Gender and Domestic Violence - Contemporary Legal Practice and Intervention Reforms

Societal beliefs that domestic violence is primarily a crime against women, otherwise known as the gender paradigm, involves the presumption that domestic violence is about the abuse of women by men. Gender and Domestic Violence directly challenges this prevailing paradigm by demonstrating how it has led to differential treatment that can jeopardize defendant due process and victim safety. Experts, legal scholars, and practicing attorneys provide tools to become more inclusive in the process and practice of domestic violence criminal justice policies.

List of contents

• Part I Topic Overview of Research on Domestic Violence


• 1 Introduction-The Problem with the Gender Paradigm


• John Hamel, Ph.D. and Brenda Russell, Ph.D


• 2 What We Currently Know about the Prevalence, Causes and Dynamics of Intimate Partner Violence


• Elizabeth Bates, Ph.D. and Alexandra Papamichail, Ph.D


• 3 The Law Enforcement Response to IPV: Toward a Gender-Neutral Approach


• Brenda Russell, Ph.D and Emily Seisler, BA. BA


• Part II Litigation


• 4 Gender, Sex, and the Prosecution of Intimate Partner Violence


• Jennifer Cox, Ph.D., Elizabeth MacNeil, B.A. and Hannah Lind, B.A.


• 5 Challenges and Strategies in Mounting a Legal Defense in IPV Criminal Cases


• Charles Dresow, Esq


• 6 Intimate Partner Homicides and the Battered Person Syndrome


• John Hamel, Ph.D, Don Dutton, Ph.D., and Alexandra Lysova, Ph.D


• 7 Jury Decision Making: Understanding and Overcoming Bias in the Courtroom


• Brenda Russell, Ph.D. and Blake McKimmie, Ph.D


• Part III Family Law


• 8 Guidelines for Domestic Violence and Child Custody Litigation


• David Pisarra, Esq


• 9 Custody and Intervention Recommendations in Family Law Cases: A Gender-Inclusive Framework


• John Hamel, Ph.D. and Kelly Baker, Ph.D


• 10 The Same Coin: Intimate Partner Violence, Child Abuse, and Parental Alienation


• Jennifer Harman, Ph.D and Edward Kruk, Ph.D


• Part IV Evidence-Based Interventions


• 11 Holding Perpetrators Accountable: Evidence-based Interview and Assessment Procedures


• John Hamel, Ph.D. and Liam Ennis, Ph.D


• 12 Risk-Needs-Responsivity (RNR) Informed Approaches to Batterer Intervention Treatment


• Amie Roberts, LMH Counselor, CPM


• 13 Couples and Family Interventions for Intimate Partner Violence


• Victoria Bennet, M.A., Janella Chu, B.S., Deanna Pollard, M.A., and Julia Babcock, Ph.D.


• 14 Restorative Justice Alternatives


• Briana Barocas, Ph.D. and Rei Shimizu, LMSW, Ph.D

About the author

Dr. Brenda Russell, PhD is a Professor of Psychology at The Pennsylvania State University, Berks. Her interests include psychology and law, perceptions of victims and perpetrators of domestic violence, homicide defendants, and the social-psychological aspects of jury decision-making. She has published dozens of scholarly research articles and authored four books. Dr. Russell serves as an expert in criminal domestic violence homicide cases and works as a consultant and program evaluator for federal and state educational, law enforcement, justice, and treatment programs.

John Hamel, PhD, LCSW a graduate of U.C.L.A. and the University of Central Lancashire, has treated family violence victims and perpetrators since 1992, and has provided expert witness consultation and testimony in numerous criminal and family law cases. Dr. Hamel also a researcher, and the author or editor of several books, including Gender-Inclusive Treatment of Intimate Partner Abuse: Evidence-Based Approaches, 2nd Edition. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Partner Abuse, and is the founder of the Association of Domestic Violence Intervention Programs (ADVIP).

Summary

Over the past 40 years, considerable progress has been made in lowering rates of domestic violence in our communities. This progress has been uneven, however, due to continuing misconceptions about the causes and dynamics of domestic violence, which include an exaggerated focus on males as perpetrators and females as victims, as well as a heavy-handed law enforcement response that compromises the rights of criminal defendants without necessarily reducing violence.

Gender and Domestic Violence presents empirical research findings and reform recommendations for prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, policy makers and intervention providers with the aim of rectifying shortcomings in legal and law enforcement responses to domestic violence. The volume's editors and chapter authors confront the notion that certain beliefs shared among victim advocates, legal actors, and other stakeholders -- principally that domestic violence is bound by gender, and is primarily a crime against women -- have led to the use of ineffective and potentially harmful one-size-fits-all intervention policies that can jeopardize defendant due process and victim safety. Domestic violence experts, legal scholars, and practicing attorneys present how gendered aspects of domestic violence affect legal decision-making and practice and provide strategies for becoming more inclusive in the adjudicative process, intervention/prevention, and practice. Gender and Domestic Violence: Contemporary Legal Practice and Intervention Reforms provides the foundation from which we can begin to move beyond the gender paradigm by recognizing disparities and applying tools that improve research, policing, and practice, allowing us to progress toward eradicating domestic violence, and to move closer to equality.

Additional text

As a former domestic violence prosecutor, I struggled with the one-size-fits-all approach to IPV. As a current defense attorney, I see the havoc this homogenous mindset causes for the wrongfully accused. With a scientific and fact-driven approach, this volume recognizes and reports the nuances of IPV, and asks questions of our current criminal legal system based on research, not stereotypes or politics. Prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges must wrestle with the evidence presented in this volume or risk being well-intentioned agents of injustice.

Product details

• Authors: Brenda (Professor of Psychology Russell
• Assisted by: John Hamel (Editor), Hamel John (Editor), Brenda Russell (Editor), Russell Brenda (Editor)
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 04.10.2022
• EAN: 9780197564028
• ISBN: 978-0-19-756402-8
• No. of pages: 448
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Psychology > Theoretical psychology; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; LAW / Criminal Law / General, LAW / Family Law / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Social Work, PSYCHOLOGY / Forensic Psychology, Social Work, Sociology: family & relationships, Family Law, Criminal or forensic psychology, Sociology: family and relationships