Exploring the Direction of Abuse and Counter Allegations

This domestic abuse workshop will explore principles and tools to identify the direction of abuse and understand counter allegations. This domestic abuse in-person workshop is for frontline professionals in Southampton. The session will explore principles and tools to identify the direction of abuse, discuss counter allegations, and explore how to unpick complicated situations. We will look at this from both the DA survivor perspective, discussing violent resistance to abusive and coercively controlling behaviour, and identifying reasons that a parent may make allegations against their partner/ex-partner. We will also look at why an individual perpetrating abuse may consider that they are being victimised. Discussion of a case study will be used to further explore this topic. Learning outcomes/objectives: • Identify challenges in clarifying the direction of abuse • Explore why counter allegations happen and how they fit into a wider understanding of a pattern of abuse • Discuss the use of Johnson’s typologies, respect toolkit and other resources and how they can support DA-informed practice • Practice the skills taught in the session through analysing a case study