Publications for Law Enforcement

Domestic Violence Law This softcover volume presents an overview of the policy issues related to domestic violence law. Through articles, book excerpts, cases, and statutes, the author encourages discussion of the legal system’s role in domestic violence situations. Topics range from basic issues, such as spousal and child abuse, to highly controversial issues, including gay and lesbian battering and victims as criminal defendants. Ideal as a textbook for domestic violence courses or as a supplemental text in other types of classes.

The Ethics of Policing This book is the most systematic, comprehensive and philosophically sophisticated discussion of police ethics yet published. It offers an in-depth analysis of the ethical values that police, as servants of the community, should uphold as they go about their task. The book considers the foundations and purpose of police authority in broad terms but also tackles specific problems such as accountability, the use of force, deceptive stratagems used to gain information or trap the criminally intentioned, corruption, and the tension between personal values and communal concerns.

Domestic Violence : The Criminal Justice Response The Third Edition includes a wealth of new empirical research on how the criminal justice system's responses to domestic violence have changed in the last several years. As prominent authorities in the field, the authors offer a balanced view and critical analysis of the current and potential impact of these changes as well as of the new data and findings. In accordance with the sweeping changes undertaken by the criminal justice system, the text includes significant expansion of coverage on efforts made by prosecutors' offices and courts as well as strategies to protect victims through victim advocacy and other services.

Domestic Violence and the Politics of Privacy In Domestic Violence and the Politics of Privacy, Kristin A. Kelly argues that understanding this resistance requires a recognition of the tension within liberalism between preserving the privacy of the family and protecting vulnerable individuals. Practical, real-world information gained from front-line workers underpins the author's suggestions for how to address this tension. In emphasizing the roles of democratic institutions and community participation in determining the shape of future policy about domestic violence, Kelly replaces the traditional opposition of the public and private spheres with a triangular relationship. The state, the family, and the community comprise the three corners.

More Than Victims: Battered Women Syndrome, Society, and the Law Battered women syndrome, unheard of several decades ago, is now the subject of heated debate in courtrooms across America. In More than Victims, Donald Downs offers a sympathetic and powerful analysis of the injustices behind the logic of battered women syndrome, ultimately revealing how that very logic harms those it is trying to protect. Battered women syndrome proposes that battered women suffer from "learned helplessness," a condition affecting the way these women think, feel, and behave. Downs argues that the syndrome's logic denies women their reason and will, reinforcing their victimization. Drawing on extensive research as well as on personal interviews with abused women and professionals in the field, he attempts to distinguish the syndrome from the reality of domestic abuse. Downs shows that battered women often adopt heroic means of survival, retaining accurate, reasoned perceptions concerning the actions and intentions of their abusers. To portray battered women as lacking reason and will undermines otherwise valid self-defense claims and hurts women more generally. Courts that have relied on battered women syndrome in child custody cases, for example, have often deprived mothers of custody, declaring them incapable of responsible parenting. Addressing our "syndrome society" more generally, Downs concludes that we can achieve justice without stripping victims of reason and personal responsibility, the very attributes that make citizenship possible. By taking into account specific situations and accurate perceptions of danger rather than psychological incapacity, battered women can find justice without being reduced to victims. A persuasive account of how constitutional freedom and individual justice can be threatened by current legal standards, this thorough yet accessible work presents a dramatic rethinking of the criminal justice system.

Handbook of Domestic Violence Intervention Strategies: Policies, Programs, and Legal Remedies Public awareness regarding the life-threatening nature and intense traumatic impact of domestic violence has substantially increased in the past decade. At the same time, dramatic changes have taken place regarding criminal justice and social work policies and practices applied to domestic violence intervention. And while the prevalence of domestic violence has declined slightly, national estimates still indicate that every year, approximately eight million women are abused, battered, stalked, or killed by their husbands, boyfriends, and other intimate partners. Featuring cutting-edge research and expert intervention strategies, the Handbook of Domestic Violence Intervention Strategies: Policies, Programs, and Legal Remedies is designed to prepare professionals to swiftly and compassionately meet the multiple needs of women and children who have suffered from domestic violence. This original and indispensable volume focuses on the numerous advances in legal remedies, program developments, treatment protocols, and multidisciplinary perspectives. It is a comprehensive guide to the latest research, public policies, and legal and criminal justice responses, covering federal and state legislation as well as trends in police and court responses to domestic violence. This is the first book to include court-based technology developments and new research related to the duration and intensity of woman battering. Highlighting actual cases and promising programs, the handbook also addresses important social work issues, including risk assessment protocols, a new five level continuum of woman battering, intervention methods, and treatment models. The book also examines the myriad legal issues and health problems facing the most neglected and vulnerable battered women. Written by expert practitioners and leading scholars in the field, the book's 23 chapters provide rich insights into the complexities and challenges of addressing domestic violence. This timely and definitive handbook is recommended for students, clinicians, policy makers, and researchers in the fields of social work, victim services, criminal justice, hospital administration, mental health counseling, public health, pastoral counseling, law enforcement. In fact, this volume is a critical resource for all helping professionals who are assisting abused women in escaping and remaining free from violent relationships.