Thinking differently: Re-framing family violenceresponsiveness in the mental health andaddictions health care context

Abstract

ZealandABSTRACT:Aotearoa New Zealand’s high rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) and childabuse and neglect point to a clear need to develop and resource equitable mental health andaddiction practices that are responsive both to people experiencing and using violence, and totheir families. Current responses to IPV in mental health and addiction settings in Aotearoa NewZealand require a critical re-framing, from an individualistic autonomy and empowermentframework that constrains practitioners’ practice, to an understanding IPV as a form of socialentrapment. Using a composite story constructed from 28 in-depth New Zealand family violencedeath reviews, we highlight current problematic practice and discuss alternative responses thatcould create safer lives for people and families. Re-framing IPV as a form of social entrapmentacknowledges it as a complex social problem that requires collective steps to secure people’s safetyand well-being. Importantly, a social entrapment framework encompasses interpersonal andstructural forms of violence, such as the historical and intergenerational trauma of colonizationand links to ongoing structural inequities for M aori (the indigenous people of Aotearoa) inAotearoa New Zealand