Throughout history, the human race has been characterized by the use of physical and emotional aggression by individuals, particularly males, in their intimate relationships. Intimate abusiveness is particularly common among substance dependent males. As a result of male intimate abusiveness, victims suffer a variety of problems ranging from emotional trauma to death due to physical injury. Despite increased attention to this problem, our understanding of the process leading to intimate abusiveness is far from comprehensive. The primary purpose of the present study was to expand our understanding of intimate abusiveness through the application of a social-cognitive model of intimate abusiveness among substance dependent males. Fifty-seven males from an inpatient substance abuse treatment program participated. Subjects completed questionnaires indicating their level of intimate abusiveness. In addition, they completed partner-related attribution measures as well as coping response measures indicating how they would interpret and handle five ambiguous vignettes involving their partner. It was hypothesized that violent men would attribute greater negative intent and responsibility to their partner and that they would choose to handle the ambiguous vignettes in less competent ways compared with non-violent men. Further, it was predicted that the association between intimate abusiveness and competency of coping responses would be mediated by attributions made about the partner. Results of the study generally supported predictions. The implications of the results are discussed as well as suggestions for future research. / Ph. D.

The primary goal of the courts in deciding which parent (if any) should be awarded custody of the child is complicated by the presence of domestic violence. Children are direct and indirect victims of domestic violence. As well as the possibility of being physically injured, they are psychologically impacted by the trauma of witnessing violence in the household and may continue a cycle of violence into adulthood. States vary on the weight that is given to domestic violence as a factor in custody decisions. Judges have discretion in the options available to them in making custody determinations. Judges need to be educated on the dynamics of domestic violence to create a more informed judiciary. This paper examines the current law in Florida and gives recommendations for improvements in the way Florida handles custody of children

Private law issues relating to domestic violence (a comparison of Czech and German regulation) The subject of this thesis is private law issues relating to domestic violence. The domestic violence is a repeated phenomenon which is hidden in privacy of homes, including physical, psychological or sexual violence among close persons; the intensity of the attacks is escalating. The thesis is focused on violence among adults, especially partners. The domestic violence has been occurring in a society for a long time, nevertheless in the recent years has no longer been considered as a private matter and nowadays is being even solved by a virtue of the law. The Czech Republic and Federal Republic of Germany have recently adopted special acts for protection against the domestic violence. I have chosen the given topic for its recency and also because of lack of the Czech legal literature. The thesis compares the private law instruments of protection against the domestic violence in Germany and in the Czech Republic. The aim of the thesis is to find out which options the legal systems offer, whether they are sufficient, what are the fundamental differences between the both legal regulations and finally to propose some legislative measures. The first part of the thesis deals with the concept of the domestic...

Domestic violence is a vast and grave social problem which pervades the whole society. In my diploma thesis, I follow it up because of its complexity as well, since it comes not only under the field of law and criminology but also psychology and sociology. It was necessary to define domestic violence as a term in the first part of the thesis, and to describe its characteristics which are constancy of aggressor and victim roles, escalation, cyclicity, continuation and repeatability. I deal with impacts of domestic violence on the society as a whole, and present a brief perspective on coping with this issue abroad. Furthermore I look into myths floating around about domestic violence because they show the public's attitude to domestic violence, and in my opinion, that plays an important role for setting the prevention appropriately. The second chapter of the diploma thesis relates to criminological aspects of domestic violence. Successively it concentrates on incidence of domestic violence, its typology, perpetrators and victims, emphasizing exactly the victimological part including the specifics of particular victim groups. The next chapter of the thesis contains an overview of previous development of the legislation in the field of protection against domestic violence. In the fourth part of the diploma...

Criminal aspects of domestic violence SUMMARY Domestic violence is a serious social concern with high level of latency. The domestic violence victims protection is ensured by legal standarts of Civil, Administrative and Criminal Law and other legal standarts. Criminal Law is one of the important instruments for tackling of serious forms of domestic violence. However Criminal Law is an instrument "ultima ratio" which needs claiming of subsidiarity principal of the crime repression. The purpose of my thesis is to bring a summary of the legal standarts of Criminal Substantive Law and Criminal Procedure, that are dedicated to protect the victims of domestic violence. It also provides the brief analyses of the legal standards with respect to this serious phenomenon. The emphasis is put particularly on the criminal offences maltreatment of a person living in common domestic matters, maltreatment of a person in a guardianship and stalking. From procedural point of view the thesis addresses the issue of the consent of the victim to the criminal prosecution, institute of detention and the status of victims in criminal proceedings. The thesis also makes recommendations for the legislation de lege ferenda. Chapter one outlines theoretical and practical findings of domestic violence, defines the notion and describes...

Domestic violence and its prevention The thesis is concerned with the problematics of domestic violence and its prevention. The aim of the thesis is to analyze the legal institutes that are provided by the Czech legislation for protection against domestic violence. The thesis is divided into six chapters each of which adresses special aspects of the problematics. The first chapter introduces the phenomenon of domestic violence. It tries to define the notion of domestic violence, describe its features and forms so that these pieces of information can be used in further parts of the thesis. Subsequently, it deals with theories that try to explain the causes of domestic violence. The second chapter is concerned general characteristics and personal traits of the perpetrator. Attention is also dedicated to gender aspects. The third chapter concentrates on general characteristics of the victim and adresses the process of victimization, i.e. the transformation of a potential victim into a real one. Primary, secondary and tertiary victimization are to be distinguished. The next part describes the mental consequences of the victim of domestic violence. Special attention is given to individual groups of victims - men, children, seniors, women. The fourth chapter surveys the relevant Czech legislation and...

The purpose of this research is to understand how Trial Court Judges in state and city courts make decisions in domestic violence cases. The researcher examined the relationship between legal (e.g., evidence) and extra-legal factors (e.g., preconceived biases and behaviors related to judicial decision-making) using a qualitative research design. A case study of multiple locations in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes was used whereby a purposive sample of 17 current civil, municipal, and criminal court judges were interviewed. Judicial decision-making strategies were studied via face-to-face interviews, courtroom observations, and content analysis of courtroom communications (e.g., speech, written text, interviews, images, etc.). The researcher discusses future applications of the study as well as the application of findings to assist in exploring judicial decision-making processes. This qualitative research may be beneficial to policy planners, practitioners, and sociologists in gaining insight into the complexity of the judges’ decision-making processes.

Presented thesis is focused on a comprehensive analysis of domestic violence and its prevention. Domestic violence can be described as a deeply rooted socially pathological phenomenon about which the society dares to talk more and more openly over the last few decades. Its unique characteristic does not lay in the form of violence the victim has to endure but in the place in which the violence occurs. It is a private family environment which is hidden from the sight of the public. Due to this aspect domestic violence is not only a serious problem but also a problem that is very difficult to detect and repress. Because of this it is vital to access domestic violence with great care, consistency and expertise. In the first part the thesis focuses on theoretical description of domestic violence, presents possible definitions of the concept, states the characteristics of domestic violence and refutes certain myths which trivialise this social problem. Further in this part an overview of typology of domestic violence and forms of violent conduct is included. The last chapter of the first part is dedicated to analysing the causes of domestic violence and its perpetrators including their classification and possible effects of therapeutic programs for violent persons. This chapter also addresses the...

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the implementation process of Law 11.340/06, commonly known as the Maria da Penha Law, through a macro-study conducted in the Contagem–Belo Horizonte metropolitan area. Law 11.340/06 was created in 2006 by the Brazilian government to curb and prevent domestic violence in the country. This newly created law is important because domestic violence accounts for 70 % of all homicides against women in Brazil.  In order to conduct this study, the researcher traveled to Brazil during the month of November 2011, to collect data from interviews, seminars, events, newspapers, published reports, a questionnaire, and field observations.  The researcher discovered that several agencies from all three levels of the government formed the Network against Domestic Violence to enforce Law 11.340/06 and to assist abused women.  However, despite many positive changes, the agencies continue to face strong resistance.  The lack of political will is the major factor driving the performance of these agencies and the implementation of Law 11.340/06.

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