Abstract
Because family violence is a class of aggressive act that occurs in private and in the context of long-term, intimate relationships, it is often difficult to establish evidence for prosecution. This is especially true when the power dynamics between the victim and perpetrator, and/or their ongoing cohabitation, make the victim unwilling or unable to testify freely. In this chapter, we review research on the incidence, prevalence, and severity of family violence, examine historical attempts to control it through legislation, consider current studies of criminal justice intervention, and examine the psychologist’s role in court.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bandura, A. (1979). The social learning perspective: Mechanisms of aggression. In H. Toch (Ed.), Psychology of crime and criminal justice (pp. 198–236). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Bard, M. (1978). The police and family violence. Practice and policy. In U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Battered women: Issues of public policy Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Bard, M., & Connolly, H. (1978). The police and family violence: Practice and policy. In U.S. Commisson on Civil Rights, Battered women: Issues of public policy (pp. 304–326). Washington, DC: U.S Government Printing Office.
Bard, M., & Zacker, J. (1974). Assaultiveness and alcohol use in family disputes: Police perceptions. Criminology, 12(3), 281–292.
Bennett-Sandier, G. (1975). Structuring police organizations to promote crisis management programs. Presented at the Symposium on Crisis Management in Law Enforcement, National Conference of Christians & Jews and California Association of Police Trainers, Berkeley, California,
Berk, R.A., Berk, S.F., Loseke, D.R., & Rauma, D. (1981). Mutual combat and other family violence myths. In D. Finkelhor, R.J. Gelles, G.T. Hotaling, & M. A. Straus (Eds.), The dark side of families: Current family violence and research (pp. 197–212). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Berk, S.F., & Loseke, D.R. (1980). “Handling” family violence: Situational determinants of police arrest in domestic disturbances. Law & Society Review, 75(2), 317–346.
Besharov, D.J. (1987). Child abuse: Arrest and prosecution decision-making. American Criminal Law Review, 24, 315–369.
Black, D. (1979). Dispute settlement by the police. Unpublished manuscript, Yale University.
Block, M., & Sinnott, J. (1979). The battered elder syndrome: An exploratory study. College Park, MD: University of Maryland Center on Aging.
Bochnak, E. (1981). Women’s self-defense cases: Theory and practice. Charlottesville, VA: The Michie Company Law Publishers.
Bowker, L.H. (1983). Beating wife-beating. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Browne, A. (1987). When battered women kill. New York, NY: Macmillan/Free Press.
Browne, A., & Williams, K.R. (1989). Exploring the effects of resource availability and the likelihood of female-perpetrated homicides. Law and Society Review, 23(1), 75–94.
Burgdorf, K. (1980). Recognition and reporting of child maltreatment: Findings from the National Study of the Incidence and Severity of Child Abuse and Neglect. Washington DC: National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect.
Burris, CA., & Jaffe, P. (1983, July). Wife abuse as a crime: The impact of police laying charges. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 309–318.
Center for Women Policy Studies (1984). Elder abuse: The facts. Response: To the Victimization of Women and Children, 7(4), 19–20.
Chimbos, P.D. (1978). Marital violence: A study of interspousal homicide. San Francisco: R & E Research Associates.
Cohen, S., & Sussman, A. (1975). The incidence of child abuse in the United State. Child Welfare, 54(6), 432–433.
Costello, T. (Ed.) (1988). Laying down the law: An advocates manual on family violence. Public Legal Education Society of Nova Scotia.
Daly, M. (1973). Beyond god the father. Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside.
Daly, M. (1978). Gym’ecology: The metaethics of radical feminism. Boston: Beacon.
Davidson, T. (1977). Wife beating: A recurring phenomenon throughout history. In M. Roy (Ed.), Battered women: A psychosociological study of domestic violence (pp. 1–23). New York: Van Nostrand.
Dembitz, N. (1969). Child abuse and the law: Fact and fiction. 24 Rec. A.B. City NY 613, 620.
Douglas, M.A. (1987). The battered woman syndrome. In D.J. Sonkin (Ed.) Domestic violence on trial: Psychological and legal dimensions of family violence (pp. 39–54). New York, NY: Springer.
Dutton, D.G. (1981). The criminal justice system response to wife assault. Ottawa: Solicitor General of Canada, Research Division.
Dutton, D.G. (1983). Masochism as an “explanation” for traumatic bonding: An example of the “fundamental attribution error.Paper presented at the meeting of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, Boston.
Dutton, D.G. (1986). The public and the police: Training implications of the demand for a new model police officer. In J. Yuille (Ed.), Police selection and training: The role of psychology (pp. 141–158). Amsterdam Nijhof.
Dutton, D.G. (1987). The criminal justice response to wife assault. Law and Human Behavior, 77(3), 189–206.
Dutton, D.G. (1988a). The domestic assault of women: Psychological and criminal justice perspectives. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Dutton, D.G. (1988b). Profiling of wife assaulters: Preliminary evidence for a trimodal analysis. Violence and Victims, 3(1), 5–30.
Dutton, D.G. (1988c). Research advances in the study of wife assault etiology and prevention. In: D.N. Weisstub (Ed.) Law and mental health: International perspectives, (pp. 161–220). New York: Pergammon Press.
Dutton, D.G. (1989). The victimhood of battered women: Psychological and criminal justice perspectives. In E. Fattah (Ed.), The plight of crime victims in modern society (pp. 161–176). London: Macmillan.
Dutton, D.G. (1990). Some preliminary evidence for an association amongst wife assault, borderline personalty organization, and experiences of childhood trauma. Unpublished manuscript.
Dutton, D.G., Hart, S.D., Kennedy, L.W., & Williams, K.R. (in press). Arrest and the reduction of repeat wife assault. In E. Buzawa (Ed.), Domestic violence: The criminal justice response. Dover, MA: Auburn House.
Dutton, D.G., & Painter, S.L. (1981). Traumatic bonding: The development of emotional attachments in battered women and other relationships of intermittent abuse. Victimology: An International Journal, 6, 139–155.
Dyas v. United States, 376 A.2d 827, D.C. (1977).
Eckenrode, J., Powers, J., Doris, J., Munsch, J., & Böiger, N. (1988). Substantiation of child abuse and neglect reports. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56(1), 9–16.
Elliott, D.S. (1989). Criminal justice procedures in family violence crimes. In L. Ohlin & M. Tonry (Eds.), Family violence. Crime and justice: A review of the research (Vol. 2, pp. 427–480). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Emerson, C.D. (1979, June). Family violence: A study by the L.A. County Sheriffs Department. Police Chief, 48–50.
Erez, E. (1986). Intimacy, violence and the police. Human Relations, 39, 265–281.
Erez, E., & Tontodonato, P. (1989). Patterns of reported parent-child abuse and police response. Journal of Family Violence, 4(2), 143–159.
Ewing, C.P., & Aubrey, M.R. (1987). Battered women and public opinion: Some realities about the myths. Journal of Family Violence, 2(3), 257–264.
Fagan, J. (1987). Cessation of family violence: Deterrence and dissuasion. In Family violence. Crime and justice: An annual review of research (Vol. 2, pp. 377–426). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Fields, M. (1978). Wife beating: Government intervention policies and practices. In U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Battered women: Issues of public policy (pp. 228–287). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Galbraith, M.W., & Zdorkowski, R.T. (1984). Teaching the investigation of elder abuse. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 10(12), 21–25.
Ganley, A. (1981). Participants’ manual: Court mandated therapy for men who batter. Washington. D.C.: Center for Women’s Policy Studies.
Garbarino, J. (1989). The incidence and prevalence of child maltreatment. In L. Ohlin & M. Tonry (Eds.) Family violence. Crime and justice: A review of the research (Vol. 2, pp. 219–262). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Gelles, R.J. (1982). Domestic criminal violence. In M.E. Wolfgang & N.A. Weiner (Eds.), Criminal violence (pp. 201–235). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Gelles, R.J., & Straus, M.A. (1988). Intimate violence. New York: Simon & Shuster.
Gil, D. (1970). Violence against children. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Gillespie, C.K. (1989). Justifiable homicide: Battered women, self-defense and the law. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.
Goldman, P. (1978). Violence against women in the family. Unpublished master’s thesis, McGill University, Faculty of Law.
Goodman, G.S., & Rosenberg, M.S. (1987). The child witness to family violence: Clinical and legal considerations. In D.J. Sonkin (Ed.), Domestic violence on trial: Psychological and legal dimensions of family violence (pp. 97–126). New York: Springer.
Greene, E., Raitz, A., & Lindblad, H. (1989). Jurors’ knowledge of battered women. Journal of Family Violence, 4(2), 105–126.
Hicks, S.R. (1987). Admissibility of expert testimony on the psychology of the battered child. Law and Psychology Review, 77(103), 103–143.
Higgins, R.B. (1988, Spring). Child victims as witnesses. Law and Psychology Review, 12, 159–166.
Hood, R., & Sparks, R. (1970). Key issues in criminology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Ibn-Tamas v. United States 407, A.2d 624 (D.C. 1979).
Jaffe, P., & Burris, C.A. (1982). An integrated response to wife assault: A community model. Ottawa: Research Report of the Solicitor General.
Jaffe, P., Wolfe, D.A., Telford, A., & Austin, G. (1986). The impact of police charges in incidents of wife abuse. Journal of Family Violence, 7(1), 37–49.
Jahnke v. State, 682 P.2d 991, Wyoming (1984).
Kempe, C.H., Silverman, F.N., Steele, B.F., Droegemueller, W., & Silver, H. (1962). The battered child syndrome. Journal of the American Medical Association, 181, 107–112.
Kinsports, K., Bersoff, D., & Ennis, B. (1983). Brief of amicus curiae, American Psychological Association. Hawthorne vs. Florida, No. AN-635.
Lau, E., & Kosberg, J. (1979, September-October). Abuse of the elderly by informal care providers. Aging, 10–15.
Lee, D. (1986). Mandatory reporting of elder abuse: A cheap but ineffective solution to the problem. Fordham Urban Law Journal, 14, 732–771.
Lerman, L.G. (1981). Prosecution of spouse abuse: Innovations in criminal justice response. Washington DC: Center for Women Policy Studies.
Lerner, M. (1977). The justice motive in social behavior. Journal of Social, Issues, 45, 1–50.
Levens, B.R., & Dutton, D.G. (1980). The social service role of the police: Domestic Crisis Intervention. Ottawa: Solicitor General of Canada.
Lupinski, L. (1986). Elder abuse: A pressing need for federal assistance. Public Law Forum, 5, 137–177.
Martin, D. (1978). Overview: Scope of the problem. In U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Battered women: Issues of public policy (pp. 3–19). Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Mathews, D.P. (1988). The not-so-golden years: The legal response to elder abuse. Pepper dine Law Review, 15, 653–676.
Meyer, J.K., & Lorimer, T.D. (1979). Police intervention data and domestic violence: Exploratory development and validation of prediction models. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Mental Health and Kansas City, MO, Police Department.
Müller, K., & Dutton, D.G. (1982). A Vancouver court’s response to domestic assault. Unpublished manuscript, University of British Columbia, School of Social Work, Vancouver.
Myers, J.E.B. (1985–1986). The legal response to child abuse: In the best interest of children? Journal of Family Law, 24(2), 149–269.
Myers, J.E.B. (1986). A survey of child abuse and neglect reporting statutes. The Journal of Juvenile Law, 10(1), 1–72.
National Clearinghouse for Improving the Management of Human Services (1981, September). Abuse of the elderly. Human Services Monograph Series, 3(21), p. 497.
Nisbett, R., & Ross, L. (1980). Human inference: Strategies and shortcomings of social judgment. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Ochberg, F.M. (1980). On preventing aggression and violence. Police Chief, 67(2), 52–56.
Ochberg, F.M. (1988). Post-traumatic therapy and victims of violence. New York, NY: Brunner/ Mazel.
Pagelow, M.D. (1989). The incidence and prevalence of criminal abuse of other family members. In L. Ohlin & M. Tonry (Eds.), Family violence. Crime and justice: A review of the research (Vol. 2, pp. 263–314). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Parnas, R.I. (1973). Prosecutorial and judicial handling of family violence. Criminal Law Bulletin, 9, 733.
People v. Garcia, C.R. No. 4259, Sup. Ct., Monterey County Calif. (1977).
Pillemer, K., & Finkelhor, D. (1988). The prevalence of elder abuse: A random sample survey. Gerontologist, 28(1), 51–57.
Pleck, E. (1987). Domestic tyranny: The making of American social policy against family violence from colonial times to the present. New York: Oxford University Press.
Pleck, E. (1989). Criminal approaches to family violence, 1640–1980. In L. Ohlin and M. Tonry (Eds.), Family violence. Crime and justice: A review of the research (Vol. 2, pp. 19–58). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Podnieks, E., Pillemer, K., Nicholson, J.P., Shillington, T., & Frizzell, A. (1990). National survey on abuse of the elderly in Canada: Preliminary findings. Health & Welfare, Canada.
Poertner, J. (1986). Estimating the incidence of abused older persons. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 9(3), 3–15.
Rolde, E.J. (1977). Negative effects of child abuse legislation. Child Abuse and Neglect, 7(1), 167–171.
Rosenthal, M.P. (1979). Physical abuse of children by parents: The criminalization decision. American Journal of Criminal Law, 7(119), 141–169.
Rüssel, R. (1988). Role perceptions of attorneys and caseworkers in child abuse cases in juvenile court. Child Welfare, 57(32), 205–216.
Saunders, D.G., & Azar, S.T. (1989). Treatment programs for family violence. In L. Ohlin & M. Tonry (Eds.), Family violence. Crime and justice: A review of the research (Vol. 2, pp. 481–546). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Schmidt, J., & Steury, E.H. (1989). Prosecutorial decision in filing charges in domestic violence cases. Criminology, 27(3), 487–510.
Schulman, M. (1979). A survey of spousal violence against women in Kentucky. Washington DC: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Law Enforcement.
Sengstock, C., & Hwalek, M. (1987). A review and analysis of measures for the identification of elder abuse. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 10(3/4), 21–36.
Sengstock, C., & Liang, J. (1983). Domestic abuse of the aged: Assessing some dimensions of the problem. In M.B. Kleiman (Ed.), Interdisciplinary topics in gerontology: Vol. 17, Social Gerontology (pp. 58–68).
Sherman, L.W., & Berk, R.A. (1984). The Minneapolis domestic violence experiment. Police Foundation Reports: 1. Washington DC: The Police Foundation.
Smith, D.A. (1987). Police response to interpersonal violence: Defining the parameters of legal control. Social Forces, 65, 767–782.
Smith, D.A., & Klein, J.R. (1984). Police control of interpersonal disputes. Social Problems, 31(4), 468–481.
Sonkin, D.J. (1987). The assessment of court-mandated male batterers. In D.J. Sonkin (Ed.), Domestic violence on trial: Psychological and legal dimensions of family violence (pp. 174–196). New York: Spring Publishing.
Sonkin, D.J., & Fazio, W. (1987). Domestic violence expert testimony in the prosecution of male batterers. In D.J. Sonkin (Ed.), Domestic violence on trial: Psychological and legal dimensions of family violence (pp. 218–236). New York: Spring Publishing.
Standing Committee on Health, Welfare, and Social Affairs. (1982). Report on violence in the family : Wife battering. House of Commons, Ottawa.
Stark, E., Flitcraft, A., & Frazier, W. (1979). Medicine and patriarchal violence: The social construction of a private event. International Journal of Health Services, 9(3), 461–493.
Steiner, G. (1981). The futility of family police. Washington DC: Brookings Institute.
Straus, M.A. (1979a). Family patterns and child abuse in a nationally representative American sample. Child Abuse and Neglect, 3, 213–225.
Straus, M.A. (1979b). Measuring family conflict and violence: The conflict tactics scale Journal of Marriage and the Family, 41, 75–88.
Straus, M.A., & Gelles, R.J. (1985, November). Is family violence increasing? A comparison of 1975 and 1985 national survey rates. Paper presented at the American Society of Criminology, San Diego, CA.
Straus, M.A. & Gelles, R.J. (1988). How violent are American families: Estimates from the National Family Violence Resurvey and other studies. In G.T. Hotaling, D. Finkelhor, J.T. Kirkpatrick, and M.A. Straus (Eds.), Family abuse and its consequences: New directions in research (pp. 14–36). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
Straus, M.A., Gelles, R.J., & Steinmetz, S. (1980). Behind closed doors: Violence in the American family. Doubleday, NY: Anchor Press.
Summers, M. (1928). Malleus maleficarum. London: Pushkin.
Teske, R.H., & Parker, M.L. (1983). Spouse abuse in Texas: A study of women’s attitudes and experiences. Huntsville, TX: Criminal Justice Center, Sam Houston State University.
Thyfault, R.K., Bennett, C.E., & Hirschhorn, R.B. (1987). Battered women in court: Jury and trial consultants and expert witnesses. In D.J. Sonkin (Ed.), Domestic violence on trial: Psychological and legal dimensions of family violence (pp. 55–70). New York: Spring Publishing.
Thyfault, R.K., Browne, A., & Walker, L.E.A. (1987). When battered women kill: Evaluation and expert witness testimony techniques. In D.J. Sonkin (Ed.), Domestic violence on trial: Psychological and legal dimensions of family violence, (pp. 71–85). New York: Spring Publishing.
U.S Bureau of the Census. (1979). Social and economic characteristics of the older population: 1978. Current Population Reports, Series P-23, No. 85. Dept. of Commerce. Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. (1978). Battered women: Issues of public policy. Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing House.
van der Kolk, B. (1987). Psychological trauma. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Press.
Vera Institute of Justice. (1977). Felony arrests: Their prosecution and disposition in New York City’s Courts. New York: Vera Institute of Justice.
Walker, L.E. (1984). The battered woman syndrome. New York: Springer Publishing.
Willis, C.L., & Wells, R.H. (1988). The police and child abuse: An analysis of police decision to report illegal behavior. Criminology, 26(8), 695–716.
Wilt, G.M., & Breedlove, R.K. (1977). Domestic violence and the police: Studies in Detroit and Kansas City. Washington DC: Police Foundation.
Wolfgang, M.E., (1958). Patterns in criminal homicide. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Worden, R.E., & Pollitz, A. (1984). Police arrests in domestic disturbances: A further look. Law and Society Review, 18(1), 105–119.
Zacker, J., & Bard, M. (1977). Further findings on assaultiveness and alcohol use in interpersonal disputes. American Journal of Community Psychology, 5(4), 373–383.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dutton, D.G., McGregor, B.M.S. (1992). Psychological and Legal Dimensions of Family Violence. In: Kagehiro, D.K., Laufer, W.S. (eds) Handbook of Psychology and Law. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4038-7_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4038-7_16
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-4040-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-4038-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive