Gender and Domestic Violence
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Abstract
Domestic violence (DV) is a serious social problem affecting millions of Americans and individuals worldwide, which permeates family, economic, healthcare, and social structures and often leads to a criminal justice response. DV response within the criminal justice system has been and continues to be driven by well-publicized court cases such as Thurman v. City of Torrington, which brought to light the grossly inadequate law enforcement response at the time. Such cases led to a grassroots victim advocacy movement establishing shelters and other victim services while lobbying state legislatures to enact new laws designed to hold offenders accountable. While great strides have been made, arrest and intervention policies reflect a ‘gender paradigm’ that frames domestic violence primarily in terms of male perpetrators and female victims. However, research over the past 30+ years indicates DV stretches far beyond this gender paradigm and is in dire need of criminal justice reform. Misconceptions about DV continue to be shared by the public, victim advocates, and medical and mental health care workers and permeate our law enforcement agencies, family court systems, and judicial and legal practices. This text is written by scholars, practitioners, and attorneys and designed to educate and inform criminal justice audiences, practitioners, and policymakers. This book highlights the strengths and weaknesses of current DV adjudicative processes while providing the tools and expertise necessary to develop a more inclusive adjudicative process. Emphasis is also placed on DV intervention/prevention practice to serve all DV victims better while holding batterers accountable. Gender and Domestic Violence: Contemporary Legal Practice and Intervention Reforms should be of interest to legal professionals responding to and adjudicating criminal and family court, tort cases involving accusations of DV, and mental health professionals, policymakers, and others interested in recognizing DV as a societal and criminal issue.