WELF3006 Family Violence: Policy and Practice
Assignment 1: Book Review

Word/time limit: 1000 words (+/- 10%)

Weighting: 40%

Due date: 5pm AEDT Monday 2 March 2026 (Week 5)

Individual/team task: Individual

After you have read this information, head over to the Assignment 1 Q&A discussion board to ask any questions and see what your peers are saying about this assignment.

Assignment Overview

For this assignment, you are to read and review the book A Mother’s Story (2015), written by Rosie Batty. In this book, Batty shares her experiences of family violence, challenging its hidden nature and highlighting the shame and stigma that are often borne by the victims. Rosie’s personal recount provides insight into the complex and multifaceted issue of family violence and reinforces the message that family violence is a social issue and, therefore, its prevention is a social responsibility.

The terrible and hideous violence Rosie suffered at the hands of Greg, as well as the system, is not a unique experience. Millions of women have told similar stories, providing critical insights into the dynamics of family violence. There are so many common themes/topics Rosie explores throughout the book: the difficulty of accessing services, inadequate services, being let down, and indeed further victimised by some services (for example, child protection services and the Family Law Court), all of which reinforce the point that family violence is not a personal problem but a social issue.

This assignment supports Subject Learning Outcomes 1, 2 and 3.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence

In this assessment task, you will not be able to meet the learning outcomes related to satisfactory demonstration of understanding of the learning materials by using generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Working with another person or technology in order to gain an unfair advantage in assessment or improperly obtaining answers from a third party, including generative AI, to questions in an examination or other form of assessment may lead to sanctions under the Student Misconduct Rule (Western Sydney University, 2023). Use of generative AI tools may be detected. More information is available on the Library web page Generative AI (Library Study Smart, 2023).

Content Warning 

This can be a triggering task. If you are experiencing difficulties starting and/or completing this assignment, please talk to your OLA as soon as possible to work out strategies to support you in completing this assignment.

Assignment Details

For this book review, you are required to make connections between A Mother’s Story (Batty 2015) and family violence literature by identifying and analysing themes related to Rosie Batty’s personal experiences of family violence. and to unpack why these themes continue to be prevalent in the quest to elevate family violence from a personal problem where victims internalise their pain and take the blame for the perpetrator’s violence (blame the victim), to a social issue - a wicked social problem that we all need to solve together.

You will need to include an introduction (where you will introduce the book and summarise your book review), discussion paragraphs (largely based on key themes from the book), a conclusion, and a reference list.

Read through the following steps to understand and meet the requirements of this assignment:

Step 1: Read A Mother's Story (Batty 2015)

Read the following pages:

A mother's story pages 1–86

A mother's story pages 87–166

A mother's story pages 167–324

You should think about the following guiding questions when reading the book:

1. What was Rosie Batty’s (or the main character's) experience with family violence?

2. What do you think she hoped to achieve by sharing her story with the world?

3. What are the key themes, relating to Rosie Batty’s (or the main character's) experience with family violence, which are discussed and analysed throughout the book?

4. What are some of the social changes that have come about as a consequence of her advocacy?

When answering these questions, think about events, quotes or extracts from the book that illustrate or are connected to theories and ideas in the literature you have been studying for this subject. Within your book review, you should include examples from Rosie’s story, and evidence from scholarly and primary sources, to support and extend your discussion.

Step 2: Connect A Mother's Story (Batty 2015) to the academic literature

The following key themes are discussed throughout the subject and have been provided here to aid your analysis of one of the stories. Rather than thinking of these as specific questions that must be answered, you may wish to include these themes throughout your response:

•  The nature of family violence and the forms it can take.

•  How community attitudes have impacted the responses from certain services (the legal system, police force, support services, etc.).

•  Why discussion and debate in the public realm are so important when it comes to addressing the issue of family violence.

•  Why the eradication of family violence, as well as the support of victims and survivors, is the responsibility of everyone.

As well as the readings from the relevant modules and your research and the list of resources from Step 3: Research of Assignment 2: Annotated bibliography, the following resources may be used to connect the theories and themes of this subject to the experiences described in A Mother’s Story (Batty 2015).

• Engaging men and boys in violence prevention (Flood 2018)

• Blame changer: Understanding domestic violence (O'Brien 2016). Note: This is the subject's eText

• See what you made me do: Power, control and domestic violence (Hill 2019)

• Women, men and the whole damn thing (Leser 2019)

Step 3: Write your book review

This is a suggested structure for how you may choose to organise your book review—keep in mind that you will also need to include a comprehensive reference list at the end.

Introduction

Your introduction/summary should identify the book and provide broad contextual information that will orient your reader. Introduce your book review with a brief outline of the themes/topics in Rosie’s book that you found most interesting and/or concerning. Think about the guiding questions in your selection of information for your introduction and summary.

A good introduction will also briefly mention the main points or ideas that will be discussed further in the body paragraphs (for example, the key themes you will be connecting to the literature).

Discussion paragraphs

This section should contain the bulk of your writing. This is where you are asked to make connections between aspects of the book and the theories, concepts and policy approaches you have been studying in the subject. Refer back to the key themes provided earlier—these point to some areas in the literature that you could focus on and refer to.

What do these themes/topics in the context of Rosie Batty’s story tell us about family violence as a social issue and thus its prevention as a social responsibility? Remember to use the literature here to support your argument.

As this section is reflective, it is also appropriate to discuss how the book has influenced your personal learning about the topic, however, it is also important to include references to scholarly texts and ideas. For example, it may be that the way Rosie Batty has explained her experience has helped you to understand a concept or idea you have been studying. It could be that her story steers you to particular evidence-based practice or policy approaches.

Key information It’s important to not fall into the trap of victim-blaming (looking at Rosie’s trauma and Rosie’s choices as a way of explaining Greg’s violence towards Rosie and Luke). This is a mistake many students have made in the past. If you find yourself going down this path, have another read of: Introduction to domestic violence (O'Brien 2016, pp. 8–9). What causes the violence (O'Brien 2016, pp. 10–17). Chapter 1: The perpetrator's handbook (Hill 2019, pp. 13–34). Chapter 2: The underground (Hill 2019, pp. 35–63). These readings will help to remind and/or reinforce the point that focusing on the victim/survivor and their choices shifts the focus away from the perpetrator and their choices. If we are going to end family violence, we need to remember that despite its complexity, overwhelmingly, perpetrators have a choice when it comes to their behaviour (O’Brien 2016).

Conclusion

Provide a brief summing-up of the most important information from your discussion paragraphs. An effective conclusion will emphasise the ‘take home’ messages you want your reader to focus on. It is important that any conclusion in academic writing does not bring in any new information that has not already been written about in the main body of your text.

Further information on the assessment

You may use the guiding questions or alternative sub-headings throughout your book review—these will not go toward your word count.

You must incorporate relevant literature to substantiate the points you make about Rosie’s experience of family violence.

You may refer to your own thoughts and feelings throughout your review.

Copies of A mother's story (Batty 2015) are available through the Western Sydney University library and bookstores. The book is only available for three-day loans through the library. Note: The reference list is not included in the word count.

Note: The reference list is not included in the word count.

Submission details overview

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Please allow a 24-hour turnaround for an originality report to be generated.

Submission details overview

In your conclusion, suggest one potential policy response that may help reduce or address the crime you researched. This suggestion should be broadly consistent with your theoretical analysis. For example, if you have chosen serial murder and explained it concerning biological determinism, you may suggest brain imaging and compulsory treatment for young offenders suspected of being predisposed to violent crime.

Resubmissions after the due date without prior approval from your Subject Coordinator may not be marked

Assignment support

In addition to your OLAs who provide discipline-specific content advice, consider using the Assignment Feedback Tool for a final review before you submit. The tool is available 24/7 to help you refine your grammar, referencing, writing style and more.

Assignment Criteria

Criteria	No Pass	Fail	Credit	Distinction	High Distinction
Research and reflection (10%)	Does not discuss Rosie Batty’s experience of family violence with relevant academic sources. Does not provide a reference list and/or work on strengthening Harvard WesternSydU referencing. Does not demonstrate an understanding of the importance of sensitivity and language when discussing experiences of family violence.	Attempts to discuss Rosie Batty’s experience of family violence with relevant academic sources. Has provided a reference list with some errors and/or omissions in references and/or citations. Needs to develop Harvard WesternSydU referencing skills. Demonstrates some ability to understand, empathise and discuss family violence with insight and dignity.	Discussion of Rosie Batty’s experience of family violence supported by relevant, academic sources. Some space for further research. Provides a detailed reference list and in-text citations, but some obvious inconsistencies in Harvard WesternSydU referencing. Demonstrates a good ability to understand, and emphasise through insightful and respectful discussion of family violence.	Relevant and novel academic sources have been used to support the discussion around Rosie Batty’s experience of family violence. Provides a detailed reference list with some mistakes and/or demonstrates very good Harvard WesternSydU citation skills with marginal room for improvement. Demonstrates a very good ability to understand and empathise through insightful and respectful discussion of family violence.	Relevant and novel academic sources have been used effectively to substantiate all discussion points around Rosie Batty’s experience of family violence. Provides a detailed reference list with minimal mistakes and demonstrates an excellent understanding of Harvard WesternSydU citation skills. Demonstrates an outstanding ability to understand the importance of sensitivity and language through insightful and respectful discussion of family violence.
Content and critical analysis (10%)	Has not provided a critical overview of Rosie Batty’s experience of family violence. Has not unpacked key themes from Rosie Batty’s book and linked them to family violence literature. Has not provided a discussion around the book’s themes. Has not referred to nor integrated quotes, events or extracts from the book throughout the review	Has attempted to write a critical overview of Rosie Batty’s experience of family violence. Has attempted to unpack some key themes from Rosie Batty’s book and link them to family violence literature. Has attempted to provide some discussion around the book's themes. Refers to some quotes, events or extracts from the book, and has attempted to integrate some of this evidence throughout the review.	Has provided a good overview of Rosie Batty’s experience of family violence, but some space for deeper critical analysis. Clearly unpacks some key themes from Rosie Batty’s book and links them to family violence literature. Has provided a good discussion around the book’s themes. Some areas could offer more critical analysis and less description. Refers to quotes, events or extracts from the book to support discussion and has integrated much of this evidence throughout the review.	Has provided a critical overview of Rosie Batty’s experience of family violence. Clearly and insightfully unpacks key themes from Rosie Batty’s book and links them to family violence literature. Some room for deeper critical analysis. Has provided a critical and thorough discussion of the book’s themes. There is room for further sophistication of critical analysis. Refers to quotes, events or extracts from the book and effectively integrates them throughout the review to support discussion, and build a nuanced argument.	Has provided a critical and comprehensive overview of Rosie Batty’s experience of family violence. Clearly, critically and insightfully unpacks key themes from Rosie Batty’s book and links them to family violence literature. Critically, thoroughly, and sophisticatedly discusses the book’s themes. Refers to insightful quotes, events or extracts from the book, and effectively integrates them to support discussion and build a critical and nuanced argument.
Structure and organisatoin (10%)	Has not provided a clear outline of the essay (introduction) and overview of the main arguments (conclusion). Has not developed a framework and built clear arguments throughout discussion paragraphs.	Has attempted to provide a clear outline of the essay (introduction) and an overview of the main arguments (conclusion). Developing essay writing skills would improve these areas. Has attempted to develop a framework and/or clear arguments in some discussion paragraphs. However, overall the review would benefit from strengthening in these areas.	A mostly clear outline (introduction) and overview (conclusion) of the essay. Further detail/clarity would improve these areas. Has developed a good framework and/or clear arguments throughout the discussion. Some areas could be strengthened.	A clear and detailed outline (introduction) and overview (conclusion) of the essay. Has provided a strong framework and clear arguments throughout much of the discussion.	A clear, informative and detailed outline (introduction) and overview (conclusion) of the essay. Provides a strong framework and clear, detailed and nuanced arguments throughout the discussion.

References

Batty, R with Corbett, B 2015, A mothers story, Harper Collins, Sydney.

Flood, M 2018, Engaging men and boys in violence prevention, Palgrave Macmillan, NY.

Hill, J 2019, See What you made me do: Power, control and domestic violence, Schwartz Publishing Pty, Limited, Carlton.

Leser, D 2019, Women, men and the whole damn thing, Allen & Unwin, Sydney.

O’Brien, C 2016, Blame changer: Understanding domestic violence, Threekookaburras Pty Ltd, Melbourne.

Western Sydney University Library 2022, Harvard WesternSydU referencing style guide, viewed 15 July 2022, https://library.westernsydney.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/1943486/cite_Harvard.pdf

Western Sydney University Library 2020, Harvard WesternSydU Style – In-text citation, 26 June, online video, viewed 15 July 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX5Uxtbig_Y

Western Sydney University Library 2021, Library study smart, viewed 15 July 2022, https://westernsydney.edu.au/studysmart/home

Assessment declaration and statement of authorship

By submitting my assignments below I declare that:

1. this is an original piece of work and no part has been completed by any other person other than signed below

2. I have read and understood the guidelines on Academic honesty and plagiarism (https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/learning_futures/home/teaching_support/academic_integrity), and no part of this work has been copied or paraphrased from any other source except where this has been clearly acknowledged in the body of the assignment and included in the reference list.

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1. I have read and understood the declaration and statement of authorship above.

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3. If I do not agree to the Western Sydney University Online Assessment Declaration in this context, the outcome of my assignment may not be valid for assessment purposes and may not be included in my results.