Criminal Protection Orders Among Women Victims of Intimate Partner Violence: Women’s Experiences of Court Decisions, Processes, and Their Willingness to Engage With the System in the Future

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110219
Author(s):  
Samantha C. Holmes ◽  
Christopher D. Maxwell ◽  
Lauren B. Cattaneo ◽  
Barbara A. Bellucci ◽  
Tami P. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Protection Orders ◽  
The Future ◽  
Criminal Protection ◽  
Willingness To Use

Consistent with a therapeutic jurisprudence framework, court decisions and processes can have a therapeutic or antitherapeutic effect on intimate partner violence (IPV) victims. To maximize therapeutic effects, IPV scholars have advocated for survivor-defined practices that emphasize the importance of engaging with victims in a collaborative manner that promotes autonomy, choice, and control. However, limited research exists in the context of criminal protection orders (POs). The current study addressed this gap by assessing whether criminal PO match (whether victims received the level PO they requested [i.e., PO match] or not [i.e., PO mismatch]) and victims’ subjective experiences of the court process were associated with their willingness to use the system in the future to address IPV. In a sample of 187 women whose partners were arrested for IPV, experiencing the court processes as positive (β = .36, p = .001) and court-related fear (β = .41, p < .001) were positively associated with willingness to use the system in the future. Additionally, PO match moderated the association between subjective court experiences and willingness to use the system in the future. Experiencing the court processes as negative ( b = .33, p = .005) and validating ( b = –.36, p = .001) was associated with willingness to use the system in the future only for participants who did not receive the PO level they requested. While experiencing the court as positive ( b = –.40, p ≤ .001) was associated with willingness to use the system regardless of PO match, it was most strongly associated for participants who did not receive the PO level they requested. Results suggest the importance of ascertaining strategies to improve victims’ experiences with the court, especially when victims’ requests are not met, to increase future engagement with the system.

Judges in the Protection Orders and Family Law Systems

2021 ◽  
pp. 184-214
Author(s):  
Heather Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Child Custody ◽  
Family Law ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Family Courts ◽  
Protection Orders ◽  
The Family

This chapter explores women’s interactions with judges when they appeared before them in relation to protection orders and child custody orders after experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). Commonly women identified that judges prioritized physical violence and minimized other forms of abuse and that they seemed to align with abusers, discounting the women’s experiences of abuse. Women identified that judges often lacked preparation for hearings, rubber-stamped witness subpoenas, and failed to stop irrelevant witness examination. They explained how these approaches facilitated their partner’s misuse of the legal system as a tactic of abuse. Women also discussed how judges, especially in the family courts, prioritized fathers’ rights to contact with children over safety. However, women’s stories also demonstrated resistance to their abuser’s control over them through the courts, and their efforts to ensure the safety of their children regardless of court orders.

Gender, Protection Orders, and Intimate Partner Violence in Later Life: A Study of Protective Order Filings in Arizona

2019 ◽  
pp. 088626051988468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alesha Durfee ◽  
Leigh Goodmark
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Elder Abuse ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Protective Order ◽  
Protection Orders ◽  
Forms Of Violence ◽  
Protection Order

Most analyses of domestic violence and older adults focus on abuse by children and non-intimate caregivers. However, a significant percentage of elder abuse is perpetrated by an intimate partner. This article addresses a gap in the current literature on elder abuse by addressing how older survivors of intimate partner violence use the legal system as a tool to achieve safety by filing for a civil protection order. We critically examine 607 Arizona protection order filings in 2015, comparing those petitions filed by adults 50 and older ( n = 83) with those younger than 50 ( n = 524). We find significant differences in the forms of violence described in the protection order petition, as well as the types of relationships between the petitioner and respondent, the likelihood that an order will be issued, and the provisions requested and granted. Most importantly, gender is a critical component of our analysis—older petitioners are far more likely to be men than younger petitioners, and both petitions and outcomes are very different for older men than for older women. These results are then discussed in the context of the dynamics of older relationships, current firearm laws, and the barriers older adults face when attempting to use resources intended to help survivors achieve safety.

Responding to Intimate Partner Violence: Urban Women’s Decisions About Getting Personal Protection Orders When Other Resources are Scarce

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 1242-1261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arlene N. Weisz ◽  
Maria Schell
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
African American ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Personal Protection ◽  
Protection Orders ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Personal Protection Orders

Intimate partner violence continues to be a widespread and serious problem. African American women experience a high lifetime prevalence of physical intimate partner violence, but resources for them are often scarce. This mixed-methods analysis of telephone survey responses found that women who were African American, had less education, and were dissatisfied with criminal justice responses to an abusive incident were less likely to seek personal protection orders (PPOs). The qualitative analysis showed that many women did not seek POs because their assessment of their partners indicated it was not needed or increased risk. Practical obstacles in obtaining orders were noteworthy.

A Mixed-Method Approach to Understand Themes of Love in Victims’ Dismissals of Civil Protection Orders

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110453
Author(s):  
Anne Groggel
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Romantic Love ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Civil Protection ◽  
Legal Intervention ◽  
Protection Orders ◽  
Protection Order

Domestic violence protective orders are the most widely used intimate partner violence-related legal intervention in the United States, yet many victims later ask to have these orders dismissed. This article uses a mixed-methods approach to examine the conditions that help explain why victims of intimate partner violence dismiss their protection orders. Quantitative findings from 841 civil protection order cases show that victims who need protection the most are the most likely to seek dismissals. Victims who experienced recent or physical abuse were significantly more likely to dismiss their protection orders. Qualitative findings from 200 dismissal requests reveal that victims reference common themes of loving the abuser, that the abuser is a good parent, that the abuser is seeking treatment, or that they desire to save the relationship. Victims draw from broad romantic rationalizations when describing their decision to drop a protection order from the court. Building upon insights from constructs of romantic love, this study highlights how the rationalizations victims invoke in their dismissal requests are also associated with their experiences of abuse. A mixed methodological approach reveals a significant contrast between the language in victims’ petitions and their dismissal requests. Victims voiced fear and violence in their petitions for protection orders, then employed meanings of romantic love, reconciliation, and change when requesting that these temporary protection orders be dropped. This contrast reflects the cyclical nature of abuse and suggests that greater attention must be paid to ensuring court officials have a strong understanding of the complexities of victim attrition.

Protective Strategies of Mothers Abused by Intimate Partners: Rethinking the Deficit Model

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
pp. 1271-1292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendra L. Nixon ◽  
Leslie M. Tutty ◽  
H. L. Radtke ◽  
Christine A. Ateah ◽  
E. Jane Ursel
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Abused Women ◽  
Deficit Model ◽  
Protection Orders ◽  
Formal Systems ◽  
Quantitative Examination ◽  
Protective Strategies ◽  
Informal Strategies

Exposure to intimate partner violence is detrimental to children, but can abused mothers protect them, and, if so, what can they do? This study of 350 Canadian abused women represents the first quantitative examination of such protective strategies. The actions that mothers most commonly used and perceived as effective include showing affection and being nurturing to their children. The strategies often suggested by professionals, such as contacting police and obtaining protection orders, were used less and considered less effective than informal strategies. Professionals are urged to ask mothers what strategies they use, especially those who do not involve formal systems.

Men Who Seek Protection Orders Against Female Intimate Partners

Partner Abuse ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Mele ◽  
James C. Roberts ◽  
Loreen Wolfer
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Emotional Abuse ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Intimate Partners ◽  
Protection Orders ◽  
Custody Of Children ◽  
Protection Order

Whereas intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrated by men against women has been studied at length, relatively little attention has been given to violence perpetrated by women against their male intimate partners. This study represents one of relatively few attempts to better understand the experiences of male IPV victims. Specifically, this study explored the characteristics of men who obtain and withdraw a protection order against a female intimate partner, in comparison to those men who obtain and do not withdraw the order. We also looked at the reasons men cite for obtaining and withdrawing a protection order and the types of relief granted by the court. Findings from this study revealed that men who requested protection from abuse (PFA) against female intimate partners experienced a pattern of victimization prior to their requests for protection, including physical, psychological, or emotional abuse. Although, each of these men sought and was granted a “no abuse, stalk, or threaten” order, few of them were able to obtain temporary custody of children they had in common with the defendant, nor were they successful in getting defendants evicted from the home or getting the court to order defendants to relinquish their firearms. A comparison of men who withdrew their PFAs to those who did not withdraw them suggested that men who did not withdraw their PFAs perceived their abusive situations as being more serious. Implications for future research are discussed.

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