annotated bibliography of new zealand research into family violence

violent parent would not have unsupervised access to a child unless the Court could besatisfied of safety. The author contends that because psychological abuse is commonlyconsidered in s16(b) Guardianship Act assessments, and often occurs with physical or sexualabuse, the approach of s16(b) Guardianship Act must be analysed. Through this exclusion ins16(a) Guardianship Act, a major gap in protection coverage is identified. An analysis ofcurrent law and practice concludes that despite the protections contained within thepresumption, problems remain. Application of the current presumption to psychological abusehas not consistently led to safer access arrangements for women and children where there hasbeen psychological abuse. This unacceptable situation provides a sound foundation to moveforward to an analysis of the viability of including psychological abuse to initiate thepresumption, concluding with suggested recommendations for future interventions. Thispossible amendment is advocated because it moves the presumption further towards itsobjective of prioritising children’s welfare and safety from all violence. The author concludesthat the amendment has not led to consistently safer access arrangements for children infamilies who have experienced psychological abuse because there continues to be apredominant focus on protecting people from physical violence at the expense of theirpsychological safety.Source: Author’s abstractHenaghan, M. (2000). Relocation cases. In New Zealand Law Society Family Law Conference 2000(pp. 189-205). Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand Law Society.See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/13369.pubTopic Areas: Justice, Care and contact, LegislationAbstract: This conference paper focuses on relocation cases in the New Zealand FamilyCourt. The cases involve one guardian seeking permission to relocate with their children toanother town, city or country, or one guardian seeking to stop another relocating with thechildren. Using court data and drawing on practice experience, the author outlines recentdevelopments in court outcomes and legislation.The author maintains that from 1988 to 2000 there was an increase in relocations beingdisallowed by the court and the number of relocations that were blocked went from 38% to52%. The author discusses the significant factors in cases where relocation was allowed, andwhere applications to prevent relocation were successful. The report then compares the NewZealand situation with practice in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the UnitedStates. The impact of the proposed Care of Children Act (2004) on relocation cases is alsooutlined. The author maintains that some sections of this Act conflict, and that the Act mayhave some significant effects on relocation decisions.Henderson, S. (1996). Children who witness domestic violence [Electronic version]. Social WorkNow, (4), 31-35.See: www.nzfvc.org.nz/12974.pubTopic Areas: Intimate partner abuse, Children, Children as witnessesAbstract: This literature review examines key research findings on the effects that witnessingdomestic violence has on children. Internalising and externalising effects, issues of selfconcept,and school performance are discussed. Less obvious effects, such as responses andattitudes about conflict resolution, assigning responsibility for violence and knowledge, andskills in dealing with violent incidents, are also discussed. The article also highlights thelimitations of the research. Consistent trends emerged from the literature that demonstrated all83