annotated bibliography of new zealand research into family violence

Cribb, J., & Barnett, R. (1999). Being bashed: Western Samoan women’s responses to domesticviolence in Western Samoa and New Zealand [Electronic version]. Gender, Place andCulture, 6(1), 49-65.See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/12962.pubTopic Areas: Intimate partner abuse, Women, Victims/survivors, Pacific peoples, Culturalfactors, GenderAbstract: This article examines Samoan women’s attitudes towards domestic violence inthree different geographical locations: rural Western Samoa; urban Western Samoa; andChristchurch, New Zealand. In particular, women were questioned about what their responsewould be if they were physically abused by a partner.The authors found that there were variations in women’s responses to domestic violence inthe three different contexts. In a traditional rural Samoan village, the majority of womenstated that they would leave their partner and return to their extended family if they werevictim to abuse. In this cultural context, the extended family is considered to be a defenceagainst domestic violence because of the shame that it would bring to the whole family.Interestingly, it was the women who were the main income earners of the family who wereleast likely to leave their husbands. In urban Western Samoa, responses varied, oftendepending on the educational level and employment status of the women. Only a slimmajority of the women said that they would leave an abusive partner, and in most cases, as inthe rural village, these women would return to their extended family for support. Samoanwomen living in Christchurch were the most likely group to go to support networks andorganisations, such as Women’s Refuge, if they were experiencing partner abuse. Themajority of women interviewed in Christchurch stated that they would leave a violentrelationship.The authors conclude that variations in responses between the women in the three differentcontexts appear to be due to economic, social and cultural effects, and how these influencewomen’s access to support networks. Traditional values also play a large role in women’sreactions to domestic violence. However, it is not possible to draw a clear link betweengeographical context and reactions to physical abuse.Crichton-Hill, Y. (2001). Challenging ethnocentric explanations of domestic violence. Trauma,Violence and Abuse, 2(3), 203-214.See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/13312.pubTopic Areas: Intimate partner abuse, Women, Pacific peoples, Cultural factors,Communities, Cultural practiceAbstract: This article states that theories describing domestic violence towards women arepredominantly ethnocentric and may not be as relevant for violence in Pacific peoples’families. Invariably, strategies responding to domestic violence are also based on values thatare reflective of their cultural origin. This is reflected in the Duluth power and control wheel,which is a model that has been adopted widely as a tractable strategy for understanding maleaggression. There are some clear gaps in this model if an attempt is made to apply it to thesituation of Samoan women. This article is a critique of the Duluth model, and explores therequirements for social workers working with Samoan women, considering the service, legal,and educational aspects of prevention and intervention. This article argues that there is a needfor further research to be done to ascertain the nature of domestic violence for Samoanwomen in New Zealand.40