NCJ Number
185525
Date Published
January 2000
Length
52 pages
Annotation
After documenting the scope and prevalence of domestic violence
as well as the changes in society's definition of this problem
that prompted people to challenge the utility of conventional
criminal justice responses to domestic violence, this chapter
assesses the ways in which criminal justice agents have reacted
to these challenges and with what effects.
Abstract
The definition of domestic violence adopted for this essay is
"threatening or injurious physical, psychological, verbal, or
economic behavior directed toward an adult romantic partner,
regardless of marital status, and including both ongoing and
terminated relationships." Because most violence in such
relationships is perpetrated by men against female partners or
ex-partners, this is the focus of policy and research discussed
in this chapter. One section of the chapter discusses changes in
problem definition under the influences of political climate,
public opinion, law, and institutions. A convergence of changes
in women's legal and social status as well as the public's
concern about crime probably contributed to a political and
social climate of disapproval of domestic violence and an
increased interest in the criminalization of partner abuse.
Victim advocates have acted as catalysts and monitors of legal
changes that have become institutionalized into model policies,
programs, and recommendations. The remaining sections of the
chapter describe core features of the contemporary criminal
justice process that create challenges for addressing domestic
violence and then review what researchers have learned about
specific innovations in policing, prosecution, courts, and
corrections. The chapter concludes with a consideration of
current recommendations to open up the boundaries of criminal
justice to coordinated community responses. 186 references
Date Published: January 1, 2000
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