Models exploring concept, and one of the building

Domestic Violence Research, from the Aiobhneas competition packet

Infants and toddlers may be scared to explore and play (Baker et al, 2002)
...may experience problems eating and sleeping (Carlson, 2000)

   Ideas:  
   -    entice children to play 
   -    irresistable play areas to encourage exploration
   -    enticing sleeping areas
   -    explore the idea of touch/ play/ interact
   -    encourage exploration & imagination
      
Pre-Schoolers
   Symptoms of anxiety such as difficulty sleeping, stranger anxiety, "spacing
   out", anxious attachment, sadness or helplessness (Krieg et al, 2000).

   Think of: the castle at the Concourse hotel play area–plywood and carpet


PTSD
-   Lessened respect for mothers because they thought they were "punished".
-   Women less able to parent because of trauma and depression.

   Promote:
   -   Self-esteem building, team building
   -   Social skills
   -   Challenge physically & mentally


Key issues to be addressed:
-   Recognizing the trauma that living with domestic violence has on children
    and also the trauma of having to leave home, leaving their personal
    belongings.
-   Realizing children miss their fathers and experience feelings of disloyalty
    and guilt arising from this.
-   The need to help children cope with new surroundings, including dealing
     with different cultures, lack of privacy as families live together in one
     room and making new friends with other children in the refuge.
-   The need to assist children in continuing to deal with the outside world
     including maybe having to move schools, long waiting lists for referrals
     to family centers/ social workers to deal with emotional and/ or
     behavioral issues.
-   The need to provide facilities for children appropriate to their age and
     for these facilities and related staff to be available outside office hours.
-   The need to provide opportunities for children to have outings from the
     refuge.
-   Helping children to cope with the uncertainty they face reading their
     future.

*Play therapy is also a necessary therapeutic service for some children
  which can help them to explore issues and develop coping skills.*

Specialist Facilities:
-   Play areas with age specific toys and equipment
-   External play facilities
-   Group & individual therapy rooms that are child friendly
-   Area suitable to do homework & related activities
-   Separate areas for adolescents that resemble a home environment,
     including separate sleeping accommodation.

Site photos and drawings

The background for my thesis project:

Aoibhneas Children’s Centre 

18 February 2010

Aoibhneas Children’s Centre Architectural Competition

This brief is for the architectural competition for the design of a children’s centre on the existing site of Aoibhneas Women and Children’s Refuge in Coolock, Dublin.

Introduction

Every child should feel safe and secure in their own home. However, for too many children, home is a place of fear. For the women and children who seek help in refuges from domestic violence, finding a safe haven is the first step in the journey away from the long lasting effects of living with violence. The experience that children have in a refuge can have a profound effect on that journey.

Children need specialist services to address their needs. Aoibhneas Women’s and Children’s Refuge is working to ensure that children in Ireland, who experience the trauma of domestic violence, are given the support they need to deal with their experiences and to move on to the happy future that all children deserve.

The Vision

Aoibhneas wants to pave the way in changing how refuges work for children in Ireland. Irish refuges must become more than temporary safe houses and become places that truly support children through the traumas of domestic violence. Aoibhneas wants to create an environment whereby children can reclaim their trust and feelings of safety. Our plans are to create a facility which will include age appropriate play areas, homework, art and therapy rooms, as well as space for children to spend time alone and with their families. Specialist staff will work with children while they are in the refuge and will continue to provide the vital support they need once they have left the refuge, as well as providing outreach services to children affected by domestic violence in the local community.

Aoibhneas’ experience to date of supporting children

Aoibhneas Women’s and Children’s Refuge has been working with children for many years. Since 2000, Aoibhneas has worked with over 2,000 women and nearly 4,600 children seeking refuge from domestic violence. Over these years we have learned that if we really want to support children affected by domestic violence we need to understand what such children are going through:

• Leaving domestic violence situations means children leaving their home, their personal belongings and often everything that is familiar to them.
• Leaving a bad situation does not mean that children do not miss their fathers and feeling guilty and disloyal for leaving them.
• While a refuge is a safe haven, it is a completely new place where children have to cope with different cultures and a lack of privacy as their family has to live together in one room. There is also the challenge of meeting new friends.
• Once in the refuge children need support in dealing with the outside world, perhaps moving school, and getting help from social workers and other professionals.
• While in the refuge, children have the opportunity to address in a safe and supportive environment the effects of domestic violence on them and on their relationships with both parents.
• When children leave refuges they continue to need support to work through the impacts of domestic violence on their lives.

International Research Findings

We have carried out research to ensure that our plans for children are appropriate and based on best international practice.

Our report ‘Developing World Class Services for Children Affected by Domestic Violence Living in Refuges’ (available in the competition pack) reviewed international research findings. We have illustrated the serious and long-term effects of domestic violence on children and identified the type of supports that children need to help overcome the effects of such experiences. For example, the report highlights, among other things, how:

• living with domestic violence can affect children in many ways not only now, but also into their future: emotionally, academically, in their relationships and family life;
• children that have lived with extreme domestic violence can even show symptoms similar to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD);
• inter-spousal violence is among the most catastrophic traumas for children;
• the impacts of domestic violence on children are age-specific;
• specialist services and facilities can assist mothers and their children to rebuild their relationships in the aftermath of domestic violence.

What is needed to change the future for children who have lived with domestic violence?

Each child is different and has had a different experience and so child workers need to be able to assess each child as they come to the refuge to identify their particular needs.

To work with the child through therapy and play that is designed to meet the needs of children of different ages, to support the relationship between mother and child, and to advocate for the child in their relationship with the outside world and in the unfamiliar world of the refuge.

Children need support when they leave refuges, especially if they are returning to homes where they have experienced domestic violence in the past.

Without play facilities, therapy rooms, areas for children to spend time alone and with their families as well as areas to do homework, even the best child worker cannot give children the support that they need.