided into three parts. Part One describes evidence for the links between domestic violence and the concomitant abuse of children and assesses the effects on children's future well-being. Part Two is a comprehensive and accessible guide to relevant current criminal and civil legislation. Highlighting the success of multi-agency approaches, the final part details practical issues for interventions with children and their carers, male perpetrators, and, new to this edition, women.

Endorsed by children's charities including the NSPCC and Barnardo's, Making an Impact enables professionals working with children to develop informed, sophisticated and collaborative child care and protection responses for children who are experiencing domestic violence.

Marianne Hester is Professor of Gender, Violence and International Policy in the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, and part of the Violence Against Women Research Group. She has written extensively on children and domestic violence, and, with Lorraine Radford, co-authored Mothering Through Domestic Violence, also published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Chris Pearson is Co-ordinator of Exeter Women's Aid. She previously worked at the University of Bristol and was a member of the Domestic Violence Research Group. Nicola Harwin is the Chief Executive of the Women's Aid Federation of England.

Introduction. Part One: Children and Domestic Violence. 1. Domestic Violence: What Is It? 2. Domestic Violence and the Abuse of Children. 3. The Impact of Domestic Violence on Children. Part Two: The Legal Context. 4. Making Safe Arrangements for Children Affected by Domestic Violence: Public and Private Law. 5. Protection under Criminal Law. 6. Protection from Violence under Civil Law. 7. Protection against Domestic Violence under Housing Law. Part Three: Practice Interventions. 8. Social Care Responses to Domestic Violence and Abuse of Children. 9. Practice and Intervention with Children in Circumstances of Domestic Violence. 10. Intervention with Male Perpetrators of Domestic Violence. 11. Multi-Agency Involvement and Cooperation in Relation to Domestic Violence. 12. Working with and Supporting Women Experiencing Domestic Violence. References. Index.