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... there's no empirical research to date that supports his viewpoint. He does not believe that this viewpoint will bring about a reduction in domestic violence. Dr. Sonkin does not claim to have a solution to the problem of domestic violence.
He does believe that passing legislation such as Assembly Bill 168 that inhibits people from developing new approaches is not the answer. He believes that flexibility needs to return so providers and criminal justice personnel can develop plans that make sense in each individual case. The criminal justice system seems to like the way that the law is functioning currently because things run smoother. Dr.
Sonkin says that just because the system run smoother it does not address the complex issues of this social problem and both the criminal justice system and health providers will need to develop complex solutions. An article in Time magazine credits the death of Nicole Simpson for exposing the brutality of domestic violence, a subject that was traditionally kept silent. As a result of the Simpson drama, Americans are confronting the violence that may occur when love goes bad. The week after the Nicole Simpson's death, phone calls to domestic violence hotlines surged to record numbers.
Women who did not have the strength to leave their batterers in the past, suddenly found the strength to leave their homes and seek safety in shelters. Debbie Tucker, chairman of the National Domestic Violence Coalition of Public Policy was surprised that everybody was so shocked with Nicole Simpson's death. She said "this happens all the time. " In Los Angeles, where calls to abuse hotlines were up 80 percent after Nicole's death, experts sense a sort of awakening as women relate personally to the tragedy. Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shall has warned domestic violence is an unacknowledged epidemic in our society.
After the Simpson tragedy the New York State legislature unanimously passed a bill the mandates arrest for any person who commits a domestic assault. California Legislature now has a computerize registry of restraining orders and, confiscates guns from men arrested for domestic violence. The article criticizes law enforcement for under enforcing domestic violence laws, though many states require arrest when a reported domestic dispute turns violent. The article says police often walk away if the victim refuses to press charges, convinced that such battles are more private and less serious.
Batterers commit violence to maintain power in relationships. Men who batter believe they have the right to do whatever it takes to regain control. When a woman finally decides to leave or have the male batterer leave, he sometimes panics about losing his woman and will do anything to prevent from happening. The man may even stalk the woman or harass her by telephone. Women are most in danger when they attempt to end a relationship. The two most dangerous actions, which are likely to produce a deadly result, are when a woman moves out of her residence and when she starts to date another man.
The article hints that restraining orders, divorce papers, etc. are often seen by the man as a licensed to kill. Dr. Park Dietz, a forensic psychiatrist and a leading expert on homicide says, "a restraining order is a way of getting killed faster.
Someone who is truly dangerous will see this as an extreme denial of what he's entitled to, his God given right. " He goes on to say that the paper is a threat to his own life and he may engage in behavior that destroys the source of the threat. Victims can include children, a woman's lawyer, the judge that issues the restraining order, or the cop who comes between. Abuse experts do not believe that a man's obsession of love can drive beyond all control. Some researchers believe that there is a physiological factor in domestic abuse. One study conducted by the University of Massachusetts medical center's domestic violence research and treatment center found that 61 percent of men involved in marital violence have signs of severe head trauma. One of the most frequent questions asked when a woman's killed by her partner is "why didn't she leave?" This question reflects a societal assumption that women have the primary responsibility for stopping abuse in a relationship.
It is common for women who have been abused to have self-esteem problems and feel they deserve to be battered. Such perceptions are slowly beginning to change, again as a result of Simpson's slaying. Peggy Kerns, a Colorado State legislator said, Simpson has almost legitimized the concerns and fears around domestic violence. There are many reasons why battered women remain with their partners. One woman, Pam Butler, wrote an article attempting to answer this question.
The male batterer usually sweeps his woman off her feet while they " re dating, never showing the evil side of themselves. Women fall in love with these men not knowing who they really are. The violence usually begins after the two get married. The battered victim does not want to believe the person that she married is doing this to her. The batterer tells the woman he does not know what came over him and makes excuses for what he has done.
The battered victim wants desperately to believe anything other than they meant to batter her. As long as a victim believes anything but the truth, they will stay. The batterer changes back and forth from the man they fell in love with to the man, who beats them, keeping the victim confused. When things are good the victims do not want to leave, and when they are being battered they are too weak to fight, and they give up. The batterer wears them down to the point that they only live to make him happy so they won't be hurt. Eventually the victim reaches a point where the fear of being injured or killed is too great, or they see their children being hurt, and they decide to leave.
This is the time when something inside the victim changes. They are through being battered and decide to leave the situation. This could happen in seconds or could take years. This is time when most women are killed.
After leaving the batterer continues to harass and beg the victim to stay or come home. When the victim refuses the batterer often threatens to kill her, their children and her family. Miss Butler feels that America tolerates domestic violence and blames the victims for it. She feels the legal system is sometimes worse than the abuse she has suffered. Why do most victims stay? Because if she leaves, the chances increase that the batterer may kill her.
And if she wins in court, all she does is buy some time. The statistics of domestic violence are shocking. Most Americans will be affected by domestic violence in their lifetime, either as a victim, a friend of a victim, the children of a victim and batterer or the batterer himself. All of the articles reviewed in this paper have some similarities. Nobody has a perfect method to stop domestic violence. Domestic violence has shifted from a civil family problem (1970 s and prior) to a criminal problem.
It seems that the mental health professionals are the ones who truly see the abused person as the victim of this deviant behavior. The court system has traditionally treated the abused person harshly, and has been lenient with the perpetrator. The murder of Nicole Brown Simpson, although tragic, shined the spotlight on the topic of domestic violence. Her murder also opened the eyes of many other victims and gave them the courage to leave their abusers.
Politicians and persons in elected positions have created many new programs and laws since Nicole Simpson's death. In Los Angeles County the Victim Information & Notification Everyday (V. I. N. E. ) program was developed to help the victims of domestic violence. When a suspect is arrested law enforcement officers are required to give the victim a pamphlet which provides information about the V.
I. N. E. system as well as phone numbers for important programs and associations (shelters, counseling, etc. ) V. I. N.
E. is a free, anonymous, computer-based telephone program that provides victims of crime two important services: information and notification. Victims can call the than V. I.
N. E. database and will quickly be told if the inmate is still in custody and provide custody location. The victim may register for an automated notification call when inmate is released or transferred.
The one thing that everybody agrees with concerning domestic violence, is all entities involved (mental health, law enforcement, court system, and probation) must work together to have a realistic goal of preventing this deviant behavior. Education programs similar to D. A. R.
E. should be taught to school age children to stop patterns of abuse from being passed on from generation to generation. Bibliography: References American Psychological Association, Violence and the Family: report of the American psychological association presidential task force on violence in the family (1996), p. 10. Butler, Pam. Why Does She Stay, Yahoo. CompuServe 2000 9 Aug. 1999.
Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, Sex Differences in Violent Victimization, 1994 (NCJ- 146508) September 1997, p. 4. Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report: Violence against Women: Estimates from the Redesigned Survey (NCJ- 154348) August 1995, p. 3. Do Arrest and Restraining Orders Work? (Eve S. Buzawa & Carl G. Buzawa, eds. , 1996); Lawrence W. Sherman & Richard A.
Berk, The Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment, Police Foundation Reports 1 (Apr. 1984); Joan Zorza, Must We Stop Arresting Batterers? Analysis and Policy Implications of New Police Domestic Violence Studies, 28 New Eng. L. Rev. 929 (1994). Florida Governors Task Force on Domestic and Sexual Violence, Florida Mortality Review Project, 1997, p. 51, table 28. Gerald T.
Healing & David B. Sugarman, An Analysis of Risk Markers in Husband to Wife Violence: The Current State of Knowledge, 1 (2) Violence and Victims 101, 106 (1986); Murray A. Straus, Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the American Family (1980). Irene Anne Jillson & Bettina Scott, Violence, Women and Alcohol: Reducing the Risks, Redressing the Consequences, Dept of Health and Human Services, Draft Report, Jan. 1996.
Mary Ann Dutton, The Dynamics of Domestic Violence: Understanding the Response from Battered Women, 68 (9) Fla. Bar J. 24, 26 (1994). Myths and Facts about Domestic Violence, The Commission on Domestic Violence. 1998, Yahoo. CompuServe 2000 8 August 1999... Smolowe, Jill.
When Violence Hits Home. Time Magazine 4 July 1994. 8 Aug. 1999. Who Is Most Likely to Be Affected by Domestic Violence, The Commission on Domestic Violence. 1997, Yahoo. CompuServe 2000 8 August 1999...
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Research essay sample on American Psychological Association Criminal Justice System
