Kerrie James

The Tip of the Iceberg: A Framework for Identifying Non-Physical Abuse in Couple and Family Relationships

The couple and family therapy literature has lacked clarity concerning different types of non-physical abuse, the relative severity of non-physical abuse and its impact on the target person. Non‐physical abuse may be confused with relationship conflict or remain unrecognized by therapists when it occurs in the absence of physical violence. Building on research about the pernicious effects of non-physical abuse, this paper presents a framework to assist family therapists to identify non-physical abuse taking into account the length of time the abuse has been occurring, the intentions of the abuser and the impact on the victim. This framework conceptualizes first degree non-physical abuse as “verbal” abuse; second degree as “emotional” abuse and third degree as “psychological” abuse, the most debilitating form of all.

Responding to Domestic Violence in the Wake of Disasters: Exploring the Effects on Services and Workers

This chapter focuses on the ways in which disasters affect social service agencies and their employees and clients experiencing domestic violence (In Australia, ‘domestic violence’ (DV) is the preferred term. However, in the USA, ‘intimate partner violence’ or IPV is preferred. In this chapter, colloquial ‘DV’ is used). It reports on interviews conducted with workers from domestic violence services and first responder organisations in Townsville, a regional centre in Queensland, Australia, that was hit by Cyclone Yasi in 2010 and on a survey conducted with 67 workers across Australia who had experienced a natural or technological disaster. Workers described how services were reduced as work premises were damaged or destroyed and how they themselves were affected by the disasters. Many workers felt torn between having to attend to their own situation and that of their clients. This chapter reports on some managers’ strategies for supporting both workers and clients during disasters.

Understanding the Risk of Domestic Violence During and Post Natural Disasters: Literature Review

This chapter explores the impacts of domestic violence (DV) on women and their increased vulnerability during disasters along with opportunities for resilience and change. It reviews the research literature and historical findings on DV occurring in the context of disasters in industrialized countries, in particular Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the USA. The findings from previous research are synthesized in order to examine the trends and causes of increased DV in disasters. Also discussed are the impacts of disasters on DV services and practitioners in the welfare sector and the complex challenges of researching DV in a disaster context. The chapter concludes with a discussion of significant research gaps, most notably a near absence of victims’ own accounts and voices.

Responding to Domestic Violence in the Wake of Disasters: Exploring the Workers’ Perceptions of the Effects of Cyclone Yasi on Women

Recent international studies suggest that women are more vulnerable to domestic violence (DV) during and post natural and technological disasters. In Australia, a country that is regularly affected by extreme weather events, there have been very few studies into how DV manifests in the context of such events. In this second of three chapters, we report on a study into workers’ perceptions of women’s experiences of DV during Cyclone Yasi and also on the qualitative findings from a nationwide survey of service providers’ perspectives on DV and disasters. Findings were that reports of DV decreased prior to and during the cyclone but increased once it had passed; psychological abuse increased, particularly coercive control; women took opportunities to disclose DV to emergency responders; refugee and Aboriginal women were particularly vulnerable to DV and some women were able to leave violent partners as a result of opportunities provided by the disaster.