Research & Resource Development
As the mission of Shine is "Doing what works to stop domestic abuse," it is critical that we keep up on what does work, both inhouse, throughout New Zealand, and internationally. We use research to keep up on what works, and to enhance our ability to provide evidence of problems or issues relating to domestic abuse, of which we are usually already aware. Solid research-based evidence plays an important role in our policy development and consultancy, and in our advocacy for social change.
We occasionally undertake fairly major research projects and reports using inhouse data and/or information from other agencies that we are able to access, while more often we use this information to complete smaller research projects.
On several occasions we researched what works overseas by actually visiting and observing people and organisations who seem to be making headway with unique approaches to domestic abuse. This includes visits by Shine’s Executive Director to the USA and Canada in 2002, the UK in 2006 (with a Winston Churchill fellowship), and visits by the Services Manager to Western Australia in 2005 and California in 2006.
Below are several examples of Shine’s research from recent years, and how we have used what we’ve learned from these research projects.
Please click on the topic below, or scroll down to see some examples of Shine’s development of resources such as booklets, pamphlets and DVDs on various topics or targeting to specific audience.
Our Research
Female Offending Report & Seminars
In 2009, Shine completed a major piece of research looking into the circumstances of females arrested for domestic violence crimes, and analysed the results of this research in the report Arrested Female Offenders in Auckland City. There had never been similar research done in New Zealand.
Shine analysed the cases of every woman appearing in the Auckland Family Violence Court over a six month period in 2008. Women were ten percent, or 61, of the 600 family violence offenders arrested in that time period. By looking at police reports and Shine’s client database, the report’s author analysed a number of aspects of the histories of these women.
The 61 cases were divided into categories according to their relationship with the victim — heterosexual, lesbian, mother and daughter relationships, etc. The heterosexual category was by far the largest group. Almost all of the 36 heterosexual female offenders were previously recorded as the victim of a number of domestic violence offences—often serious assaults. Most were assessed by the arresting officer as being a low risk offender, and most of their victims did not express any fear of them.
In a number of cases in which both parties were arrested, the women were arrested for retaliating to violence perpetrated against them. The report made a number of recommendations which included suggestions for how the police should deal with these types of cases.
Shine made a number of presentations on this research. Most significantly, report author Deborah Mackenzie spoke at a seminar hosted by Shine, alongside a presentation on youth offending by Chief Youth Court Judge Becroft, attended by 200 professionals. She also presented a seminar in Wellington hosted by the Roundtable on Violence Against Women, and presented to a group of health professionals at Auckland Hospital. The report and its findings were disseminated through professional networks, media interviews, and an article in the Te Awatea Review.
Family Violence Court Research, Reports & Advocacy
For many years, Shine has taken a great interest in specialised Family Violence Courts, especially after reading about and seeing in person some of these courts both in New Zealand and overseas in the UK, the USA and Australia.
Shine has had a number of staff with experience working within the NZ Courts as Victim Advisers and Family Courts Registrar, as well as the related role of Probation Officer, including Executive Director Jane Drumm who worked previously as a Victim Adviser and Probation Officer. This has meant that Shine staff have the ‘insider knowledge’ crucial to a critical understanding of existing domestic violence courts in New Zealand and the potential for these courts in providing safety for victims of domestic abuse and accountability for offenders.
Shine’s advocacy in this area has been focused both nationally and in Auckland. Shine staff made a series of observations of Manukau and Waitakere Domestic Violence Criminal Courts in 2005 when these were the only ones in New Zealand. Shine analysed these observations in a report with recommendations that was sent to key Judges and Ministry of Justice personnel. Around this time the Ministry announced that domestic violence courts were to be established at a handful of new locations, including Auckland.
Shine researched a number of domestic violence court overseas models, and added this to our knowledge about the existing courts in New Zealand to write a report outlining a best practice model of a specialist family violence court that was practically possible to establish in Auckland.
> Read the full report: Auckland Specialist Domestic Violence Court: A Specialist Domestic Violence Court design to be implemented in the Auckland District Court in 2007
Once the Auckland Family Violence Court began running in 2007, Shine formally observed court sessions for three months, interviewed stakeholders and analysed most cases that went through the court during this period using the Shine client database. All of this information was collated, analysed and written up in a report that was made available to the judiciary, Government departments and other interested parties.
> Read the full report Monitoring Report for the Auckland Family Violence Court First Three Months (27 March - 30 June 2007).
Shine continues to advocate and work for improvements in the existing Family Violence Courts in New Zealand. There is limited ability for any one court in New Zealand to make widespread changes to the way it operates since the court system is national under the Ministry of Justice.
Change is even more difficult because judges play such a key role in the operation of a successful domestic violence court, and the judiciary is independent from the Ministry. In 2010, Shine Executive Director Jane Drumm was part of a panel of domestic violence experts that facilitated training for judges throughout New Zealand.
Turning the Tide: Research into What Works in the UK
In 2006, Shine Executive Director Jane Drumm travelled to the UK on a Winston Churchill fellowship to look at a range of innovative and successful domestic violence projects. Her report, which details what she learned on her study trip, is called Turning the Tide: A national and local coordinated approach to addressing domestic violence in the United Kingdom (click here to download the full report). This report discusses a range of different initiatives which describe how different collaborative forums/steering committees/special focus groups are working together to keep victims safe and hold offenders accountable in the UK. Jane expresses her belief in her report that the general concept of a national and local coordinated approach, as described in this report, to working on domestic violence is a model we in New Zealand should emulate.
Jane was particularly excited by the MARAC (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference) model developed in Cardiff. Jane explains in her report,
“A large part of the national strategy hung on the development and roll out of domestic violence specialist courts. This caused a huge uproar in the domestic violence community sector because millions of pounds are being poured into one area that many considered was not working well… At first, Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVAs) were funded to provide support to victims in these courts. MARACs also attracted considerable attention and these were linked and rolled out together across the United Kingdom… This has now changed, as the MARAC outcomes have been found to be so compelling that the government’s strategic emphasis has now shifted to the MARACs – “down playing the courts and upping the MARACs"
After returning to New Zealand, Jane presented what she had learned in the UK in several group seminars in Wellington and Auckland. She also made a number of individual and small meeting presentations to key Government representatives including the Commissioner of Police, Chief District Court Judge, and senior staff from Police, Ministry of Social Development, Housing New Zealand staff, Ministry of Women’s Affairs, and Ministry of Justice, etc..
Jane’s study trip also helped to inform Shine’s frontline crisis services in Auckland, and how these services coordinate with the local police, court, and other services.
> Read the full report Turning the Tide by Jane Drumm
Resource Development
Below are some examples of resources that Shine has developed, or helped to develop working in partnership with other organisations.
Restorative Justice and Domestic Violence Safety Resources.
Domestic violence experts generally understand that victims are rarely able to participate safely in a restorative justice process. Domestic violence is very different from most crimes in that the victim and offender have an intimate and sometimes ongoing relationship, and often have children together.
Shine's Client Services Director Jill Proudfoot presented a workshop at the 2010 Restorative Justice Conference, which was very well received and well attended. Shine provided resources (below) for agencies considering using a restorative justice process for cases involving domestic violence, providing safety information and guidelines.
> Read Key Organisational Considerations when Working with Domestic Violence Cases in Restorative Justice Contexts.
Booklet on Domestic Violence and Disabilities
Shine staff collaborated with staff from WAVES in West Auckland and the Mental Health Foundation to organise a day long hui in July 2009 on disability and domestic violence. More than 80 people attended – mostly from the disability field. From that hui, a coalition of service providers – DVD (Domestic Violence and Disability) – formed with the purpose of ensuring that the disabled community has access to domestic violence services.
The coalition received funding from the Ministry of Social Development to write a booklet for the It’s Not Ok campaign. Staff from Shine as well as the Mental Health Foundation and WAVES authored the booklet, which is now available from the Ministry.
> Download a copy of the booklet or order copies from the Ministry of Social Development.
DVD for the Deaf Community
It is important that the Deaf community have access to information in their own language, and even more so given that New Zealand Sign Language is the third official language of New Zealand. Until recently there was a dearth of such information.
In collaboration with the Auckland Deaf Society and Advanced Interpreting Management Services, Shine managed the production of a DVD for the Deaf community called “Domestic Violence: NOT OK”. The DVD was funded by the Ministry of Social Development, as part of the It’s not OK Campaign, and was launched in July 2010.
The DVD working group included Stretch Productions which filmed and produced the DVD. The DVD provides tools to help support victims of domestic violence within the Deaf community. It was distributed throughout the Deaf community, schools with Deaf children, Deaf clubs, libraries, interpreting agencies and Police.
> Email Shine to order this DVD for $10 or
> Email the Auckland Deaf Society to order this DVD
Booklet on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Domestic Violence
This past year, Shine collaborated with Outline and Rainbow Youth to produce a booklet on GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) healthy relationships and domestic violence. The booklet was funded by the Ministry of Social Development as part of the It’s Not Okay campaign.
The booklet has been widely distributed for free, mostly through Rainbow Youth and Outline.
> Download the booklet and other related campaign material.
Ethnic Affairs & Domestic Violence Leaflet
Women from newly arriving migrant and refugee communities are extremely vulnerable to serious domestic abuse because of their isolation and their inability to access information and services often because of a language barrier, among many other reasons.
Recently the Department of Ethnic Affairs took a step toward addressing this problem by producing a leaflet on domestic violence in seven different languages. Shine had input into the leaflet. Shine’s Client Services Director, Jill Proudfoot, was asked to be one of four speakers at the launch of this resource at the Auckland Town Hall, along with Mayor John Banks and MP Patsy Wong.