Toward a Deeper Understanding of the Harms Caused by Partner Stalking

2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 440-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
TK Logan ◽  
Robert Walker

This study examined stalking prevalence, patterns, and harm among 210 women with civil protective orders (PO) against violent male partners or ex-partners. Results suggest that stalking is associated with PO violations and almost every other type of partner violence. Also, women who have been stalked by violent partners report significantly more distress and harm than even women who experience PO violations but not stalking. Results of key informant perceptions suggest many victim service (n = 116) and criminal justice professionals (n = 72) do not seem to understand the extent or gravity of the harms caused by partner stalking especially when contrasted with victim reports of harm. Furthermore, key informant reports of their advice to women being stalked by an ex-partner were not consistent with recommendations for stalking victims in general.

Partner Abuse ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 501-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stan Shernock ◽  
Brenda Russell

This literature review examines the existing empirical literature on gender and racial/ethnic differences in issuance of protective orders, arrest, prosecution, and simulated jury verdicts in intimate partner violence cases. An evaluation of the methodologies employed found that some studies have used surveys of reactions to simulated scenarios, others official data sources, such as police reports and court records, and others interviews or surveys of victims or suspects; but few have used triangulation of different types of sources. Most studies on differential treatment in arrest and prosecution have focused on gender and then race, whereas studies on differential decision making in the issuance of protective orders and jury decision making have focused primarily on gender. In terms of the differential criminal justice response regarding demographic categories, it appears that there is the less favorable treatment of males but more impartial treatment toward racial/ethnic minorities regarding the issuance of protection orders, arrest, and prosecution.


2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 541-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
TK Logan ◽  
Amy Nigoff ◽  
Robert Walker ◽  
Carol Jordon

Research indicates that stalking is an extension of intimate partner violence. The overall purpose of this study was to better understand stalkers by examining the association between a protective order history and the court’s processing of subsequent stalking, and to examine patterns of reoffending. This study examined a sample of 346 males who were charged with stalking in 1999 in one state. Subjects were partitioned into three groups: (1) males without protective orders; (2) males with one prior protective order; and (3) males with two or more prior protective orders. Almost two-thirds of the stalkers had a protective order against them at some point in the study, suggesting that stalking is associated with intimate partner violence. Results also found a linear trend with many of the criminal justice involvement variables and protective order history prior to 1999. Those charged with first-degree stalking were more likely to be found guilty initially, and about one-third of all three study groups had the initial felony stalking charge amended. Of those charged with second-degree stalking, only 7% of the group with two or more protective orders was initially found guilty, which was substantially less than the other two groups. And, when all the amendment dispositions were considered, there were no significant differences by group in guilty and dismissed dispositions for the index stalking charge. Further, consistent with previous criminal justice involvement, the group with two or more protective orders was more likely to have subsequent felony charges than the other two groups. Implications are discussed.


2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 695-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Cole ◽  
TK Logan ◽  
Lisa Shannon

Intimate sexual violence was examined among a sample of women who had recently obtained protective orders against male partners using three groups: no sexual victimization (n = 368), sexual insistence (n = 114), and threatened and/or forced sex (n = 117). Differences in childhood sexual abuse as well as types of partner psychological abuse, stalking, and severe physical violence experiences were found across the groups. Multivariate analysis showed that women with no sexual victimization had significantly fewer mental health problems than women who had experienced sexual insistence and women who had been threatened or forced to have sex. Findings from this study underscore the importance of health, mental health, and criminal justice professionals assessing for a range of sexually abusive acts when working with victims of partner violence.


Author(s):  
Peace A. Medie

When and why do states implement international women’s rights norms? Global Norms and Local Action is an examination of states’ responses to violence against women (VAW) in Africa and their implementation of the international women’s justice norm. Despite the presence of laws on various forms of VAW in most African countries, most victims face barriers to accessing justice through the criminal justice system. This problem is particularly acute in post-conflict countries. International organizations such as the United Nations and women’s rights advocates have, therefore, promoted the international women’s justice norm, which emphasizes the establishment of specialized mechanisms within the criminal justice sector to address VAW. With a focus on the response of the police to rape and intimate partner violence in post-conflict Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia, this book theorizes the United Nations’ and women’s movements’ influence on the implementation of the international women’s justice norm. It draws on over 300 interviews in both countries to demonstrate that high international and domestic pressures, combined with favorable political and institutional conditions, are key to the rapid establishment of specialized mechanisms within the police force and to how police officers respond to rape and intimate partner violence cases. It argues that despite significant weaknesses, specialized mechanisms have improved women’s access to justice. The book concludes with a discussion of why a holistic approach to addressing VAW is needed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Walker ◽  
T. K. Logan

Research typically compartmentalizes health and justice as separate areas of study. However, the current health literature on inequality suggests the two concepts are overlapping. For victims of partner violence, procedural justice (defined in this article as access to protective orders and enforcement of protective orders) potentially provides a step toward improved health and well-being by improving safety. There has been limited research examining these factors in rural compared with urban areas. This study examines the impact of procedural justice on health and well-being through interviews with rural and urban women 6 months prior to, and 6 months after, obtaining a protective order. Consistent with other literature, rural women who were victims of partner violence reported worse health, higher stress, and higher Stress-Related Consequences Scale scores compared with urban women. Women’s reported health consequences were related to the interaction of perceived ineffectiveness of the protective orders and their rural/urban environment. Thus, the perceived effectiveness of procedural justice may play an important role in alleviating victims’ safety, health, and well-being, all of which are components of contemporary views of justice.


2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Cole ◽  
T. K. Logan ◽  
Lisa Shannon

Author(s):  
Philip Whitehead

There is a paucity of empirical research on solicitors, court clerks, magistrates, barristers and judges conducted within the criminal justice system in England and Wales. Even though the research conducted for this chapter is now several years old, it is included and retained because of the valuable insights provided into the era of modernisation. Importantly, it provides insights into what criminal justice professionals perceived of probation during a period of critical change under new labour. Accordingly, this chapter constitutes a slice of criminal justice history, in North-East England, that can be accessed and utilised by other criminal justice researchers. In doing so it is intended to compensate for empirical paucity in this specific domain of interest.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-190
Author(s):  
Charlotte Barlow ◽  
Sandra Walklate ◽  
Kelly Johnson

The limits of inter-agency understandings of risk in the context of intimate partner violence are well documented. Informed by Hester’s (2011) ‘three planet’ analogy and using empirical data in one police force area in the south of England, this paper offers an exploration of intra-agency operations, focusing on police risk assessment practices. Exploring the policing risk lens and the victim-survivor journey together, findings highlight police operate with at least three risk assessment moments (call hander, front-line and Safeguarding Hub) and point to the tensions that result when failing to centralise victim-survivors’ own assessment of their risk. Using complexity theory, this paper examines the complex interplay of risk that occurs when the victim-survivor risk journey intersects with the policing aspect of the criminal justice process.


2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (13) ◽  
pp. 1921-1942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Agnew-Brune ◽  
Kathryn E. (Beth) Moracco ◽  
Cara J. Person ◽  
J. Michael Bowling

Approximately one in three women in the United States experience intimate partner violence (IPV). IPV is associated with long-term negative health consequences; therefore, there is a need to examine potential prevention strategies. Evidence suggests that domestic violence protective orders (DVPOs), a legal intervention that prevents contact between two parties for up to 12 months, are an effective secondary prevention tool. However, because judges have relative autonomy in granting or denying DVPOs, research is needed to examine the processes they use to guide their decisions. The aim of the study was to investigate how District Court judges decide whether to issue a DVPO. Using in-depth interviews with 20 North Carolina District Court judges, the present study addressed three research questions: (a) what factors influence judges’ decisions to grant or deny a DVPO, (b) what heuristics or cognitive shortcuts potentially guide their decisions, and (c) what judges worry about when making decisions. Three themes emerged from the data analyses: (a) violent incidents must reach a certain threshold, (b) the presence of children creates competing concerns, and (c) judges worry about the negative impact their decisions may have on the lives of those involved. Recommendations for improving the DVPO issuance process are also discussed.


2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 603-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol E. Jordan ◽  
Adam J. Pritchard ◽  
Pamela Wilcox ◽  
Danielle Duckett-Pritchard

Despite the importance of civil orders of protection as a legal resource for victims of intimate partner violence, research is limited in this area, and most studies focus on the process following a court’s initial issuance of an emergency order. The purpose of this study is to address a major gap in the literature by examining cases where victims of intimate partner violence are denied access to temporary orders of protection. The study sample included a review of 2,205 petitions that had been denied by a Kentucky court during the 2003 fiscal year. The study offers important insights into the characteristics of petitioners and respondents to denied orders and outlines individual, contextual, structural, qualitative/perceptual, and procedural factors associated with the denial of temporary or emergency protective orders. Recommendations for statutory changes, judicial education, and future research to remedy barriers to protection are offered.


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