This thesis is concerned with wife abuse in Bangladesh and examines the legal position of women in relation to such abuse. However, the thesis also evaluates the socio-economic-cultural and religious aspects because these have an important impact on Bangladeshi women's lives and their relation to the law. To achieve my goal I carried out an empirical study in Bangladesh which consisted of interviews with abused women and the professionals, for example, lawyers, police officers, agency officers and doctors dealing with wife abuse. Marriage being the centrality of women's existence in Bangladesh, women are in a complex situation in upholding this institution in the face of abuse. The thesis shows that in Bangladesh the constitutional provisions granting equal rights, enactments of special legislation to protect women, and women's movements have helped in some degree to liberate women in theory. However, in reality all these efforts are influenced by patriarchy and thus women are accorded an inferior position to that of men in society and are still abused. Therefore, the thesis shows how this male domination cuts across the social boundaries of class and religion thereby resulting in all kinds of exploitation and discriminatory practices. The murders of young wives on account of dowry, wives committing suicides to escape the humiliation and abuse from husbands and/or in-laws are instances of such exploitation and abuse. Wife abuse has become a common practice in a patriarchal society like Bangladesh. The majority of Bangladeshi women who play the role of a faithful wife and a selfeffacing mother are forced to live a passive, powerless life because women are taught to be tolerant of abuse. The social and religious taboos also sanction wife beating. Women believe that wife-hood and mother-hood are the two main reasons for their existence and that they have to be dependent on men. Therefore women also accept the abuse. Nevertheless, the thesis shows that in some cases (especially lower-class) women are now beginning to resist this abuse in their own ways, although their number may be tiny compared with the magnitude of the problem. However, the thesis also argues that wife abuse is condoned by the public/private dichotomy which is also a product of patriarchal ideology. The exploitation takes place at home for women are usually abused behind closed doors. Even when women are ready to break the tradition, they are restrained by this dichotomy which is apparent in the handling of wife abuse cases by the professionals (for example, lawyers, police, agency officers and doctors). Thus women are again restricted by the norms of privacy and social pressures which confine wives to an almost invisible status. The isolation of women observing `purdah' is an instance of such restrictions. The law therefore cannot serve these women. However, the thesis argues that law is an important site of struggle for women, although it is also restrained by patriarchy. The uneven development of law in family issues shows the limitations of law in dealing adequately with wife abuse in Bangladesh. Therefore, suffering the double vulnerability of being both women and mostly illiterate and often unaware of their legal rights and also unable to defend their economic interests, women in Bangladesh become victims of invisible violence from their partners at home. Women are trapped within this vicious circle of abuse and social pressure and their dependent attitude. The law which is also within this circle of patriarchy fails to deal with such violence, thus keeping the issue invisible. Therefore the thesis argues that unless wife abuse is given due recognition in the way that serious dowry violence has been recognised and made a specific offence the character of such abuse will ever remain invisible and obscured. The thesis also argues that there must be a change of attitude of all towards wife abuse and women should be the first to be educated.

By popular cultural assumption, women are less aggressive than men, and 'woman' can therefore be constructed as an image of peacefulness. This construction is a myth that needs to be questioned in the interests of proper attention to the varied experiences and circumstances of women's lives. Questioning this myth involves better description of a variety of ways in which women encounter violence - illustrated here by discussion of assaults against women in intimate relationships, women as members of military forces, women’s experiences of wartime, and discussion and campaigning by women on the subjects of war and peacemaking. This kind of description values women's discourse and experiences, the range of which is expressive of great differences among women. Feminist theological ethics is a suitable tool for evaluating these experiences, and for promoting the good of women and men in the face of violence. Feminist theological ethics emerges out of non-theological feminist ethics and feminist theology. This double root ensures that (from feminist theory) ethics is not seen as entirely separated from politics, particularly along a gendered public/private divide, and also that (from feminist theology) ethics is not separated from other areas of theological enquiry. Evaluation of women’s experiences out of feminist theological ethical concerns highlights a need for a modified universalism which will allow injustice to be challenged, and for the rebuilding of the relationship between theological conceptions of love and justice so that theological ethics can be more responsive to the context and material realities of human lives. Feminist theological ethics illuminates ways in which different forms of violence, in the so-called public or private spheres, interact and affect each other. One possible relation of women to military forces and to militarism can thereby be constructed, and a broadened discussion of war encouraged.

This study explores the experiences of five children witnessing family violence and the resultant psychological distress experienced by these children. The study was conducted within a phenomenological framework and used in-depth interviews with the children and caregivers. The data gleaned from the interviews with the children was substantiated by projective drawing tasks. Analysis of the interviews and drawings found that children who witnessed domestic violence experienced significant psychological distress. The significant findings of the study were as follows: Child witnesses exhibited behavioural, affective and cognitive responses to witnessing the traumatic events. Themes of guilt, shame and role confusion emerged from the interview data as results of having witnessed the abusive episodes. Fear was a result of having witnessed the abusive episodes, and was pervasive in all relationships - with significant others, peers, and the researcher. Social support from peers and family members acted as a buffer by providing an escape to dealing with witnessing the trauma. There was a significant difference in the coping styles in relation to developmental status- the older children exhibited a multitude of coping styles as compared to the younger children. Gender pattern differences emerged - boys were more likely to exhibit externalizing behaviour in response to witnessing the abusive episodes, whilst the girls exhibited more internalizing behaviour patterns. The results of this study are discussed within the ecological-transactional framework. Further research in the area of domestic violence is recommended. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2002.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis examines the use of cross applications in civil protection order proceedings in New South Wales (NSW) (known as Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders, ADVOs). A cross application takes place when one person in an existing or former intimate relationship, usually the woman, applies for an ADVO and sometime afterwards the defendant in that originating application, usually the man, seeks an ADVO against the first person. The focus on cross applications provides a means to investigate the nature of men’s and women’s competing allegations about domestic violence, and to explore the way in which professionals working within the ADVO system approach, and seek to unravel, these competing claims. This thesis draws on the extensive debate within the sociological literature about ‘what is domestic violence’ and whether domestic violence is gendered in its perpetration. This debate has been paid scant attention in the legal literature. This thesis examines the assumptions underpinning the legal definitions and understandings of domestic violence in the civil protection order system, with reference to these theoretical debates about ‘what is domestic violence’ and ‘what counts as domestic violence’. To do so it draws on empirical work: semi-structured in-depth interviews with women involved in cross applications and key professionals working in the field, documentary analysis of court files, and observations of court proceedings. The key contribution of this thesis to this literature is threefold: (1) it explores the question of gender perpetration through the investigation of official data (a data source little explored in debates about gender and domestic violence), (2) it combines qualitative and quantitative methods in a single study, and (3) it extends questions about the gendered perpetration of domestic violence to the legal arena (in particular the prime legal arena that responds to domestic violence in NSW, the ADVO system, a system ostensibly designed to better respond to domestic violence). This thesis found that, like other studies in this field, the analysis of quantitative data alone reveals few differences between the types of violence men and women are alleged to use against their intimate partners. However when supplemented by qualitative data differences started to emerge particularly for men who lodged their application second in time. This qualitative analysis reveals not only that male second applicants appeared to make claims of a different nature, but that some men appeared to use the ADVO process to undermine women’s claims for legal protection. The differences that emerged between men and women’s alleged experiences of domestic violence resonated with feminist understandings of domestic violence that highlight its function of control and the repetitive, cumulative environment in which violence is perpetrated by men against women. While the study focussed on cross applications, its findings reveal a number of issues of concern for the ADVO system more broadly: its focus on incidents, the poor quality of complaint narratives, the brevity of court proceedings and the emphasis on settlement. These features undermine the progressive potential of the ADVO legislation to capture more than single incidents of largely physical violence. This was further compounded by the fact that while the professionals interviewed articulated broad definitions of domestic violence, this tended to be lost when responding to practice-orientated questions (here professionals returned to incident-based definitions). Perhaps more significantly the defining feature of domestic violence as a mechanism of control is not articulated in the NSW legislation, and hence (not unsurprisingly) was generally not articulated in the complaint narratives examined in this thesis. Yet control was the dominant way in which the women interviewed described their relationship with their former partner. The failure of complaint narratives to reflect the dimension of control, combined with the failure of key professionals to give sufficient emphasis to control in their practice under the ADVO legislation, an absence highlighted through the focus on cross applications, is an issue of concern for the ADVO system generally. This is important given the growing recognition in the research literature of the fundamental nature of control to the experience of domestic violence, particularly women’s experiences of domestic violence.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis examines the use of cross applications in civil protection order proceedings in New South Wales (NSW) (known as Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders, ADVOs). A cross application takes place when one person in an existing or former intimate relationship, usually the woman, applies for an ADVO and sometime afterwards the defendant in that originating application, usually the man, seeks an ADVO against the first person. The focus on cross applications provides a means to investigate the nature of men’s and women’s competing allegations about domestic violence, and to explore the way in which professionals working within the ADVO system approach, and seek to unravel, these competing claims. This thesis draws on the extensive debate within the sociological literature about ‘what is domestic violence’ and whether domestic violence is gendered in its perpetration. This debate has been paid scant attention in the legal literature. This thesis examines the assumptions underpinning the legal definitions and understandings of domestic violence in the civil protection order system, with reference to these theoretical debates about ‘what is domestic violence’ and ‘what counts as domestic violence’. To do so it draws on empirical work: semi-structured in-depth interviews with women involved in cross applications and key professionals working in the field, documentary analysis of court files, and observations of court proceedings. The key contribution of this thesis to this literature is threefold: (1) it explores the question of gender perpetration through the investigation of official data (a data source little explored in debates about gender and domestic violence), (2) it combines qualitative and quantitative methods in a single study, and (3) it extends questions about the gendered perpetration of domestic violence to the legal arena (in particular the prime legal arena that responds to domestic violence in NSW, the ADVO system, a system ostensibly designed to better respond to domestic violence). This thesis found that, like other studies in this field, the analysis of quantitative data alone reveals few differences between the types of violence men and women are alleged to use against their intimate partners. However when supplemented by qualitative data differences started to emerge particularly for men who lodged their application second in time. This qualitative analysis reveals not only that male second applicants appeared to make claims of a different nature, but that some men appeared to use the ADVO process to undermine women’s claims for legal protection. The differences that emerged between men and women’s alleged experiences of domestic violence resonated with feminist understandings of domestic violence that highlight its function of control and the repetitive, cumulative environment in which violence is perpetrated by men against women. While the study focussed on cross applications, its findings reveal a number of issues of concern for the ADVO system more broadly: its focus on incidents, the poor quality of complaint narratives, the brevity of court proceedings and the emphasis on settlement. These features undermine the progressive potential of the ADVO legislation to capture more than single incidents of largely physical violence. This was further compounded by the fact that while the professionals interviewed articulated broad definitions of domestic violence, this tended to be lost when responding to practice-orientated questions (here professionals returned to incident-based definitions). Perhaps more significantly the defining feature of domestic violence as a mechanism of control is not articulated in the NSW legislation, and hence (not unsurprisingly) was generally not articulated in the complaint narratives examined in this thesis. Yet control was the dominant way in which the women interviewed described their relationship with their former partner. The failure of complaint narratives to reflect the dimension of control, combined with the failure of key professionals to give sufficient emphasis to control in their practice under the ADVO legislation, an absence highlighted through the focus on cross applications, is an issue of concern for the ADVO system generally. This is important given the growing recognition in the research literature of the fundamental nature of control to the experience of domestic violence, particularly women’s experiences of domestic violence.

The effect of domestic violence on the lives of young children and how the children are affected by their mothers' exposure to domestic violence.

Thesis (M.A. (Health Social Sciences))--Mahidol University, 2007. / LICL has E-Thesis 0024 ; please contact computer services.

Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses. / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-02

Procedural justice research in the field of criminal justice and policing have investigated how perceptions of procedural justice during police-citizen encounters influence satisfaction with police, cooperation with police, perceptions of police effectiveness, and perceptions of police authority. In general these studies have investigated police-initiated encounters, police-suspect encounters, and to a lesser degree, police-victim encounters. Limited research exits perceptions of police-citizen encounters during calls for service, and even less regarding police-domestic violence victim encounters. The present study investigates this relationship of procedural justice and domestic violence victims' satisfaction with police processes during a call for service, police actions during calls for service, and domestic violence victims' willingness to seek help from police in the future. The sample study for the present research comes from a 1994-1995 victim survey distributed in New York and Texas. Results from this study suggest that perceptions of procedural justice do influence domestic violence victims' satisfaction and willingness to seek help in the future.

The purpose of the present study was to test a specific path model. It was hypothesized that the relationship between the impact (amount and valence) of stress and an outcome (expressing violence toward a partner) would be mediated by an individual's cognitive appraisal of stressful events. Multiple regression procedures were used to test the model. Standardized beta coefficients indicated the strength of the relationships among the variables. Significant findings indicated that the strength of specific relationships among the ten variables (impact of events, three types of primary appraisal, four types of secondary appraisal and the expression of threats and acts of physical violence toward a partner) differed depending upon subject sex and whether the impact of the events was perceived as positive or negative.