annotated bibliography of new zealand research into family violence

Children in Dunedin in the 1980s", discusses the finding that children exposed to severealcohol related problems, for example, a violent or abusive father when drunk, are judged bytheir teachers as having more behavioural problems than their peers at 9 years old. A similarconclusion was drawn by the child’s parents when the children were 13 years old.Jan Pryor and Lianne Woodward examine the effect of family adversity on child developmentin the chapter entitled "Families and Parenting". The authors of this chapter suggest thatgrowing up in an adverse familial environment impacts negatively on child behaviour andcognitive performance, potentially having a lasting effect on an individual’s overallwellbeing. Another significant finding is that family conflict was a predictor of childhooddisorder at 11 years of age.Simpson, A., McKenna, B., Moskowitz, A., Skipworth, J., & Barry-Walsh, J. (2003). Myth andreality: The relationship between mental illness and homicide in New Zealand. Auckland,New Zealand: Health Research Council of New Zealand. Retrieved December 15, 2005, fromhttp://www.hrc.govt.nz/assets/pdfs/publications/mythandreality.pdfSee: www.nzfvc.org.nz/12800.pubTopic Areas: Homicide, Child homicide, Families, Perpetrators/offenders, Cultural factors,Mental health, Policy, Media violence, Demographics/statisticsAbstract: This study sought to discover what proportion of all homicides are committed bypeople with a serious mental illness, establish any existing trends in this proportionalhomicide rate, and discern their victims’ characteristics. A retrospective study was employedto gather information on all persons committing homicide in New Zealand between 1970 and2000. This data was obtained from various Governmental datasets, such as the PoliceHomicide Monitoring database, Ministry of Health records, and the New Zealand ParoleBoard records of all people convicted of murder. This authors discovered that victims ofhomicide committed by people with a serious mental illness were more likely to be familymembers. The results of the study also show that the rate of homicide committed by peoplewith a serious mental illness has reduced as a proportion of total homicides, from 19% in1970 to 4% in 2000. Therefore, as there is a lower risk of homicide being committed bypersons with a serious mental illness, the authors question the widespread public perceptionthat mental health services are not protecting society from harm. The authors suggest that themedia plays a significant role in influencing and exacerbating negative and misleading imagesof persons with a serious mental illness. Implications and recommendations for policy andfuture research in the area of mental health are also discussed.Smith, A. B. (2005). Children’s rights to protection from physical punishment in their homes: Theoryand research. Paper presented at the Childhoods 2005 International Conference, Oslo,Norway. Retrieved February 7, 2006, from http://www.otago.ac.nz/cic/publications/0510Smith05ChildrensRights.pdfSee: www.nzfvc.org.nz/12977.pubTopic Areas: Child abuse and neglect, Children, Discipline/punishment, Mental healthAbstract: This conference paper examines the use of physical punishment from a socialsciences point of view. The author discusses five theoretical perspectives in relation tophysical punishment as a framework for the discussion. The author draws on a review ofresearch to argue that physical punishment is an ineffective and detrimental means fordisciplining children. Research findings consistently show that physical punishment used as aform of family discipline has a number of negative long-term effects on children’sdevelopment. Some of these effects include: antisocial behaviour, for example, aggression165