Not domestic violence or cultural tradition: is honour-based violence distinct from domestic violence?

This paper addresses an important conceptual question surrounding the categorisation of honour-based violence (hereafter ‘HBV’) – Is HBV a subspecies of domestic violence (hereafter ‘DV’)? According to academic commentators such as Reddy, Aujla and Gill, HBV falls within the broad spectrum of DV. Utilising data extracted from interviews conducted with 30 key agents, this paper will seek to provide incontrovertible evidence that HBV is different to DV because the characteristics it presents offer some differences. Furthermore, the overall strategies used to investigate HBV by UK law enforcement agencies differ to that of DV. Being this specific about HBV does not necessarily mean that one succumbs to cultural-essentialist assumptions about the prevalence of such violence in particular communities either. Rather, an understanding that HBV can be different will help identify the serious dangers it presents and the strategies needed to support victims.     

Religiosity and violence: Are they related after considering the strongest predictors?

The present study was designed to examine the significance of religiosity and of church attendance after considering the effects on violence of sociodemographic variables and elements of control, strain, and social learning theories. The sample was comprised of inmates, aged fifteen to forty-seven years, at the only boot camp for adults in Arkansas.Logistic regression procedures indicated that religiosity, and not church attendance, maintained a significant inverse relationship to violence after other study factors were held constant. Implications of these findings were discussed.     

Specialist domestic violence courts for child arrangement cases:safer courtrooms and safer outcomes?

ABSTRACT

Child arrangement cases in England and Wales are dealt with in the ordinary family courts. Whilst a special practice direction is applicable to child arrangement proceedings where there are allegations of domestic abuse, there is no specialist domestic violence court in the family justice setting. However, court specialisation is a feature of the criminal justice system and has been demonstrated to have success in domestic violence cases. Some of the potential benefits of specialisation, such as the provision of safer courtrooms, might be transferable to the family justice setting. Given the well documented problems of ordinary courts dealing with child arrangements in domestic violence cases, this article considers whether court specialisation could provide victims with safer courtrooms and safer outcomes in child arrangement cases.     

Human and fundamental rights: What are they about?

Conclusion Human rights, distrusted by Bentham, through emergence ofGesellshaft, have sometimes been identified with rights of market men and gradually on an ad hoc basis and so have been given a relational or relativist character for that reason. Such a view ignores the test of humanness or the tele of human rights surviving any political association and the need for full development of human personality as an autonomous being inherent in full respect for all as moral persons. This disposes of the view of human rights in terms of rules of a game, or of connection between human rights and human action, or of the standard of the prudent man or, finally, of the ideology of the rising bourgeoisie. Equally, that very test of humanness disposes of criticisms of the human rights theory based on a concern for implementation of rights, on concentric circles based on the specific and concrete, on the impossibility of liking the billions, on the distinction between negative, positive and administrative rights, on the condition of being able to make valid claims and thereby denying human rights to the deprived millions in poor countries, on the social justice model, on the potential for violence and conflict and, finally, on the vagueness or subjectivity of human rights. An eclectic synthesis not between good and evil nor between right and wrong but between the extremes of the views presented in such critical explanations e.g. between the New Right and the New Left and between Hobbes and Rousseau) is what is needed in order to present a workable theory of human rights in the modern-day world.     

Who is better for handling domestic violence? A comparison between Taiwanese female and male Officers

This study examined Taiwanese female and male police officers’ perceptions of handling domestic violence. Specifically, it assessed officers’ attitudes toward whether female officers, male officers, or a combination of female and male officers are more suited for handling cases of battered women, offenders, and domestic violence overall. Survey data were collected from 96 female and 156 male officers from two police departments in Taiwan. Frequency distributions showed that a combination of male and female officers were most preferred by officers for handling abused women, offenders, and domestic violence overall. Regression analysis found that female officers were significantly more likely than male officers to favor a combination of male and female officers over female officers alone for handling battered women. Female officers were found to be more likely than male officers to favor male over female officers and a combination of male and female officers for handling offenders. Police supervisors’ attitudes toward domestic violence also influenced officers’ attitudes toward who is more suited for handling offenders. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.     

Self-protective behaviors and injury in domestic violence situations: does it hurt to fight back?

Research examining the impact of self-protective behaviors on outcomes in nonsexual assaults involving intimates has focused solely on one mainstream sample (National Crime Victimization Survey) in which violence is a relatively rare event. Using the Women's Experience of Violence (WEV) project which collects data from a sample of incarcerated women, we explored the phenomenon of self-protective behaviors to assess whether their use impacts the probability and severity of subsequent injury during a domestic violence incident. In addition to utilizing a unique sample, we considered an alternative operationalization of self-protective behaviors that separates physical and verbal responses to include whether the behavior involved an element of force. Results suggest some similarities between a mainstream sample and our marginalized sample. Namely, the frequency in which they utilize countermeasures and the effect of "fighting back" appear to be consistent with previous research. However, the more nuanced categorization of self-protective behaviors demonstrates the importance of considering whether the strategy was forceful when examining women's responses to violence.     

Retribution or restoration? Anglo–Australian's views towards domestic violence involving Muslim and Anglo–Australian victims and offenders

Abstract

The current study explored how gender, group membership and different emotional reactions to the crime of domestic violence predict attitudes and endorsement of restorative or retributive justice practices. The experiment consisted of a 2 (victim group membership: Muslim- or Anglo–Australian)×2 (offender group membership: Muslim- or Anglo–Australian)×2 (Sex of participant) between-participants factorial design. Anglo–Australian participants (43 men; 50 women) were randomly assigned to one of the four manipulated conditions, and completed an online questionnaire that involved viewing a short video clip of a woman describing her experience as a domestic violence victim. Results revealed strong preferences for restorative justice in dealing with domestic violence, with women supporting this practice more than men. The crime was perceived as most severe and retribution was endorsed most strongly when the victim was Anglo–Australian (i.e. an in-group member). Intra-group violence was also perceived to be a greater breach of shared Australian values than inter-group (i.e. cross-cultural) domestic violence. Emotional reactions further predicted participants' responses, with hatred predicting stronger support of retributive ideals and sympathy for the victim predicting greater endorsement of restoration.     

Domestic violence among immigrants from India: What we need to know — and what we should do

Little research has been reported on domestic violence among Indian immigrant families in the United States. While one national survey suggests that this is not a major problem, several smaller scale studies that focus specifically on South Asian immigrants suggest there is a substantial hidden problem warranting attention. In order to assist future research, this paper presents an integrated theoretical model to explain domestic violence in Indian immigrant communities. The model draws on feminist theory, family violence research, acculturation theory and victimological and crime opportunity theories. The model also provides a framework for thinking about possible intervention strategies. Those likely to provide more immediate benefits are discussed.     

A ‘double edged sword’: discretion and compulsion in policing domestic violence

Policing domestic violence is a complex area in which there are divergent views about the extent to which front line police action should be mandated by legislation and guidance. This study set in Victoria, Australia raised questions about the balance between discretion and compulsion in policing domestic violence through researching the implementation of the Code of Practice used to respond to domestic violence incidents. The project team interrogated aggregate data from the police database on family violence and also interviewed 125 police members (60 sergeants and 65 constables) to explore the attitudes to the Code of Practice and policing domestic violence. The findings reveal that discretion within a range of options is circumscribed. Variable understandings of the nature of domestic violence and the role of risk assessment and management suggest that constrained and guided discretion may be required to achieve optimum effectiveness in policing responses to domestic violence.     

What do we know about rate-setting?

State regulation of hospital revenue is one approach to cost containment on which there is voluminous evaluative data from the "laboratory of the states"; yet these data are sufficiently complex and ambiguous that they are claimed by both proponents and opponents of rate-setting as support for their respective cases. This paper summarizes the evidence, concluding that mandatory rate-setting has generally constrained hospital costs where it has been implemented. However, were rate-setting established in additional states, it is not clear that comparable results would be realized. It is still less clear that rate-setting would constrain health care costs more than would increased competition and selective contracting.     

Domestic violence research: what have we learned and where do we go from here?

Domestic violence has been an intense area of study in recent decades. Early studies helped with the understanding of the nature of perpetration, the cycle of violence, and the effect of family violence on children. More recently, studies have focused on beginning to evaluate domestic violence interventions and their effects on recidivism. This article acknowledges the importance of what we have learned about the prevalence and impact of domestic violence and explores the need for more focused effort to pinpoint interventions that are effective with perpetrators and victims. Methodological issues relevant to past intervention studies are also discussed and future research directions are outlined.     

The “care package,” prison domestic violence programs and recidivism: a quasi-experimental study

Objectives

Although there are many evaluations of domestic violence rehabilitation programs, it is still unclear “what works” in this field, especially when it comes to programs within prison walls. Today, most studies indicate that domestic violence programs based on cognitive behavioral treatment, or psycho-educational models show small positive results. Yet, there is still insufficient empirical literature providing adequate evidence for the impact of integrative treatment, where different methods and approaches toward domestic violence prisoners are employed within the same rehabilitation-program framework while incarcerated. Our study examined the effects of an integrative domestic violence program with a therapeutic “package” implemented in Israel with the goal of reducing recidivism rates among prisoners in general, and especially with regard to violent offenses.

Methods

Using propensity score matching methods, we compared treated offenders to a matched sample drawn from all convicted prisoners who were released from prison between 2004 and 2012.

Results

The findings indicate that the percentages of reincarceration and rearrests of inmates, who participated in integrative domestic violence program, were significantly lower during a period of up to 4 years after release.

Conclusions

Our conclusion is that the integrative effect of different treatments along with a supportive prison climate increased the success of inmates who participated in the domestic violence program.

     

What is violence against women? Defining and measuring the problem: a response to Dean Kilpatrick

This article discusses (a) the relationship between the reemergence of the women's movement in the 1970s and the current field of violence against women; (b) the role voluntary associations and social activism play in shaping social institutions, including the institution of academic scholarship; (c) the need to broaden our definition of violence against women to include nonviolent acts, such as stalking and emotional abuse; (d) the need to study the interrelationships among various forms of violence and abuse, including violence and abuse experienced as a minor and violence and abuse experienced as an adult; (e) the importance of using precise language when reporting research findings; (f) the importance of using a multiple definition/measurement approach when conducting research on violence against women; and (g) the need for comprehensive research on violence against women that takes into account the various types of violent and abusive behaviors experienced by women over their lifetimes.