The road to hell is paved with good policy intentions: An analysis of government intervention in cultural aspects of domestic violence

Abstract

Over the last five years, the Australian state of Queensland has taken a strong policy stance on addressing the highly gendered cultural norms and values that facilitate men’s use of domestic violence against women. This stance is supported by contemporary feminist scholarship, which demonstrates that addressing the cultural facilitators of domestic violence—and particularly those that relate to gender—must form a critical aspect of any policy attempt to prevent domestic violence. However, given that cultural frameworks have not yet been widely adopted and evaluated in government policy, considerably less is known about how such policies play out in practice. This is problematic, as existing evidence points to numerous complexities that, if not managed effectively, may undermine the effectiveness of domestic violence policies that seek to change culture. These complexities relate to conflicting government aims and rationalities; the deeply embedded nature of cultural expectations surrounding gender; and the complex relationship between cultural norms and values, broader social structures, and individual behaviours.Drawing on Queensland as a case study, I examine how the Queensland Government manages the aforementioned complexities in its contemporary domestic violence policies. My examination answers the following research questions: (1) How can governments informed by neoliberal rationalities legitimately intervene in the culture of the communities they govern? (2) How can governments ensure that policies aiming to change cultural expectations are not themselves underpinned by cultural assumptions that are incongruent with feminist literature? (3) How can governments effectively engage with cultural facilitators of domestic violence without marginalising other important contributing factors? By answering these questions, I aim to contribute to existing knowledge regarding the strengths and limitations of policies that seek to change culture, and how such policies may be improved to more effectively prevent domestic violence.To answer my research questions, I analyse the Queensland Government’s contemporary domestic violence policies using Fairclough’s three-dimensional critical discourse analysis framework. I draw on data from Queensland Government domestic violence policies released since the development of the Special Taskforce on Domestic and Family Violence in 2015. I also draw data from 15 qualitative interviews that I conducted with members of the policy community who were involved in the policy development process. Participants included government employees from various Queensland state departments (n=7), CEOs (n=3) and employees (n=3) from various community services and support organisations, and academics from various educational institutions and disciplinary backgrounds (n=2). While the policy document analysis allowed me to analyse the explicit and implicit messages and assumptions underpinning the policies, the qualitative interviews allowed me to consider the power relations at play throughout the policymaking process and examine who had the power to contribute to the policies and to what effect.Ultimately, my study identifies three main barriers that undermine the Queensland Government’s relatively progressive domestic violence policy approach. First, in order to legitimise its intervention in the cultural sphere and distance itself from direct intervention in citizens’ private lives, the Queensland Government adopts the strategy of governing through community. In doing so, the government conceptualises the community as comprising of particular discrete groups. This conceptualisation has important implications for which community members are or are not targeted and engaged in the policies. Second, the Queensland Government policies specifically highlight the need for the community to change cultural norms and values relating to gender; however, the policies leverage existing, deeply-engrained gender ideologies as a way of promoting this goal. As a result, while the policies may help the community to recognise and challenge more explicit manifestations of gendered cultural expectations, they also help to reinforce the more implicit and highly pervasive cultural and structural inequalities that have underpinned women’s historic marginalisation in society. Finally, in focusing on the importance of changing community culture, the Queensland Government policies largely overlook the importance of changing the attitudes and behaviours of perpetrators themselves. This has resulted in a lack of sanctions and supports to assist perpetrators to change, as well as a broad under-prioritisation of primary prevention strategies.Findings from this research provide critical insight into the barriers that may undermine domestic violence policy approaches that aim to change cultural norms and values. This research is particularly timely given the increasing recognition in feminist scholarship that domestic violence policies should aim to change cultural norms and values. My analysis of Queensland’s domestic violence policies therefore offers practical insight for the Queensland Government itself to consider for future reforms, as well as important lessons for other Australian and international jurisdictions that aspire to end domestic violence through policies that aim to change culture.