ZULEIKHA, who was trained as a pianist in her hometown of Lahore, Pakistan, arrives in Irving, Texas after her arranged marriage to ISKANDER, but finds it difficult to get accustomed to the appurtenances, encumbrances, and perquisites of the middle-class housewife lifestyle. Despite giving birth to a son, WASIM, she quickly falls out of love with her dutiful but straight-laced husband. She begins giving private lessons, and commences an affair with PATRICK, a transplanted Canadian who is trapped in his own loveless marriage. When she gets pregnant, Zuleikha is convinced the child belongs to her husband. She ends her affair with Patrick, but Iskander finds out about it anyway. The ensuing confrontation between Zuleikha and Iskander turns into a physical altercation, during which Zuleikha, having fallen to the floor, is unable to see if Iskander stomps on her belly, or falls on her by accident as he will later claim. The trauma results in a miscarriage. The unusual set of circumstances surrounding this violent episode serves as the backdrop for the rest of the story, by catapulting this otherwise nondescript couple into the glare of the public eye. Iskander is arrested and charged with feticide, and he faces a long prison sentence under Texas law. A court order prohibits him from contacting Zuleikha and Wasim, who are taken to a shelter for Muslim women and children. There, the other domestic abuse victims view Zuleikha as someone who "had it coming" because of her infidelity, and are therefore openly hostile to her. The shelter's director, a woman named REZA, is beholden to wealthy Muslim donors, and therefore arranges for Zuleikha to meet with members of a highly controversial Islamic tribunal. Zuleikha is pressured to forgive her husband and testify in his favor, so as not draw further negative attention to the Muslim community. JANE, the District Attorney, on the other hand, initially plays nice with Zuleikha and informs her that she will devote any and all available resources in the prosecution of Iskander. When Zuleikha can't get her story straight and hesitates about testifying against her husband, however, Jane, too, turns against her. Zuleikha discovers that the DA has been caught hiding her own secrets and now faces a public confidence crisis of her own. Zuleikha comes to realize that Jane's reasons for being so gung-ho about winning Iskander's conviction have as much to do with re-endearing herself to her electorate as with justice. Zuleikha thus finds herself at the epicenter of a political firestorm fueled by winds of anti-Muslim hysteria, with different people trying to use her situation to their own advantage. When Wasim gets in a scuffle at the shelter and has to be taken to a clinic, she panics and contacts Iskander against her better judgment. Husband and wife finally confront each other while Wasim is being treated. Iskander claims to still love Zuleikha and begs her to take him back so that they and their son can resume their prior family life. But Zuleikha realizes that even if Iskander is sincere and not merely seeking reconciliation in order to avoid a harsh prison sentence, she will never be able to forgive him, let alone love him and live with him again. She comes to accept the fact that she has no control over Iskander's fate in court, and can only move forward by testifying truthfully and trying to do what is best for her and her son. While waiting for the trial to begin, she gains admission in a summer training program for piano instructors and begins the next phase of her life.

The levels of crime and violence in South Africa seem to go hand in hand with the increase in the number of police practitioners. However, despite all the work going into it, “nothing seems to reduce the general trend” (Burger 2007:1). Domestic violence, for instance, is one of the major challenges practitioners are faced with on a daily basis at all levels in South Africa (Bendall 2010:100). Nonetheless, the country has yet to recognise this specific type of violence as a crime in their official crime statistics (SAPS 2010). Domestic violence has, in fact, struggled to become recognised as one of the most serious types of crime in today‟s society. This might be explained in terms of the developments that have occurred – both in international research and in the domestic realm – especially in terms of the ever-changing nuclear family. However, this could also be explained in the way such violence is treated by the South African Police Service. Nonetheless, it appears that a significant amount of research has been undertaken on the nature and impact of domestic violence, including the various responses and strategies to its management. However, it seems as though no-one can come up with a proper solution to this problem. In terms of violence in general, a number of different researchers in the field have suggested possible explanations to the problem. Burton, for instance, explained violence in terms of the neglect of basic human needs, the need for identity and the need for control. This author suggested that if these basic needs are frustrated, violence could be expected to occur, including violence within the family. Moreover, some violent behaviour could be described in terms of a loss of control of the situation and the management thereof. It is especially in these circumstances that conflict management techniques are to be highly recommended. Mediation – or facilitation – collectively referred to as restorative justice – is an example of such a technique. However, the question of whether or not to include mediation has been subject to much discussion amongst scholars in the field. As one of the main roles of the police is to prevent violence, and to protect the citizens from harm, it would be appropriate for the purpose of this study, to focus specifically on the SAPS and their response to cases of domestic violence. Their lived experiences are evaluated in terms of the existing legal framework, as well as in the light of other empirical research.

Increasingly; child welfare authorities have become involved with families where domestic violence is an issue. This has been the result of improved understanding of the impact of witnessing domestic violence on children. However, child welfare has been criticized for the oppressive nature of the interventions with families where domestic violence has occurred. Critics have argued that an absence of understanding about domestic violence by social workers in child welfare has resulted in oppressive practice towards women and children. This study explored the perceptions of social workers in British Columbia's Ministry for Children and Family Development - South Fraser Region about the barriers to best practice in cases of domestic violence. An extensive literature review revealed eight barriers to best practice that contradict current best practice guidelines for cases of domestic violence. The findings of this study revealed that social workers identified that similar barriers to best practice exist in the South Fraser Region, thereby confirming the concerns in the literature. The use of factor analysis revealed that social workers are attempting to work with non-offending parents in amore supportive manner, but there continue to be systemic problems associated with child welfare services that impede workers ability to practice in a non-oppressive manner. Recommendations for improvement of service provision are outlined and discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The main goal of this study was to develop assessment and intervention guidelines that will provide practitioners with a framework to develop and implement batterer intervention programmes. The development of batterer intervention programmes must be informed by risk-based assessment and the study has identified this as a priority. This priority was informed by the popular notions that batterer intervention by itself, is futile and that intervention efforts were misdirected and useless. The author was of the opinion that if specific risk markers were identified, the batterer intervention efforts could be a tool to influence the values, beliefs and dangerous behaviours of abusive men. This study attempted to formally identify those risk factors that should be considered with batterers so that appropriate guidelines for assessment and intervention could result. / South Africa

Magister Artium - MA / This thesis sought to explore the challenges experienced by selected clergy within the Anglican Church in dealing with domestic violence. The sample was drawn from the Diocese of Cape Town of the church of the Province of Southern Africa, based on the participants' experience of the phenomenon and their willingness to participate in the study. The researcher used face-to-face interviews utilizing a semi-structured interview guide for data collection. Questions were open-ended to allow for free flow of information. Because of the sensitive nature of the study, probing questions were followed up by responses to get in-depth perceptions and experiences of clergy's involvement in domestic violence. With reference to the ethical considerations in this study, all participants were thoroughly briefed before the interview with clear explanations of the goal, procedure and advantages of the study. Participants had the opportunity to withdraw at any stage of the interview as participation was completely voluntary.Consistent with literature, this study confirmed the complex nature of domestic violence. Participants experienced various challenges on different levels in the ministry pertaining to domestic violence.These challenges primarily related to the lack of training in dealing with real life issues such as domestic violence during their theological training, the lack of theological guidelines offered by the church to address patriarchal societal practices, beliefs and gender stereotyping, and the lack of guidance on contexual interpretation of Scriptures. / South Africa

The possibility that there are clients who are battered presenting themselves for vocational services without the battering relationship being identified or addressed was explored. Implications were drawn as to the influence early identification will have upon the formulation and successful completion of the Individualized Written Rehabilitation Plan.

No description available.

This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of intensive sibling group play therapy in: (a) improving the self-concept of child witnesses of domestic violence; (b) reducing internalizing behavior problems, such as withdrawal, somatic complaints, anxiety and depression, of child witnesses of domestic violence; (c) reducing externalizing behavior problems, such as aggression and delinquency, of child witnesses of domestic violence; and (d) reducing overall behavior problems of child witnesses of domestic violence. A second objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of intensive sibling group play therapy and intensive individual play therapy on the above identified dimensions.

Att bli utsatt av hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck kan påverka en individs hälsa både psykisktoch fysiskt. Det som utmärker hedersrelaterat våld är att det utövas av personer med starkkoppling till varandra i syfte att bevara familjens heder. Konsekvenser som hedersrelaterat våldför med sig är att den som utsätts riskerar att utsättas för våld, hot, kränkningar, bli bortfördmot sin vilja eller i värsta fall hedersmord. Socialtjänsten har en skyldighet att stötta och hjälpade individer som utsätts för hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck. Signs of safety är en metod somidag används inom barnskyddsutredningar i många av Sveriges socialtjänster. Det är därmedav relevans att veta hur metoden kan användas inom ett aktuellt ämne som hedersärenden. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur socionomer implementerar metoden Signs ofsafety inom hedersärenden samt vilka utmaningar som finns med metoden. För att besvarafrågeställningarna utgick studien från tidigare befintlig forskning samt tre kvalitativa intervjuerav yrkesverksamma inom socialt arbete. I resultatet framkom det skilda åsikter om Signs ofsafety är en lämplig metod inom hedersärenden. Samtliga intervjupersoner var dock överensom vikten av att utforska nätverket noggrant och att som professionell vara öppen ochriskmedveten under hela utredningen. Slutsatsen från denna studie visar på att än fast det kan vara en utmaning att arbeta mednätverket som är en stor del av Signs of safety, kan metoden vara behjälplig under etthedersärende. Metoden medför ett helhetsperspektiv och en fördomsfri process, vilket är tillfördel för professionella som möter och hanterar olika människor. Kunskapen omhedersrelaterat våld är en viktig förutsättning för att kunna ge lämplig hjälp och stöd till utsatta.

Thesis (M. A.(African Languages)) --University of Limpopo, 2019 / My study investigates the establishment of a family institution with special reference to Vatsonga.The study will focus on comparing the traditional with modern ways of establishing a family institution. The study aims at investigating values and principles behind strong foundations upheld by old people regarding families. The study could lay a foundation for scholars’ further investigative studies on establishment of African traditional families. The study will serve as a reference in times of family crisis for potential readers. It is going to employ a qualitative research approach where unstructured interviews will be used to engage participants with relevant information. The study will engage twelve participants (six male and six female) elderly people who have experience in traditional family establishment whose ages range from fifty-five and above. It will be conducted around Malamulele area in Vhembe District of Limpopo and it will be conducted in Xitsonga.