Forensic Victimology 2nd Edition

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Forensic Victimology 2nd Edition

• Chapter Eleven Intimate Violence

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Intimate Violence

• Domestic violence is a general term that may be
  used to describe physical aggression between
  family members, household member, or intimates.
• Domestic violence is more than physical injuries
  from individual incidents of assault. It is a
  pattern of conduct that uses physical battering
  as just one method of inflicting emotional
  trauma.
• Intimate violence is a particular type of
  domestic violence that occurs when a current of
  former intimate relationship partner becomes
  physically violent towards the other.

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The Dynamics of Intimate Violence

• Intimate violence does not necessarily involve
  people that live together, but those involved
  must be or have been involved in a deep personal
  relationship of some kind. Often it is sexual or
  romantic in nature, though it can involve
  non-sexual relationships.
• In cases of intimate violence, barring mental
  disorder or defect, the motivation is almost
  exclusively about power, anger/revenge, profit or
  some combination.

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The Dynamics of Intimate Violence

• In cases of intimate violence, there is a sense
  of overall powerlessness experienced on the part
  of the aggressor.
• The following are differences between domestic
  violence and other forms of interpersonal
  violence
• Violence between intimates is more likely to
  involve repeated assaults over a period of time,
  rather than a one-time incident of violence.
  Therefore, it is distinct in both frequency and
  duration.
• Domestic violence is a pattern of conduct that
  uses physical battering as just one method of
  inflicting emotional trauma.

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The Dynamics of Intimate Violence

• The Johnson Typology of Intimate Personal
  Violence (IPV) provides four categories that are
  meant to take an offenders use of threats,
  economic control, privilege and punishment,
  children, isolation, emotional abuse, and sexual
  control into account.
• Intimate Terrorism (IT) - a type of intimate
  personal violence where violence is one tactic in
  a larger pattern of power and control. It
  involves more frequent per-couple incidents, more
  severe violence, and results in more serious
  injury.

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The Dynamics of Intimate Violence

• Violent Resistance (VR) - situations where a
  female victim defends herself against her
  aggressive male partner.
• Situational Couple Violence (SCV) - occurs in the
  contact of a specific disagreement that spirals
  into a violent incident. It is an isolated
  reaction to conflict and does not involve a
  larger pattern of power and control.
• Mutual Violent Control (MVC) controlling
  violence in a relationship in which both spouses
  are violent and controlling.

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The Dynamics of Intimate Violence

• The Mills behavior motivation typology discusses
  eight types of abuse dynamics, including
  rejection, degradation, terrorization, social
  isolation, missocialization, exploitation,
  emotional unresponsiveness, and close
  confinement, that often happen in Intimate
  Violence situations.

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Risk Exposure

• Studies have shown that 92 of domestic batterers
  used alcohol or drugs before domestic assault,
  and that the use of alcohol or drugs is one of
  the most significant risk factors for domestic
  violence.
• Many domestic abuse and neglect deaths fail to be
  counted as domestic homicides. This may be a
  result of law enforcement agencies misclassifying
  these deaths and not coding boyfriend/girlfriend
  homicides as domestic when the two people did not
  officially live together.

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Risk Exposure

• High-risk factors of domestic homicide include
  the following
• Prior history of domestic violence
• Escaping violent relationships
• Obsessive-possessiveness
• Prior police involvement
• Prior criminal history of the perpetrator
• Threats to kill
• Alcohol/drug problems
• Protection orders

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Risk Exposure

• Continued
• Acute perceptions of betrayal
• Child custody disputes
• Mental illness of perpetrator
• Hostage-taking
• Children are hers not his
• Change in circumstance
• Her fear

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Domestic Homicide

• Domestic homicide occurs when one family member,
  household member, or intimate kills another. It
  is often the result of accumulates as opposed to
  situational rage, and is frequently associated
  with drug and alcohol use.
• Risk factors of domestic violence include the
  age of the woman (child bearing years), being a
  mother of children not related to the male
  aggressor, and making threats to leave or
  actually leaving the male. The largest single
  trigger for male violence is a womans threat or
  attempt to leave her partner.

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Orders of Protection

• One of the risk factors of domestic homicide
  identified is the issuance of a protective order
  by the court barring the offender from contact
  with the victim.
• A woman may decide that she should not get an
  order for protection to escape a physically
  dangerous situation because the period when a
  woman decides to leave is the time she is most
  vulnerable. This is referred to as separation
  assault. The decision to get a protection order
  is an individual one. Evidence of Orders of
  Protection must be given proper weight in any
  victimological assessment.

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The Perfect Victim Intimate Violence by Law
Enforcement

• Research has shown that police families are more
  likely to experience domestic violence than
  others.
• Law enforcement officers are trained to take
  control of any situation in conflict and remain
  in control as the undisputed authority until a
  conflict has been resolves.
• Any challenge or perceives challenge to that
  authority necessitates a response, and the use of
  force, or violence, is one available option.
• It has also too often been the practice of police
  officers to ignore their training and experience
  when dealing with other officers of the law.

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The Perfect Victim Intimate Violence by Law
Enforcement

• The consequences of ignoring or failing to
  thoroughly investigate police involved domestic
  violence allegations are incurred primarily by
  the victim.
• These victims not only face traditional barriers,
  but their biggest hurdle is what is referred to
  as Brotherhood in Blue.
• The victim may not feel safe because their abuser
  has a government issued firearm.
• The victim may not feel safe because their abuser
  has a police badge and all of the authority that
  comes with it.

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The Perfect Victim Intimate Violence by Law
Enforcement

• The victim may not feel safe calling the police
  because their abuser may have relationships with
  potential responding officers.
• The victim may not fee safe going to a domestic
  shelter because their abuser likely knows where
  all of the shelters are.
• The victim runs the risk of not being believed by
  anyone, including law enforcement responders,
  victims advocates, and the prosecutors office,
  because they are accusing a law enforcement
  officer.
• The victim may fear that mandatory arrest laws
  for domestic violence cases, and the office of
  the prosecutor, will not protect them should they
  decide to cal 911 and seek to press charges.

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The Perfect Victim Intimate Violence by Law
Enforcement

• These fears are not unjustified. Many officers
  value their career above all else and a mere
  allegation of abuse is serious.
• Further, the problem is systemic and cannot
  survive without at least the tacit approval or
  law enforcement administrators and prosecutors.