DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Changing Landscapes

This man I married is buried deepAnd the more I try to wake him, the more he sleepsI used to think I knew this manThe tenderness, not the back of his hand

It's been two weeks since he last had a drinkBut the time bombs ticking, I can never sleepIt would be easier if he didWhy do you stay here, stay with him?

Why do you do it?Why do you treat us bad?When you've got two kids that love youAnd a wife that's missing you badI've got to go nowI've got to say goodbyeDon't try to stop us nowAnd please don't you cryCan't you see. We've all been through itIt's all been said beforeWith all these fears,For how many years can I keep comingBack for moreNo more

Must be addicted to all this painCause I keep coming back for the shameDear god give me the strength to leaveI've got to keep going, keep going this time

Don't try to stop us nowDon't pull that stuff on meI've got the kids all packed upHarry's in the back with his pickup truckJenny's fallen asleep againI've got to keep driving till I reach the end

I can't come back here anymoreAnd I know itAnd I know itI can't come back here anymoreAnd I know itAnd I know it

THEORY

• Describe • Explain• Predict

What causes Domestic Violence?• Micro oriented– Biological explanations– Social learning– Communication

• Macro oriented– Feminist/gender explanations

• Anti discriminatory movement• Collaborative approaches

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1970’s• 2nd wave of women’s liberation movement

• First women’s refuge

• Men’s consciousness raising & personal growth groups

• Anger management for violent men

• Couple referral by family court, for counselling

• Increasing advocacy & recognition of impact of intimate

partner violence

Social Learning – mixed results

• Two conclusions are typically drawn from these findings: one is that abuse experiences or witnessing of abuse increases one’s chances of being abusive; the other is that the majority of abused children do not go on to be abusive. (Dutton 1989, p.37)

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1980’s• National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges,

1981.

• Domestic Protection Act, 1982

• Criminalisation of rape within marriage (Section 28 (3)

Crimes Act, 1961)

• Coordinated approaches

• Tau iwi and Maori parallel approaches

On feminist explanations

“Colonialism attempted to destroy kinship patterns that were not modelled on nuclear family structures, disrupting, in the process, female organizations that were based on kinship systems which allowed more power and autonomy to women than those of the colonizing nation. “(Carby 1997, p 51)

•

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1990’s

• 1994 – review of the 1982 legislation leads to – the inclusion of psychological abuse in the

definition of violence– Replacement of non molestation orders with

protection orders

• Domestic Violence Act 1995• More collaborative approaches to violence.• Interagency responses

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2000-• Te Rito Strategy 2002• Taskforce for Action on Violence Within

Families• Children’s Commission Act 2003• Families Commission Act 2003• Family Safety Teams• Family Violence Courts• FV intervention programme (WINZ)

ANTI DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICE (ADP)

• the right to self determination through the removal of oppressive and discriminatory obstacles, be they social, cultural, religious, gender, age, sexuality, economic or political.

• ADP– The totality of people’s experience– The role of the social structural environment– Appropriate & sensitive service regardless of

social status

ADP Practitioners are;

• Honest about their prejudices and biases• Able to assess how they use language• Introspective, reflexive, and reflective

• ANTI-DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICE MATTERS TO ALL

Ideas ADP & DV

CULTURE• All cultures are contradictory• Belonging to a culture & having a unique

perspective

THE WORK

• Working against institutional disparities that prohibit access for minority groups

• Collaboration – diverse voices• Responses to DV must be generated in

communities• Not one profession has responsibility for

solving DV

THE WORK

• Designing a programme for everyone suits no-one (Bent-Goodley 2007)

• Evidenced based practice• Cultural competence applies not only to SW

but to administration, organisation, board membership, staffing, evaluation

Practice Approaches

• How does the practice approach you/your agency use benefit minority populations?

• Does your service have a culturally responsive media campaign?

Practice Approaches

• What is your (or your organisations) response if a person says– “Separation or divorce is not allowed in my faith”– “Can you make me safe cos I wanna stay with

him/her.”– “I can’t leave my family and I won’t leave my

community?”

MOVING FORWARD

• Multiple explanations have to inform multiple responses to domestic violence work

• Diversity of our nation has to be considered in domestic violence work - Anti discriminatory practice can play a role here.