NCJ Number
141899
Journal
American Behavioral Scientist Volume: 36 Issue: 5 Dated: special issue (May/June 1993) Pages: 651-680
Date Published
1993
Length
30 pages
Annotation
The debate over the value of mandatory arrest in deterring perpetrators of domestic assault represents a range of orientations about women's rights and social change.
Abstract
Sherman argues that mandatory arrest laws should be repealed immediately, while Manning's model of social control suggests that arresting batterers will exacerbate prevailing inequalities by targeting minorities and low- income persons and by reinforcing government's authority to shape private life. In general, understanding violence against women as a social phenomenon and as a civil rights issue goes to the very heart of the abusive experience. As a social phenomenon, battering occurs at three levels simultaneously: political level of female subordination, level of interpersonal assault, and level of coercive control at which women's social vulnerability is exploited for personal gain. Because the element of control links assaultive dimensions of abuse to the political fact of female inequality, simply regulating the degree of violence is not always effective. With respect to mandatory arrest of batterers, studies indicate that arrest works mainly with men who are employed and married and that recidivist violence after arrest in certain cities appears highest among minorities and the unemployed. The humaneness of arrest is discussed, particularly in cases where victims are married or live with their assailants. The importance of assessing current and future risk when meting out sanctions is stressed, as well as the need for treatment. A discussion of criminalization as social control indicates that mandatory arrest of batterers represents a progressive redistribution of justice on behalf of women. 20 references and 12 notes