Person
Patricia Easteal
Report
Media representations of violence against women and their children: final report
This project aimed to establish the extent and nature of reporting of violence against women by the Australian media to inform future strategies for change. Using both quantitative (content analysis) and qualitative (critical discourse analysis) methods, the study provided a glimpse into the complexity of reporting practices. It found that: There is a clear link...
Report
Media representations of violence against women and their children: state of knowledge paper
Overview This paper provides an overview of the best available contemporary evidence on the way news and information media portray violence against women. In the paper studies are grouped into three broad areas of inquiry: 1) media representation (how content and discourse are used in news items on violence against women); 2) audience reception (how...
Journal article
Mothers who kill: the forensic use and judicial reception of evidence of postnatal depression and other psychiatric disorders in Australian filicide cases
Abstract: This article examines Australian legal responses to filicide in circumstances where mothers have killed their young children. We consider the potential legal defences that may be raised where postnatal depression (‘PND’) and other psychiatric disorders are present in cases of filicide: insanity/mental impairment, diminished responsibility/ substantial impairment by abnormality of mind, and infanticide.
Report
Rape mythology and the criminal justice system
This research was completed for an LLB Honours thesis, which proposed to potentially serve as a pilot for a larger study. By examining sexual assault sentencing and judicial comments from a sample of mostly 2008 judgments in Victoria, this article explores differences in sentencing, focusing on the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim. The...