Changing the Boundaries of Crime: The Battered Women's Social Movement and the Definition of Wife Abuse as Criminal Activity

Abstract

This paper examines the various ways in which public policy is influenced by social problem claims and it examines the unintended consequences of using social problem claims to shape public policy. Two systems for categorizing violence against women are compared: (a) the "wife abuse" category as it was defined by social problem claims-makers seeking to convince the public that the victimization of women is a serious criminal activity and (b) the "domestic disturbance" category used by police to categorize certain types of citizen/police encounters. This paper explores the specific content of these two categories and raises issues about the consequences of changing the boundaries of crime and promoting the arrest of wife abuse offenders.