Saving grace

Howard S. Cohen and Michael Feldberg, Power and Restraint: The Moral Dimension of Police Work, New York Praeger, 1991; xvii + 166 pp.     

Sentencing guidelines and penal aims in Minnesota

H. Richard Uviller, Virtual Justice: The Flawed Prosecution of Crime in America, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996, xvii + 318 pp.     

The Landed Estates Court,Ireland

The Landed Estates Court was the successor to the Incumbered Estates Commission, which had been established in the hope of providing a solution to the problems in Ireland which arose from the ownership and occupation of land. Initially controversial, the Commission had proved in the long run successful. The Landed Estates Court continued the work of the Commission, but unlike its predecessor was established as a permanent tribunal. This article aims to explain how the Court came into being, to consider the work it carried out, and to afford some understanding of the judges who sat in the Court and the issues with which they had to contend.     

Coercive Control in Same-Sex Intimate Partner Violence

Contemporary approaches to intimate partner violence (IPV) have been heavily shaped by the primacy given to coercive control over physical violence and the use of typologies. Few studies have attempted to apply these approaches to same-sex relationships. This study aimed to explore patterns of violence and control and examine the utility of typologies within same-sex domestic violence (SSDV). Data from 184 gay men and lesbians on their experiences with aggressive and controlling behaviors within same-sex relationships was used to identify categories consistent with Johnson's typology. Over half of the sample were non-violent and noncontrolling, while 13.0 % of respondents and 14.7 % of their partners had engaging in situational couple violence (SCV). Smaller proportions (4.4 % of respondents and 6.5 % of partners) engaged in coercive controlling violence (CCV). Rates of mutually violent control (MVC) were high (12.5 %). This typology was expanded to identify cases of non-violent control (NVC), which included 7.1 % of respondents and 5.4 % of partners. To date, no other studies have reported on the use of controlling behaviors within same-sex relationships. These data demonstrated the presence of patterns of control and violence consistent with categories originally identified in heterosexual couples. Data also supported the growing acceptance of the central role of coercive control in IPV.