TY  - SER
AU  - Giles, Janice R.
AU  - Adamson,Carole
AU  - Curreen,Helen
TI  - The social sanctioning of partner abuse: perpetuating the message that partner abuse is unacceptable in New Zealand
SN  - 1172-4382
PY  - 2005///
KW  - FVC
KW  - ABUSED WOMEN
KW  - DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
KW  - RESEARCH
KW  - INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE
KW  - NEW ZEALAND
N1  - Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, Nov 2005, 26: 97-116
N2  - The pace of cultural change is slow, and informal social sanctions that support the abuse of women by male partners continue to undermine the effectiveness of legislation and policy. The perceptions of New Zealand women in a grounded theory study identified 'blaming the victim' and inadequate enforcement of existing sanctions against abusers as social constraints to victim disclosure and recovery. From very early in the relationship women learn to fear punishment for disclosure when friends, community, and social service providers respond by blaming the woman for causing the abuse, or blaming her for staying in the relationship. Women's recovery from experiencing abuse by a male partner is a slow process and requires clarification of the attribution of blame, and resolution of the unfairness of their experience. Recovery can be impeded by social responses that blame women, or discount women's experiences of abuse. Processes of personal identity development are highly relevant to participants' experience and, despite constraints to maintaining separation, women who recover achieve considerable personal growth.--AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT
UR  - http://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/journals-and-magazines/social-policy-journal/spj26/26-social-sanctioning-of-partner-abuse-pages97-116.html
ER  -