annotated bibliography of new zealand research into family violence

ecommendations for future research are made.Source: Author’s abstractO’Neill, D. (1998). A post-structuralist review of the theoretical literature surrounding wife abuse.Violence against Women, 4(4), 457-490.See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/12943.pubTopic Areas: Intimate partner abuse, Physical abuse, Women, Legislation, Cultural factors,GenderAbstract: This article examines the various ways that the social science community hasunderstood partner abuse. The author takes a poststructuralist perspective when reviewingdifferent theories that have been used to explain wife abuse. The paper identifies fivediscourses: pathology; expressive tension; instrumental power; social system; and learnedbehaviour. The author discusses each discourse and the implications each one has for policyand practice, pointing out that the definitions and implications of the different discourses areoften incompatible, if not in conflict.O’Neill, D., & Hodgetts, D. (2001). Men’s family violence: A comparative analysis of news reportsand accounts of violent men. Communication Journal of New Zealand - He Kohinga Korero,2(1), 3-23.See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/13043.pubTopic Areas: Intimate partner abuse, Physical abuse, Perpetrators/offenders, Cultural factors,Media violenceAbstract: This paper reports key findings from a study involving a discourse analysis ofnews media coverage and perpetrator accounts of men’s violence towards their partners. Theresearch took two forms. Firstly, the authors analysed all television news reports broadcast in1995 on the major television networks in New Zealand. These reports overwhelminglyrepresented the problem as one of pathologically angry individuals. The actions of violentmen were placed within an intergenerational context of dysfunctional families andcommunity tolerance. Media spoke of breaking the ‘cycle of abuse’ through victims askingfor help and batterers receiving counselling. Secondly, 13 men, who had assaulted theirpartners at least once, were interviewed, and their accounts of violence analysed. In themajority of cases, the men spoke of anger problems and their inability to control their ragewhen stressed by external events, such as financial difficulties and their partner’s behaviour.O’Neill, D., & Morgan, M. (2001). Pragmatic post-structuralism (1): Participant observation anddiscourse in evaluating violence intervention. Journal of Community and Applied SocialPsychology, 11(4), 263-275.See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/13335.pubTopic Areas: Intimate partner abuse, Perpetrators/offenders, Cultural factors, Prevention/intervention/treatmentAbstract: This paper discusses the participant observation method of research applied via apoststructuralist approach, and in particular, the use of this method in evaluating acommunity-based stopping violence programme. Whilst participant observation is oftenutilised as a method for process evaluation, its role within a post-structuralist programme is aunique application of a well-established research method. This has significant future138