annotated bibliography of new zealand research into family violence

The model has three inter-related aspects: ‘Finding a Path Beyond Abuse’, which relates tothe experiences of finding safety; ‘Getting A Life’, which covers the woman’s interactionswith the social world; and ‘Becoming Myself’, which relates to personal growth anddevelopment. The author identifies and describes five temporal phases women go through asthey recognise, understand and then attempt to get physically, emotionally and mentally freefrom abuse by a male partner: falling for love; taking control; securing a base; making sense;being myself. In highlighting the phases of recovery, the researcher maintains that thepurpose of seeking help changes over time.Giles, J. (2005). ‘Woman bites dog’ - Making sense of media and research reports that claim womenand men are equally violent. The New Zealand Medical Journal, 118(1225). RetrievedDecember 1, 2005, from http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/abstract.php?id=1731See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/13310.pubTopic Areas: Intimate partner abuse, Women, Perpetrators/offenders, Violence against men,Cultural factors, Gender, Media violenceAbstract: This article examines research claims that women’s violence towards men isequivalent to men’s violence towards women and explains why study outcomes claimingequal violence must not be accepted at face value. Unfortunately, the media are quick toexploit research reports that appear to show women and men are equally violent, and whilesuch reports contradict the observations of experienced medical workers, police, courtpersonnel, and Women’s Refuge workers, they do influence public perceptions and mayundermine policies designed to prevent and reduce male partner violence against women. Theauthor analyses several New Zealand research reports, exploring how the research outcomesare misrepresented.Giles, J. R., Adamson, C. E., & Curreen, H. M. (2005). The social sanctioning of partner abuse:Perpetuating the message that partner abuse is unacceptable in New Zealand [Electronicversion]. Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, (26), 97-116.See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/12369.pubTopic Areas: Intimate partner abuse, Women, Justice, Protection orders, Cultural factors,Gender, Policy, Religion/spirituality, Social servicesAbstract: The pace of cultural change is slow, and informal social sanctions that support theabuse of women by male partners continue to undermine the effectiveness of legislation andpolicy. The perceptions of New Zealand women in a grounded theory study identified‘blaming the victim’ and inadequate enforcement of existing sanctions against abusers associal constraints to victim disclosure and recovery. From very early in the relationshipwomen learn to fear punishment for disclosure when friends, community, and social serviceproviders respond by blaming the woman for causing the abuse, or blaming her for staying inthe relationship. Women’s recovery from experiencing abuse by a male partner is a slowprocess and requires clarification of the attribution of blame, and resolution of the unfairnessof their experience. Recovery can be impeded by social responses that blame women, ordiscount women’s experiences of abuse. Processes of personal identity development arehighly relevant to participants’ experience and, despite constraints to maintaining separation,women who recover achieve considerable personal growth.Source: Author's abstractGilson, D. (2001). An investigation into battered women’s shelters: Feminist cooperatives or social72