BUILDING A COORDINATED COMMUNITY RESPONSE TO DOMESTIC ASSAULT: AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEM

• NCJ Number: 147219
• Author(s): M Paymar
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 15 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Presented at the National Conference on Family Violence: Health and Justice, Washington, DC, March 11-13, 1994

Annotation

Domestic assault began to gain prominence as a public health issue in the 1970's when women began to organize a movement to provide shelter for battered women.

Abstract

Some of the psychological theories with implications for professionals who deal with victims and perpetrators of domestic assault include the individual pathology theory, family-relationship conflict theory, anger-triggering theory, and the cycle of violence. In Duluth, Minnesota, the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP) bases its activities on the presumption that a man batters his partner to control, dominate, and punish her. The perpetrator's violence, born of family and cultural attitudes and beliefs, is an intentionally implemented means of control. Some tactics used by spouse abusers include social isolation, use of the children as a weapon, emotional abuse, and threats of violence and even death. Many battered women want the abusive behavior to remain a secret, but health care professionals must learn to detect probable abuse. Intervention can occur when community institutions cooperate to develop coordinated strategies to protect at-risk family members and to hold abusers responsible for their actions.