Catch-22: Exploring Victim Interests in a Specialist Family Violence Jurisdiction

• NCJ Number: 225517
• Journal: International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice Volume: 32 Issue: 2 Dated: Fall 2008 Pages: 265-290
• Author(s): Robyn Holder
• Date Published: 2008
• Length: 26 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: For other articles in this special issue, see NCJ-225511-16 and NCJ-225518-19.

Annotation

Against the background of criticism that the interests of domestic-violence victims are in conflict with those of the justice system, this Australian study used evaluation surveys and qualitative data from interviews with 360 victims of domestic violence in order to examine their engagement with criminal prosecution in their cases and how they viewed themselves within the decisionmaking and objectives of the justice system.

Abstract

The feedback from this small sample of domestic-violence victims in an Australian urban jurisdiction provides strong, albeit not conclusive, evidence that the criminal justice intervention made them safer, although their satisfaction with the justice process and outcome was mixed. This feedback adds weight to Ford’s (1991) perspective of victims’ use of the law as a power resource and Lewis’ (2004) discussion of “women’s active engagement with the law” as contributing to their improved sense of safety. Victims tended to view the justice system and its personnel as a needed power that could remove the abuser from the home, protect her and her children, and offer some hope for a positive outcome for the family. The women viewed their participation in the justice system as a voluntary, necessary choice under difficult circumstances that offered few reasonable options. Like Yossarian in Heller’s novel, “Catch-22,” battered women would prefer not to be caught in a war zone; however, once trapped in an ongoing violent situation, finding safety for herself and her children became the top priority. The performance of the justice system on behalf of the victim may finally be measured by whether she and her children are no longer threatened by violence. The qualitative data for this study came from a series of evaluations of a criminal justice reform initiative over an 8-year period. Four client surveys involved telephone interviews with 360 victims of domestic violence. 2 figures, 26 notes, and 131 references