The Prevention of Family Violence: Dilemmas of Community Intervention

Victims' perceptions of police response to domestic violence incidents

“…Rarely was violence between intimates viewed as criminal or as a serious social problem (Erez, 1986). When police officers responded to domestic abuse calls, arrest of the abuser was usually the last resort even when an arrest was justified based on probable cause (Bard & Zacker, 1971). The perception of domestic violence as a private act between intimate partners hampered any formal response to domestic violence situations in the form of arrest (Klinger, 1995).…”

Attitudes Toward the Police and the Larger Attitude Complex

“…* Concern with police-community polarization has led to the recent establishment of numerous programs to improve the image of the policeman and to facilitate more positive policecommunity relationships. These programs have adopted a number of different strategies, including: (1) efforts to emphasize the positive and helpful sides of the police role and to improve the social relations skills of members of the force (Galvin and Radelet, 1967;Cormack, 1967;Derbyshire, 1968;Coffee, 1971;Cromwell and Keefer, 1973); (2) movements to establish community advisory committees to assist in establishing and monitoring standards of conduct (Galvin and Radelet, 1967); (3) the development of programs to facilitate a free flow of communication between the police force and the public, particularly minority group members and student (Lipsitt and Steinbruner, 1969;Diamond and Lobitz, 1973); and (4) the establishment of increased cooperation between the police and other service agencies in the effort to solve community problems (Bard and Zacker, 1971;Barocas, 1973). These latter programs usually focus on situations such as family crises where social work training and expertise may be more appropriate than direct police intervention.…”

Woman Battering as a Social Problem: The Denial of Injury

“…Complaints have centred upon the tendency to emphasise the social welfare aspects of policing, with the consequent neglect of the criminality of much violence occurring within relationships (Loving, 1980;Bowker, 1982;Bell, 1984aBell, , 1984b. Also, it has been claimed, training in crisis intervention techniques has oriented officers toward the performance of welfare-related, and not legal, tasks (e.g., Bard and Zacker, 1971;Bard 1978).…”