NCJ Number
144041
Editor(s)
N Z Hilton
Date Published
1993
Length
339 pages
Annotation
This book on legal responses to wife assault presents 11 chapters on four major themes central to this issue: the historical framework of legal response to wife assault; police attitudes and action (or inaction); prosecution, mediation, and treatment within the court system; and victims as defendants and participants in the legal system.
Abstract
The book is divided into five sections. Part I contains a chapter that identifies the need for various responses to wife assault according to the profile of the abuser. Part II concerns the police response to wife assault. Issues discussed are the extent to which the public favors police intervention in wife assault, the effectiveness of such intervention in reducing future violence, and the appropriateness of the police response for the needs and wishes of battered women. In Part III, the various functions of the courts are addressed. The effectiveness and problems of prosecution and mediation are explored, followed by a discussion of court-mandated treatment for wife abusers and the success of treatment for wife assault. Part IV considers the legal response to violence by battered women against their partners. Discussed in this section are the role of expert testimony about the battered woman syndrome and the dynamics of violent relationships, as well as the effects of jury instructions about psychological self-defense. Part V presents a summary of the preceding chapters, along with an assessment of their contribution to current trends in intervention and evaluation of legal responses to wife assault. Chapter references and tables, as well as author and subject indexes