Conceptualising Domestic Violence

While Chapter 1 provided the context for the discussion of the civil domestic violence law and its application, this chapter provides the context for the later discussion about the meaning attached to violence by those who use it, and by those who are subjected to it. In particular, it explains the concept of coercive control, distinguishing it from fights, and discusses the international debate about types of violence and the relevance of gender in its perpetration. This chapter also summarises the literature on contemporary forms of traditional Aboriginal dispute resolution, and the neo-colonial context of violence in Indigenous communities. An understanding of the meaning and manifestations of violence in these contexts is fundamental to the analysis in the chapters that follow.