Domestic violence (DV) service provision and the architecture of rural life: An Australian case study

Santi Owen; Kerry Carrington

doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2014.11.004

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Domestic violence (DV) service provision and the architecture of rural life: An Australian case study

Journal article

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Peer reviewed

Domestic violence (DV) service provision and the architecture of rural life: An Australian case study

Santi Owen and Kerry Carrington

Journal of Rural Studies, Vol.39, pp.229-238

2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2014.11.004

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Abstract

rural service provision

domestic violence

rural social order

This article uses the concept of the architecture of rural life to analyse domestic violence service provision in rural Australia. What is distinctive about this architecture is that it polices the privacy of the rural family. A tight cloak of silence is carved around instances of domestic violence. Imagined threats to rural safety are seen as coming from outsiders (i.e. urban influences or Indigenous), not insiders within rural families. This article draws on key findings from a study conducted in rural New South Wales, Australia. The study interviewed 49 rural service providers working in human services and the criminal justice system. The application of architecture of rural life as a conceptual tool demonstrates challenges with service provision in a rural setting. The main results of this study found that this architecture operates as a silencing form of social control in three distinctive ways. Firstly, shame about being a victim of domestic violence encourages rural women's complicity in remaining silent. Secondly, family privacy maintains a veil of silence that accentuates rural women's social and economic dependency on men. Thirdly, community sanctions act as a deterrent to women seeking help. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Details

Title: Domestic violence (DV) service provision and the architecture of rural life: An Australian case study
Authors: Santi Owen (Author) - Queensland University of Technology
Kerry Carrington (Author) - Queensland University of Technology
Publication details: Journal of Rural Studies, Vol.39, pp.229-238
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd.
Date published: 2015
DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2014.11.004
ISSN: 1873-1392; 0743-0167
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99651596502621
Output Type: Journal article