Domestic Violence Policy: A World of Change

The second wave of the feminist movement brought unprecedented changes in awareness of criminal legal system (CLS) responses to domestic violence (DV). The seemingly feminist “success” in the harsher CLS responses, however, resulted in the disparate criminalization of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and poor individuals, among both DV defendants and victims. Therefore, feminist support for anti-carceral/abolitionist feminism, recognizing the cooptation of feminist ideals within a neoliberal CLS system, has grown. Colonial policing, however, has only tangentially been applied to DV (and other gender-based abuse offenses’) CLS responses. This article advocates for significant changes to policing DV.

Striving for Gender Equality: Representations of Gender in “Progressive” Domestic Violence Policy

International feminist scholarship highlights the benefits of approaching domestic violence policy through a gendered lens. Yet to be examined, however, is the extent to which explicitly gendered domestic violence policies may contain barriers that limit the potential benefits of a gendered approach. This qualitative research examines the assumptions embedded in explicitly gendered domestic violence policy in the Australian state of Queensland. Findings suggest that Queensland’s “progressive” domestic violence policy is underpinned by dominant gendered assumptions that reinforce existing unequal social structures. These findings offer important lessons for international jurisdictions that aspire to adopt gendered domestic violence policy.

Creating Separation From the On-Field Product: Roger Goodell’s Image Repair Discourse During the Ray Rice Domestic Violence Case

This analysis examines National Football League (NFL) Commissioner Roger Goodell’s image repair strategies during the Ray Rice domestic violence crisis. After receiving criticism for only suspending Rice for two games, the attacks against the NFL and Goodell substantially increased when TMZ released a previously unseen video of Rice knocking out his then-fiancée Janay Palmer in a Revel Casino elevator. Facing these new attacks, Goodell relied on a separation strategy that included acknowledging the NFL had a domestic violence problem, shifting the blame to Rice, and highlighting the NFL’s new domestic violence policy which was the most stringent in professional sports. Goodell also used mortification to enhance his separation strategy to suggest that he was responsible for the insufficient punishment of Rice, which shifted the blame to Goodell and away from the NFL product and NFL owners. Unlike other CEOs who only gain notoriety during an organizational crisis, Goodell was already disliked by players and the public prior to the Rice scandal, which may have enhanced his attempts to shield the league from the scandal. Implications are drawn concerning how the public’s perception of an executive can influence the effectiveness of image repair discourse and how a separation strategy can bolster an organization’s defense.

Analysis of Anti-Domestic Violence Policy Implementation in Georgia Using Contextual Interaction Theory (CIT)

This study examines the development of anti-domestic-violence policy implementation in an emerging democracy, the country of Georgia. We applied a public policy framework – Contextual Interaction Theory (CIT) – which enabled us to thoroughly examine factors contributing to drawbacks in anti-domestic-violence policy implementation. The CIT framework was enriched by expanding it to the scale of the national anti-domestic-violence policy and placing greater emphasis on the victim. The qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews and media reveals that public policy implementers lack motivation, information and power to be able to really implement the anti-domestic-violence policy. The CIT analysis of domestic violence (DV) policies demonstrates that DV problems are further exacerbated by the contextual factors of societal attitudes in terms of gender inequality and social acceptance of DV, which creates unfavorable context for the realisation of the anti-DV policy. In such circumstances, according to the CIT, only symbolic realisation of a policy takes place. The use of CIT as a tool for the implementation of a policy will provide substantial input into its realisation. Based on this theory, it is crucial to increase information, motivation and power of implementers, as well as change the context for the anti-DV policy to be actually implemented.

Domestic Violence Policy, Forensic Mental Health, and the Revival of Rehabilitation: Crossroads or Cross Purposes

Current domestic violence policy was shaped both by second wave feminist initiatives formulated in the 1970s and 1980s and by the culturally conservative concerns of the emerging punitive era. The policy framework that has emerged from the intersection of the seemingly incompatible positions of conservative views of crime and progressive feminist views of liberation in fact has come to resemble more conservative social control than progressive feminism. In spite of known empirical links between domestic violence and psychological disorders, this policy framework ignores many of the principles of forensic mental health practice. Growing awareness of the costs and failures of mass incarceration and the overcriminalization of certain behaviors is leading to a reconsideration of the role of mental health problems in crime overall. These trends may foreshadow a return to a more rehabilitative view of crime and corrections, presenting domestic violence policy with an opportunity to move toward a standpoint more scientific, more compassionate, and more effective.