When Home Is Not Safe: A practical guide for social workers and helping professionals responding to family violence

When situations are complex, what matters is how you see—and how you respond.

This is not a book of scripts.

In family violence work, what you say is shaped by what you understand.
What you understand shapes how you respond.

When Home Is Not Safe brings together 12 real practice scenarios commonly encountered by social workers and helping professionals working with families where safety, dignity, and relationships are at risk.

Across these scenarios, you will learn how to:

• understand what is happening beneath the surface
• prepare yourself before high-stakes conversations
• respond in ways that hold both clarity and care
• navigate resistance, distress, and complexity without escalating the situation

These are not idealised conversations.
They are grounded in real practice—where there are no perfect answers, only more considered and intentional responses.

This book is for:

• Social workers
• Family violence practitioners
• Caseworkers and counsellors
• Helping professionals working with families in complex situations

Inside, you will find:

• 12 detailed scenarios drawn from real practice
• Structured guidance on understanding, preparing, and responding
• Examples of how to engage both victims and perpetrators
• Approaches that balance safety, dignity, and accountability

This book is part of the In Practice Series: Understanding & Responding, designed to support practitioners in making sense of complex human situations.

For those who sit in difficult spaces—and continue to show up.