Excerpt
While many of us remember the drama of the O.J. Simpson murder trail playing out before the American public, few were consciously aware of the attention that legal fiasco brought to issues surrounding Domestic Violence. Most people picked up on the media’s presentation of side issues such as racial divide and fears of riots, but others listened, disturbed, to the 911 tapes showing the history of Domestic Violence in the relationship between O.J. and Nicole Brown-Simpson.
Opening with the Nicole Brown-Simpson murder may seem unoriginal but I ask you to think of another Domestic Violence case which has received as much attention, even since this sensationalized case. As this text was being written we watched as the tragedy of professional wrestler Chris Benoit, killing his wife and young son before he killed himself, unfolding in the news media. While this murder suicide is highly sensational the focus of the media is on Benoit’s possible Steroid and drug use. Not Domestic Violence. Within a month of the double murder the media had moved on to other stories, leaving unanswered any hard questions as to the nature of any possible domestic violence in the relationship.
We believed that in writing this book it was important to recognize that the issues and topics we would cover will continue to plague our society. Our focus is on contemporary issues related to domestic violence, however it is important to understand that these are not simply “new“ issues or types of violence. Not to the victims.
Confined to the home?
Today, our society struggles to put systems in place in an effort to resolve domestic violence issues. This stems from our recognition that domestic violence has traditionally been confined to the four walls of the home in which the violence is occurring. However, we can briefly examine the wide-ranging effects of domestic violence on our society. As we do, please remember that all of this occurs or is in place simply because one partner will not stop abusing another.
The government struggles as it attempts to respond to domestic violence. Our legislators continue to change the role of law enforcement in responding to domestic violence, meanwhile the Federal Bureau of Investigation (2005) reports that about 16 percent of all officers killed in the line of duty in 2004 died while responding to domestic violence calls. Officers respond to thousand of domestic violence and disturbance calls annually and as a result 18,234 officers assaulted. Also, millions of dollars go into funding research into the causes and effects of domestic violence.
Further, advocacy groups, most of which are non-profit organizations, have taken up the mantle in providing support for the victims. They need funding and support but, as we will discuss in Chapter 13, they receive little of either.
Our health care system must provide medical care for the many victims of domestic violence at great financial expense to the hospital, healthcare, and public assistance. There is also the hidden cost in the form of hospital bed space. The healthcare field also struggles over the right to privacy of the victim in relation to concepts like mandatory reporting which is already in place for children and certain segments of our elderly population.
This handful of examples plainly illustrate that domestic violence is not restricted to the homes where the abuse takes place. These abusers force the problems onto society by their inability to control themselves. All of society suffers from the actions of the abuser.
Contemporary Issues
In an effort to provide a foundation for this text and the contemporary issues we will discuss within, we will start by talking about what domestic violence is. We start with a brief review of the historical concept then move into some theory regarding domestic violence. Also, we will look at studies on domestic violence and the concept of conflicting studies. Following this will be a discussion in which we will take a look into the mind of domestic violence victims and review some victimology.
Next, we will begin discussing the contemporary issues facing victims, the criminal justice system, and social service professionals. We start with stalking and its frightful impact on the victim as well what stalking tells us about the abuser. From here we move onto the special circumstances involved in lesbian, gay, bi, transgender domestic violence issues. We will then move into discussions focusing on workplace domestic violence and current cultural issues in our society. A discussion of elder domestic violence follows. Then, we will examine the children of domestic violence, both the witnesses of abuse and the abused. We finish with chapters which focus on current legal trends, police response, the court system, and domestic violence advocacy.
The concepts discussed in this book may appear out of order as the chapters will, for the most part, not seem to move smoothly from one chapter into another. When looking at the chapters envision the concepts as radiating circles with the victim at the center. The victim is the true focus of any text on domestic violence so it makes sense to start with them. The next circle encompasses the societal issues. We need to explore how different segments of our society are affected differently by domestic violence? Moving outward again another circle expands representing issues surrounding the role of the government. These contemporary issues are not linear but overlap or take in one another. This does not mean certain concepts in the text are less true or that one concept has substantially more value than another. It means that there is a broad spectrum of contemporary issues and that domestic violence is not simply a niche topic that can be summed up and written about using rehashed studies from 30 years ago. We have strived to include the most diverse range of domestic violence topics currently at issue.
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