Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Auckland. Available on short term loan from the University's general library.

This qualitative research draws on feminist and poststructuralist theory to explore the experiences of women and children in situations of domestic violence, and critically examine the overlap between domestic violence and child abuse in this context. Pocock interviewed 13 women who had experienced violence from their male partner and 13 of the women's children. Pocock found that nearly all of the children saw, overheard or became aware of the violence, threats, intimidation and/or controlling behaviour that took place, but their experience of their fathers' abuse extended far beyond witnessing. The children were exposed to several of the same physical, as well as non-physical, dimensions of abuse as their mothers, and the violence impacted on them in a variety of ways. Children talked about being distressed, fearful, confused, anxious, never feeling happy or secure, living in constant alert and tension, feeling powerless in their relationships with their fathers, and resentful. The interviews with women revealed that their experiences of abuse, manipulation and control around their children comprised a fundamental, but much neglected, dimension of their abuse. Children were deployed in a variety of ways by their abusive fathers (such as threatening to kill or hurt the children), to co-opt the women's compliance or submission, to punish, and to complicate or undermine the choices they had in dealing with and resisting his control and abuse. Men's attempts to interfere with and undermine women's relationships with their children, in tandem with the father's ability to manipulate their children's perceptions and loyalties, impacted on how women and children ascribed responsibility and blame. Pocock challenges conceptualisations of the 'separateness' of domestically violent men's relationships with their children and identifies the numerous ways in which women and children's experiences, safety and recovery are intimately connected. She maintains that an understanding of the connection between partner and child abuse should be central to the way we approach, work with, and legally respond to women and children in situations of domestic violence.--AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT

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