Violence Policy Research Articles

GANGS, GUNS, AND DRUGS: RECIDIVISM AMONG SERIOUS, YOUNG OFFENDERS*

Research Summary:The primary goal of this study is to understand the factors that best explain recidivism among a sample of 322 young men aged 17 to 24 years released from prison in a Midwestern state. Specific attention is paid to the predictive validity of gang membership, gun use, and drug dependence on the timing of reconviction and the current research on desistance frames the analyses. Results from a series of proportional hazard models indicate that race, gang membership, drug dependence, and institutional behavior are critical factors in predicting the timing of reconviction. Contrary to expectations, gun use was not related to postrelease involvement in the criminal justice system.Policy Implications:Much of current violence policy has focused on the identification and enhanced prosecution of individuals deemed to be serious and chronic offenders; particular emphasis has been placed on gun offenders. The findings presented here indicate that preprison weapon involvement is not significantly associated with recidivism, likely because gun use is prevalent among young, serious offenders. Although policies aimed at the incapacitation of young, violent offenders may reduce community levels of crime in the short term, the chances for recidivism are likely to increase in the long term if factors like gang membership and drug use, and the deficits that these behaviors engender for social and emotional capital, are not addressed. More broadly, the strong, significant effect of the institutional misconduct measure signals the salience of accounting for institutional behavior when making release decisions. Institutional misconduct may be an important marker of sustained gang membership, making institutional programming and appropriate aftercare services a priority for this group of offenders.

Young adults' media use and attitudes toward interpersonal and institutional forms of aggression

Links between media violence exposure and favorable attitudes toward interpersonal violence are well established, but few studies have examined whether associations extend to include favorable attitudes toward institutional forms of aggression. Studies on this topic have not assessed multiple forms of media use and statistically controlled for individual characteristics likely to influence attitudes beyond sociodemographic information. In this study, undergraduate students (N=319) aged 18-20 years (56% male) completed a survey assessing media use (number of hours per week spent playing videogames, watching movies/TV shows, watching TV sports) and attitudes toward interpersonal violence, punitive criminal justice policies, and different types of military activities (preparedness/defense and aggressive intervention). Greater number of hours spent watching TV contact sports was associated with more favorable attitudes toward military preparedness/defense, aggressive military intervention, and punitive criminal justice policies among men independently of parental education, lifetime violence exposure within the home and community, aggressive personality, and constrained problem solving style. Greater number of hours spent watching violent movies/TV was associated with more favorable attitudes toward military preparedness/defense among men and with more favorable attitudes toward interpersonal violence and punitive criminal justice policies among women, but these associations became non-significant when adjusting for covariates.

Designing out vulnerability, building in respect: violence, safety and sex work policy

One recent finding about the prostitution market is the differences in the extent and nature of violence experienced between women who work on the street and those who work from indoor sex work venues. This paper brings together extensive qualitative fieldwork from two cities in the UK to unpack the intricacies in relation to violence and safety for indoor workers. Firstly, we document the types of violence women experience in indoor venues noting how the vulnerabilities surrounding work-based hazards are dependent on the environment in which sex is sold. Secondly, we highlight the protection strategies that indoor workers and management develop to maintain safety and order in the establishment. Thirdly, we use these empirical findings to suggest that violence should be a high priority on the policy agenda. Here we contend that the organizational and cultural conditions that seem to offer some protection from violence in indoor settings could be useful for informing the management of street sex work. Finally, drawing on the crime prevention literature, we argue that it is possible to go a considerable way to designing out vulnerability in sex work, but not only through physical and organizational change but building in respect for sex workers rights by developing policies that promote the employment/human rights and citizenship for sex workers. This argument is made in light of the Coordinated Prostitution Strategy.

For the sake of the children? Children, domestic violence and public policy

More attention than ever before is being paid to children in Australian public policy concerned with domestic violence. In family law and in the areas of child protection, policing and in the provision of specialist services, there is recognition that children are affected by domestic violence. Yet the ‘discovery’ of the impact of domestic violence on children and the development of public policy responses have not been straightforward processes of problem identification and solution. Rather, there are a number of competing discourses which underlie various policy approaches. Drawing on Bacchi’s (1999) ‘what’s the problem represented to be?’ approach, we examine the discursive constructions of children’s experiences of domestic violence and the responses to them as evident in Australian public policy. In identifying these particular understandings, and considering the implications of these meanings for current policy and practice, we aim to contribute to debate on the future direction of domestic violence policy concerned with children.

Studying the Jew: scholarly antisemitism in Nazi Germany

Early in his political career, Adolf Hitler declared the importance of what he called 'an anti-Semitism of reason'. Determined not to rely solely on traditional, cruder forms of prejudice against Jews, he hoped that his exclusionary and violent policies would be legitimised by scientific scholarship. The result was a disturbing, and long-overlooked, aspect of National Socialism: Nazi Jewish Studies. Studying the investigates the careers of a few dozen German scholars who forged an interdisciplinary field, drawing upon studies in anthropology, biology, religion, history, and the social sciences to create a comprehensive portrait of the Jew - one with devastating consequences. Working within the universities and research institutions of the Third Reich, these men fabricated an elaborate empirical basis for Nazi anti-Semitic policies. They supported the Nazi campaign against Jews by defining them as racially alien, morally corrupt, and inherently criminal. In a chilling story of academics who perverted their talents and distorted their research in support of persecution and genocide, Studying the explores the intersection of ideology and scholarship, the state and the university, the intellectual and his motivations, to provide a new appreciation of the use and abuse of learning and the horrors perpetrated in the name of reason.

Community Violence and Its Direct, Indirect, and Mediating Effects on Intimate Partner Violence

The links among social disorder, violence in the social support network (NIPV), community violence, and women's substance use were examined in a sample of 50 low-income, nonshelter women to predict intimate partner violence (IPV). The authors found that living in a neighborhood with higher levels of social disorder and using substances increased women's exposure to community violence that, in turn, was associated with increased rates of IPV. In addition, although not associated with community violence, NIPV was associated with increased IPV. The results suggest that examining neighborhood-level factors is important in domestic violence policy, practice, and research.

Domestic Violence in the Military: Women's Policy Preferences and Beliefs Concerning outine Screening and Mandatory Reporting

This study describes active duty military (ADM) women's beliefs and preferences concerning domestic violence (DV) policy in the military. Telephone interviews were completed with 474 ADM women from all services, 119 of whom had experienced DV during their military service. A majority (57%) supported routine screening. Although 87% said the military's policy on mandatory reporting should remain the same, only 48% thought abuse should be reported to the commanding officer; abused women were significantly less likely than nonabused women to agree with this aspect of the policy. ADM women's beliefs were similar to those of women in a previously studied civilian sample, except that 73% of ADM compared to 43% of civilian women thought routine screening would increase women's risk of further abuse. ADM women recognized both advantages and disadvantages of current DV policies. More research is urgently needed about actual outcomes of screening and reporting policies.

Changing local policy and practice towards the policing of domestic violence in England and Wales

PurposeThis paper considers the influences that have shaped local domestic violence policy and how this has affected police practice in one English police force.Design/methodology/approachThe research in this paper is based upon theoretical concepts of central government and local accountability over policing; policy making and implementation; and pressure group influence. Documents issued to local police forces from Central Government were examined and compared to local policy documents to assess their affect over local police policy. Using a structured format, senior managers were interviewed to gain their impressions of these influences. Views of ground level staff were obtained through postal questionnaires.FindingsThis paper finds public opinion and pressure from academic research upon Central Government has resulted in a very strong central influence over local police policy and practice. Police officers believe that these influences have had a major affect upon the way that they respond to domestic violence issues at a local level, to the point where both managers and front line police officers believe that their discretion in dealing with these issues has been curtailed, and that top down control over police practice has increased. Police attitudes towards policing domestic violence are more enlightened than they once were.Originality/valueThis paper examines the opinions of both senior local police policy makers and front line policy implementers and will be of value to those interested in the policing of domestic violence issues.

Feminist social movements and policy change: Devolution, childcare and domestic violence policies in Wales

Synopsis This paper focuses on recent developments in Wales in order to explore the extent to which changes in the gendering of political institutions create new opportunities for social movements to influence policy change. We develop a conceptual framework which includes a consideration of the political and discursive opportunity structure, the way issues are framed, and the challenge posed by social movements in terms of redistribution. Using this framework, recent developments in Wales in the context of devolution are analysed. Particular attention is paid to the influence of social movement organisations on the policy-making process in relation to childcare and domestic violence, to the new political and discursive opportunity structures within which social movements are operating, and to the ways in which reframing of key issues within feminist social movements results in their incorporation into the policy agenda but, at the same time, marginalises more radical feminist voices.

Undoing an activist response: feminism and the Australian government's domestic violence policy

After nine years of socially conservative government in Australia, national domestic violence policy has shifted its focus from a ‘ womencentred’ and gender-based analytic framework to one that favours the family and reflects individualized, relational explanations of this crucial social policy issue. In exploring this issue, first this paper discusses what is meant by feminism in this context, some of the implications arising out of competing ideas amongst feminist activists in Australia and how feminism drove and influenced national policy. Second, through an examination of the current Australian government's efforts and decisions in relation to its only significant policy response to domestic violence, ‘Partnerships Against Domestic Violence’, this paper explores the implications of the socially conservative approach of the Howard Coalition Government and why it appears anti-feminist. Through a brief analysis of a national public education campaign launched in 2004, allocation of recent funding and the government's broad political approach to women's policy practice and implementation, questions are raised about the future of a policy that ignores the relationships between domestic violence and gender relations.

Perceptions of Intimate Violence and Attitudes Toward Interventions

The present study investigates the effects of perceptions of intimate violence, knowledge of domestic violence policies, and attitudes toward domestic violence interventions among Vietnamese Americans. Data analyses indicate that Vietnamese Americans tend to view intimate violence as a problem and strongly support government interventions, but they are not likely to support criminal justice interventions. Perceptions of the problems and attitudes toward interventions are not significantly affected by all indicators of acculturation. Particularly, English proficiency has no significant effects on all dependent variables. On the other hand, knowledge of domestic violence policies significantly increases support for government interventions in general and for criminal justice interventions in particular. The study suggests the importance of understanding acculturation within the social, cultural, and political contexts of the immigrant community, as well as the importance of social integration and public education in improving knowledge about domestic violence and intervention policies among immigrants.

Warrantless Arrest in Domestic Violence

Legislators in the United States have responded to domestic violence by passing laws to criminalize domestic violence without empirical support of the effectiveness of this intervention. This research examines policy implementation and domestic violence arrest rates to determine the effectiveness of such legislation in Virginia. The implementation of written domestic violence policies and training for law enforcement officers was expected to increase domestic violence arrest rates. The findings show a positive impact of law enforcement training on felony (repeat offender) domestic violence arrest rates. The findings are relevant for social workers involved in policy and resource allocation for domestic violence interventions.

Domestic Violence Survivors' Forums in the UK: Experiments in Involving Abused Women in Domestic Violence Services and Policy-making

This paper showcases the pioneering work of the first few key domestic violence survivors' forums in the UK with brief descriptive accounts of three innovators in the field: Croydon Domestic Violence Survivors' Forum, Voice for Change and the Phoenix Group. These groups form part of attempts to involve survivors of domestic violence in policy and service development. The women's activist movement against violence against women has led the way in putting domestic violence on the policy agenda and has always had polices of empowerment and of raising silenced voices. For example, Women's Aid and other women's services have operated policies of attempting to encourage the participation of women using their services, although this work has decreased somewhat in recent years. Now that responses to domestic violence are being mainstreamed in the UK, it is important to ask whether statutory agencies and inter-agency domestic violence forums are learning from the activist projects and attempting to achieve meaningful participation for service users and other abused women. This paper discusses whether the views of domestic violence survivors are both heard and heeded by professionals. It addresses the sensitivities and difficulties involved and the importance of informing services with survivor voices. While focussing principally on domestic violence survivors' forums, the paper makes a variety of suggestions for good and innovative practice.

Transnational influences on Domestic Violence Policy and Action – Exploring Developments in China and England

Recognised as a global concern by the UN, and increasingly acknowledged as a gendered crime and welfare issue in such diverse settings as the UK and China, domestic violence provides an important window on the development of policy and action in a global context. Focusing specifically on England and China, and mainly on the latter, the article highlights the need for gender to be an integral aspect of global social policy analysis, examines the impact of international organisations (governmental and non-governmental) on domestic violence policy development, and demonstrates the importance of country context in constructing and implementing global policy frameworks.

Relation between policies and work related assault: Minnesota Nurses’ Study

Aims: To assess the relation between violence prevention policies and work related assault. Methods: From Phase 1 of the Minnesota Nurses’ Study, a population based survey of 6300 Minnesota nurses...

Marginality and the New Geography of Domestic Violence Policy in Post-Communist Poland

The article explores the spatial distribution and institutional geography of domestic violence service provision in post-communist Poland. A new institutional geography providing services to victims of domestic violence is emerging in Poland as a result of NGO activism and new pro-woman policies implemented by the state. NGOs, often in partnership with local governments, are the most vital means of service provision in large and medium size cities, while in rural areas, public agencies predominate in the institutional geography of service provision. The assumption that NGOs will emerge to address the needs of victims of domestic violence is not realistic in rural areas. While urban Poland is developing an institutional geography to address domestic violence, state and NGO activists must focus on shrinking the rural margins of Poland's institutional geography.

Work-Related Violence Policy: A Process Evaluation

This study describes one employer's approach to evaluating employees' knowledge of a violence prevention policy and experience with work-related physical and non-physical violence. A cross-sectional design was used to collect data from a random sample of current and former employees of a Midwest health care organization via a specially designed mailed questionnaire and the employer's internal database. While 7% of employees reported experiencing physical violence in the workplace, almost half of all employees had experienced non-physical violence. Most employees were aware of the organization's violence policy; however, few reported violence or used organizational resources (e.g., employee health) following the violence. Employees experienced symptoms and productivity losses in association with both types of violence. Process evaluations are an effective means of evaluating whether violence policies are used as intended and can provide organizations with considerable information to make effective programmatic changes.

Beyond gender: Class, poverty and domestic violence

This article argues there is a need for a more encompassing understanding of the relationships between domestic violence and all forms of marginalisation in the Australian context. Specific attention will be given to the invisibility of class and poverty in contemporary discourse about domestic violence in the mainstream population. That there continues to be a higher prevalence of domestic violence, and more severe physical injury sustained as a result of domestic violence among population groups living with poverty, exposes the partiality of mainstream knowledges informing Australian domestic violence policy and practice. This article proposes prevention efforts must accommodate how class and the effects of poverty interlock with other aspects of social identity to shape the experience of domestic violence for people both victimised by, and perpetrating violence.

Trends in Understanding and Addressing Domestic Violence

This article is a response to three questions posed by the editor about past and future research on interpersonal violence by focusing in this essay on domestic violence:(a) What is the most important thing we have learned about this social problem in the last 20 years, (b) what is the most important thing we need to learn about it in the next 10 years, and (c) what is the most promising methodological innovation in the last 20 years for the study or treatment of domestic violence? This assessment suggests that the field has witnessed considerable advances in domestic violence research and policy but that many as yet untapped opportunities exist to improve both knowledge and practice.

Casa Londres 38: centro de tortura y sitio de memoria en Chile

El régimen dictatorial implantado en Chile por Augusto Pinochet, de 1973 a 1990, se caracterizó, como otros similares, por ejercer una política cerrada y violenta en extremo. Los Centros Clandestinos de Detención, Tortura y Exterminio (CCDTE) funcionaron como instrumentos de prácticas sacrificiales y de alto control férreo dentro de la sociedad chilena. La recuperación de esos espacios, al final del periodo mencionado, abre la posibilidad de llevar a cabo la política de la memoria. El edificio Londres 38, inaugurado el 11 de septiembre de 1973 como CCDTE, ha sufrido varias resemantizaciones (deconstrucciones y resignificaciones) que nos permitirán, desde un enfoque sociosemiótico, determinar su correspondiente función política: como CCDTE o como espacio de memorias.