annotated bibliography of new zealand research into family violence

attering. The report then discusses a number of alternative proposed ‘partial defence’concept options for battered defendants operating in other jurisdictions: ‘excessive selfdefence’,‘self-preservation’, an extended form of ‘self-defence’ proposed by the WesternAustralian Task Force on Gender Violence, ‘tyrannicide’, and ‘diminished responsibility’. Itdoes not recommend these as options for the New Zealand judicial system. The report alsolooks at the partial defence of ‘provocation’ and the fact that it has been used successfully asan excuse for domestic violence against women. It recommends that this should be abolishedin favour of matters of provocation being taken into account in the exercise of sentencingdiscretion for murder, which it also recommends replaces the mandatory life sentencecurrently in operation in New Zealand. ‘Compulsion’ and ‘duress’, by treat, or ofcircumstances, are also reviewed in relation to domestic violence. Appended to the report isan informative overview entitled "Battered Heterosexual Men, Gay Men and Lesbians",which discusses methodological issues relating to the study of female to male violence suchas use of the Conflict Tactics Scales, and looks at violence in gay and lesbian relationships.Law Commission. (2003). Dispute resolution in the Family Court. (NZLC R 82). Wellington, NewZealand: Author. Retrieved December 12, 2005, from http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/ProjectReport.aspx?ProjectID=87See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/12770.pubTopic Areas: Intimate partner abuse, Families, Women, Perpetrators/offenders, Victims/survivors, Justice, Protection orders, Care and contact, Legislation, PolicyAbstract: This Law Commission Report is in response to widespread criticism of the FamilyCourt of New Zealand. Allegations include: the system is biased against men; applications aregranted too readily without notice; where orders are made without notice, it takes too long forthe other party to be heard; matters generally take too long to resolve; children suffer becauseof these delays; and lastly, not all Family Court professionals are properly trained and skilled.The report makes a number of recommendations, including the proposal of new conciliationprocesses and court procedures that would help resolve family disputes and that the presentsystem be resourced to perform at its most efficient, without delays caused by a lack of courttime, a shortage of report writers, and a lack of assistance from the Department of Child,Youth and Family Services.Laws, M.–A. (1998). The parole supervision of child sex offenders: An evaluation of parolesupervision in the Waikato Region. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Waikato,Hamilton, New Zealand.See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/13189.pubTopic Areas: Sexual abuse, Perpetrators/offenders, Children as victims, Justice, Prevention/intervention/treatment, Demographics/statisticsAbstract: The purpose of this research was to investigate how the parole of sexual offendersin the Waikato region is managed under the relapse prevention model. A process evaluationwas carried out, which involved interviews with 10 probation officers and 10 sexualoffenders, who had been through either the Kia Marama or Te Piriti treatment programmes.The results show that in general, both sets of participants were satisfied with the paroleprocess. Probation officers showed some compliance to the relapse prevention model,although there were some grounds for concern here. The author highlights the need forregular training of probation officers in the supervision of sexual offenders under the relapseprevention model.Source: Author’s abstract104