annotated bibliography of new zealand research into family violence

Abstract: This chapter details a model formulated by the authors that seeks to classify rapistsand their behaviours. The chapter is based upon a thesis entitled, A Descriptive Model of theOffence Chain for Rapists, which involved qualitative interviews with 24 European NewZealand men currently in prison on sexual assault charges. The authors conclude that themodel does work in specific cases, but needs adaptation before being used more widely. Thiswas being addressed at the time of publication.Pond, R. (2003). The legal response to men’s violence against women (ex-) partners: Narrativerepresentation of women’s experiences and discourse analysis of lawyer’s talk. Unpublisheddoctoral dissertation, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/12203.pubTopic Areas: Intimate partner abuse, Child abuse and neglect, Physical abuse, Psychological/emotional abuse, Sexual abuse, Women, Victims/survivors, Children as victims, Children aswitnesses, Justice, Protection orders, Care and protection, Legislation, Gender, Cultural andprofessional practice.Abstract: This thesis research focuses on New Zealand’s legal response to domesticviolence, exploring how the legal system serves the needs of women who experience abusefrom their male partners and ex-partners, and how lawyers make sense of partner violenceand the legal response to it. The author uses a feminist post-structuralism theoretical approachand interviewed 10 women, representing their individual accounts using narrativemethodology.The women’s narratives suggest the legal system does not consistently serve the needs ofwomen seeking protection from partner violence; many women were dissatisfied. Women didnot always feel that judges, lawyers, and other legal personnel treated their experiences ofviolence and psychological abuse seriously or empathetically. Some women also encounteredresistance when they attempted to protect their children through supervised access.The author also interviewed 18 lawyers working in the area of domestic violence andanalysed their transcripts using discursive methodology. Lawyers utilised many discourses tomake sense of, and constitute domestic violence and the legal response to it. Some discourseswere consistent with holding perpetrators accountable for their violence and with protectingwomen and children. However, many discourses minimised and detracted attention awayfrom men’s violence towards women, marginalised women’s experiences of abuse andviolence, and undermined women and children’s protection and safety. The author notes thatthe legal system maintains and perpetuates gender bias and oppression against women.Source: Author’s abstractPond, R., & Morgan, M. (2005). New Zealand women’s experiences of lawyers in the context ofdomestic violence. Women’s Studies Journal, 19(2), 79-106.See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/12332.pubTopic Areas: Intimate partner abuse, Women, Justice, Cultural practiceAbstract: This article presents a study that examined women’s experiences of the legalsystem when they endeavour to protect themselves from domestic violence, and in particular,how they viewed the lawyer representing them. The study employed a narrative methodology.The author found that a common complaint of the women was that lawyers do not understandthe complexity of domestic violence, namely how abuse affects many aspects of the victim’slife. Many of the participants reported that their lawyer had poor communication skills,minimised or blamed them for the abuse, and often did not provide all the relevantinformation about their case. Those that indicated positive experiences reported that their150