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Violence against women and children affects everybody. It impacts on the health, wellbeing and safety of a significant proportion of Australians throughout all states and territories and places an enormous burden on the nation’s economy across family and community services, health and hospitals, income-support and criminal justice systems.

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ANROWS was established by the Commonwealth and all state and territory governments of Australia to produce, disseminate and assist in applying evidence for policy and practice addressing violence against women and their children.

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To support the take-up of evidence, ANROWS offers a range of resources developed from research to support practitioners and policy-makers in delivering evidence-based interventions.


RESEARCH REPORT

Toward a socio-ecological understanding of adolescent violence in the home by young people with disability: A conceptual review

Adolescent violence in the home (AVITH) describes a range of violent, abusive and intimidating behaviours used by young people against family members, most commonly parents and siblings. It is increasingly recognised as a critical issue of concern for many families in Australia.

While prior research has drawn attention to the urgent need to better understand the complexity and diversity of AVITH, there remain significant knowledge gaps.

This report presents findings from Stage 1 of a larger project entitled “Building a framework to prevent and respond to young people with disability who use violence at home,” which aims to use multidisciplinary bodies of knowledge, and input from families, to develop a conceptual framework that examines and explains the intersection of AVITH, gender and disability.

Spurred by a distinct lack of research exploring AVITH and disability, this first report is a conceptual review drawing on different disciplines to identify key concepts in understanding the intersections of gender, disability and AVITH.

In this first report, the researchers found a distinct lack of research overall and the absence of research that considers disability differently to its construction as an individual-level risk marker for AVITH. This individual attribute approach to disability does not align with Australia’s international obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) or with Australian legislation, policy and planning frameworks in disability, including Australia’s Disability Strategy, 2021-2023.

Research must explore the perspectives of young people and their families with an intersectional understanding that considers the robust set of social determinants that impact the lives of people with disability if we are to understand young people’s use of violence in the home. Currently, the knowledge on AVITH and young people with disability is inadequate for building a national evidence-based response.

The second report in this project is an in-depth qualitative inquiry that will present the perspectives of families and key sector stakeholders. The second report will ensure lived experience informs a prevention and response framework.

 

 

Publication details

Authors

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR GEORGINA SUTHERLAND
Deputy Head, Disability and Health Unit, Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne

DR MEDIYA RANGI
Research Fellow, Disability and Health Unit, Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne

DR TANIA KING
ARC DECRA & Dame Kate Campbell Senior Research Fellow, Disability and Health Unit, Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne

PROFESSOR EMERITA GWYNNYTH LLEWELLYN
Disability and Inequity Stream Leader of Centre for Disability Research and Policy, University of Sydney; Co-Director of NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence Disability and Health

PROFESSOR ANNE KAVANAGH
Chair of Disability and Health Unit, Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne; Co-Director of NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence Disability and Health

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR CATHY VAUGHAN
Co-Director of Centre for Health Equity; Head of Gender and Women’s Health Unit; Director of WHO Collaborating Centre for Women’s Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne


ISBN: 978-1-922645-32-6 (paperback) | 978-1-922645-33-3 (PDF)
28 pp.


Suggested citation

Sutherland, G., Rangi, M., King, T., Llewellyn, G., Kavanagh, A., & Vaughan, C. (2022). Toward a socio-ecological understanding of adolescent violence in the home by young people with disability: A conceptual review (Research report, 08/2022). ANROWS.

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