Month: May 2019

Intersection of animal and domestic and family violence

Posted by: admin Posted on: May 25, 2019

Perpetrators of family violence often threaten to abuse or harm family pets and animals as a way to exert control. This project is focused on building the evidence-base around connections between domestic violence and harm to animals. Our work includes contributing to the evidence through small projects, trainings for vets, organising conferences and workshops on the intersection of animal abuse and domestic violence.

Researchers: Dr Kristin Diemer, Dr Georgia Ovenden, Anna Bornemisza

Funders: We are currently developing research projects and are keen to include interested partners.

Partners:
University of Melbourne Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences
Lucy’s Project: Safe families – paws and all
Merri Health
EDVOS
Cherished Pets Foundation

Project Dates: 2017-ongoing

Contact: Kristin Diemer

Spiteri‐Staines, A., Diemer, K., Absler, & D., Humphreys, C., (2019) Keeping Safe Together: Independent evaluation, Summary of Findings and Recommendations. Melbourne, University of Melbourne.

Posted by: Anna Bornemisza Posted on: May 11, 2019 ,

Summary of Findings and Recommendations of the Keeping Safe Together independent pilot program evaluation. The document describes key findings for children and young people, women and men.

Download a PDF of the reportDownload

Researchers: Spiteri‐Staines, A., Diemer, K., Absler, D., & Humphreys, C.

Year: 2019

Keeping Safe Together: Working with families who have experienced family violence – Evaluation project

Posted by: admin Posted on: May 25, 2019

Keeping Safe Together (KST) program offers a whole of family case management approach for families who have been impacted by family violence and want to stay together.  Program staff work with mothers, fathers and children individually through both accountability and therapeutic lenses.  The evaluation aims to assess the effectiveness of the program to fill a service gap of increasing the safety for women and children currently living with violence and identify areas for program improvement. 

Researchers:
Dr Kristin Diemer
Professor Cathy Humphreys
Anneliese Spiteri-Staines
Dr Deb Absler

Partners:
CatholicCare
The Bouverie Centre
MacKillop Family Services
CoHealth
Good Shepherd

Project Dates: January 2019 – June 2019

Contact: Kristin Diemer

Publications:

Keeping Safe Together: Independent pilot program evaluation 2019: Summary of findings and recommendations.

CMIM: Children and Mothers in Mind – Evaluation Project

Posted by: admin Posted on: May 25, 2019

Children and Mothers in Mind (CMIM) is a group program for mothers and pre-school children who have experienced family violence in the past. Developed as Mothers in Mind by the Child Development Institute (CDI), Canada, the Children’s Protection Society piloted Mothers in Mind in 2016-17 and introduced an adaptation – Children and Mothers in Mind – from 2017. Key components of CMIM include the Connections group program, the Mothers in Mind group program and ongoing casework with participants. The evaluation consists of post group and follow up interviews with participants and staff to complement the pre and post-group psychometric measures collected by CDI.

Researchers:

Dr Margaret Kertesz, UoM,
Professor Cathy Humphreys, UoM,
Larissa Fogden, UoM,
Dr Angelique Jenney, University of Calgary, Canada

Funders:

Key funder:  Learning Systems Grant – OPEN

Additional Funding:

Kids First Australia
Barwon Centre Against Family Violence & Sexual Assault
Family Care (Shepparton)
Anglicare Victoria
Quantum Family Violence Service

Partners:

Kids First Australia
Barwon Centre Against Family Violence & Sexual Assault
Family Care (Shepparton)
Anglicare Victoria
Quantum Family Violence Service
Merri Outreach Support Service

Project Dates: 2018-2019

Contact: Margaret Kertesz

Publications: Fogden, L., Kertesz, M. and Humphreys, C. (2018) Mothers in Mind: Independent Evaluation 2016-17. Melbourne: University of Melbourne.

Kertesz, M. Ramamurthy, A., Fogden, L., & Humphreys, C. (2019). Children and Mothers in Mind Independent Evaluation 2018-19 Participant and Facilitator Feedback: Final Report. Melbourne: University of Melbourne.

Cloaked in Strength – An exploration of Aboriginal mothers’ experiences of family violence and the role of cultural practice as a tool of engagement, resilience and resistance.

Posted by: admin Posted on: May 25, 2019

The Cloaked in Strength study aims to explore Aboriginal mothers’ experiences of family violence using possum skin cloak making as a tool of engagement, resilience and resistance.  It is built upon the core premises of Indigenous research: relationality and accountability, place, reciprocity and reflexivity. The project uses Aboriginal women’s standpoint as its interpretive lens and a fusion of hermeneutic principles and Indigenous methodologies. The research focuses upon the experiences of family violence of fifteen Aboriginal mothers living in Melbourne.  The women were engaged through the local network of Aboriginal community-controlled organisations and invited to participate in individual interviews, a series of possum skin cloak making workshops and a yarning circle.  

Researchers: Shawana Andrews

Supervisors: Cathy Humphreys, Bridget Hamilton

Funders: This work was supported by the Indigenous Research Initiative of the Melbourne Hallmark Research Initiatives Program, the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Partners: This research is being conducted with the support of and within the Victorian Aboriginal Community-controlled sector.

Project Dates: 2016 –

Investigating a model of reparation among university students and domestic violence perpetrators: understanding the psychological underpinnings

Posted by: admin Posted on: May 25, 2019

Understanding the psychological process of reparation and self-forgiveness has been an area of increased research interest over the last decade. Theoretical and empirical models have linked guilt, shame, self-oriented and other-oriented empathy, conciliatory behaviour and self-forgiveness together but there is a lack of clarity around the direction of their relationships. Most past research on this topic has focused on university student participants with little attention on other groups. The aim of this project is to investigate both an earlier proposed model and alternative new models and offer more information on what relationships appear to fit the data best among university students, to enable best comparison to existing findings. Moreover, we are extending the model to domestic violence perpetrators to better understand their psychological processes with the hope to offer guidance to intervention programs.

Researchers:

Anna Bornemisza, Professor Lisa Phillips, Professor Cathy Humphreys, Dr Kristin Diemer

Funders: University of Melbourne Scholarship Fund

Partners: The research data was obtained and used in collaboration with the Fathering Challenges project

Project Dates: The PhD is due for completion in 2019

Contact: Anna Bornemisza

MAEVe: Melbourne research Alliance to End Violence Against Women

Posted by: admin Posted on: May 25, 2019

The Alliance involves a collaboration with GP Practice and Primary Care with Professor Cathy Humphreys from Social Work and Professor Kelsey Hegarty from General Practice as co-leads.

It strives to make a difference to the lives of women and children affected by abuse and violence. Preventing and responding to violence against women and children is not the domain and responsibility of any one discipline. The Alliance brings together researchers from a variety of disciplines throughout the University of Melbourne in order to tackle this complex and challenging problem.

Three strands underpin the Alliance’s research program

  • Understanding the dynamics of intimate partner violence
  • Early identification through primary health care
  • Innovative integrated responses for vulnerable groups

Researchers: N/A
Funders:ARC, ANROWS
Partners: Prof Kelsey Hegarty
Project Dates: 2016-2020
Contact: Cathy Humphreys

EVA: Evaluation, Violence, & Abuse – Building the Evidence

Posted by: admin Posted on: May 25, 2019

The EVA project is a 12-month evaluation capacity building initiative for family violence service providers in Australia. The project is a collaboration between Drummond Street Services and University of Melbourne to develop family violence specific evaluation resources, establish and develop a Community of Practice for services providing family violence programs and, where applicable, to provide direct consulting services on evaluation to organisations.

Researchers:
Prof Humphreys (CI), Dr Rose (CI), Mr. Gallant, & Dr Ovenden

Funders:
Drummond Street Services

Partners:
Drummond Street Services

Project Dates:
June 2018 – June 2019

Contacts: David Rose, David Gallant

Publications:

Building the Evidence: A report on the status of policy and practice in responding to violence against women with disabilities in Victoria.

Implementing a Novel Approach to Knowledge Translation with a Research Network – The Share Project

Posted by: admin Posted on: May 25, 2019

Despite ten years of growth in knowledge translation research there is still a gap between research findings and applying this knowledge in practice.  Recently, there has also been a rapid expansion of domestic violence research, however there remains a lack of evaluation of their knowledge translation activities.  The proposed study aims to implement an innovative realist approach to knowledge translation with an interdisciplinary research network (including lived experience participants) researching domestic violence.

Researchers: Jacqui Cameron, Cathy Humphreys, Kelsey Hegarty
Funders: Australian Government Research Training
Partners:

  • Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence
  • WEAVERs
  • MAEVe

Project Dates: April 2017-April 2020

Women who use force – Evaluation of Positive Shift

Posted by: admin Posted on: May 25, 2019

While the dominant pattern of domestic and family violence (DFV) is male violence perpetrated against women, there are some women who use force against adult members of their families. The majority of these women are themselves victims/survivors of DFV. At times women are wrongly identified as the perpetrator or seen as having responsibility in mutual violence.

This project is developing the Australian knowledge base about women who use force in a family context, and appropriate service responses. 

Researchers:

  • Dr Margaret Kertesz (University of Melbourne)
  • Professor Cathy Humphreys (University of Melbourne)
  • Jasmin Isobe (University of Melbourne)
  • Dr Anneliese Spiteri-Staines (University of Melbourne)
  • Dr Georgia Ovenden (University of Melbourne)
  • Lisa Young Larance (University of Michigan)
  • Professor Donna Chung (Curtin University)
  • Professor Robyn Martin (RMIT)
  • Amy Warren (Curtin University)
  • Assoc. Professor Richard Norman (Curtin University)
  • Darcee Schulze (Curtin University)
  • Dr Dave Vicary (Baptcare)

Funders:

  • Department of Social Services
  • Baptcare

Partners: Curtin University, Baptcare, Berry Street

Project Dates: 2018–2021

Contact: Margaret Kertesz

Publications: