annotated bibliography of new zealand research into family violence

understanding of domestic violence, the people involved in it, and their role in policing it.While the analysis suggests officers continue to draw on discourses that blame victims andexonerate offenders, it also points to a discursive shift in police discourses on policingdomestic violence, particularly with regard to its seriousness and dangerousness, theimportance of policing it, and the utility of arrest.Source: Author’s abstractOlo-Whaanga, E. (2000). Responding to mothers who are ambivalent about their child’s disclosure ofsexual abuse. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Auckland, New Zealand.See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/13144.pubTopic Areas: Child abuse and neglect, Sexual abuse, Families, Women, Children,Perpetrators/offenders, Victims/survivors, Justice, Cultural factors, Social services,Prevention/intervention/treatmentAbstract: This research explores how some mothers may maintain a stance of ambivalence totheir child’s disclosure of sexual abuse in terms of their belief in the child’s account, or theirwillingness to support and protect their child, or both. Such mothers pose particulardifficulties for those staff charged with the responsibility for child protection. This qualitativeresearch was carried out to explore the reasons why some mothers respond in this way, andhow this may be influenced by child protection staff members’ response to them. Two groupswere interviewed: key informants who were experienced professionals working in the area;and a mother who was identified as having maintained an ambivalent response to her child’sdisclosure. The interviews were analysed using content analysis. It was found that factors thatkept mothers from believing and supporting their child include: their initial reaction of shock,disbelief and shame; self-blame; a mother’s relationship to the perpetrator; the relationshipbetween the mother and the child; cultural influences; the nature of the disclosure; lack ofknowledge about child sexual abuse; and a mother’s history of victimisation. This researchfindings also identified helpful and unhelpful behaviours of professionals in aiding mothers toshift from ambivalence, to belief and support of their child. Key turning points were identifiedfrom interviews in which mothers shift from ambivalence to belief and support. These includea confession by the offender, evidence, provision of information and education, and support.Implications for professionals responding to mothers identified as ambivalent are given.Source: Author’s abstractOsborn, A. (1996). Caregivers and elders: The caregiving relationship: An exploratory study of eldermaltreatment in New Zealand. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Canterbury,Christchurch, New Zealand.See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/13295.pubTopic Areas: Elder abuse and neglect, Physical abuse, Neglect, Families, Older persons,Perpetrators/offenders, Mental health, Demographics/statisticsAbstract: This study was initiated to increase understanding of the causes of eldermaltreatment in New Zealand and to provide victim and perpetrator profiles. A small study ofcaregivers was undertaken and three groups compared: caregivers who physically abuse theirelderly, caregivers who neglect their elderly, and caregivers who neither neglect norphysically abuse their elderly. Results showed that differences exist between physical abuseand neglect, lending support to the argument that researchers should cease to analysemaltreatment data as though ‘elder abuse’ were a single phenomenon. Similar to overseasresearch, findings also indicated that neglect seemed to be more associated with the stress,141