NCJ Number
231136
Journal
European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research Volume: 16 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2010 Pages: 49-67
Date Published
March 2010
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Put in a nutshell, the core finding of this study reads thus: The efficacy of VOM (victim-offender mediation) in cases of partnership violence is to a large part due to the empowerment of the women victims, but partly, albeit to a smaller percentage, also due to an inner change, to insight and following from that a change of behaviour on the side of the male perpetrators.
Abstract
These achievements cannot be understood except as part of a comprehensive societal change - a change of collective mentalities, or in other words: change of expectations regarding the use of violence in intimate partnerships. The research presented is to be perceived against the background of another study carried out about 10 years ago; its title was: 'The efficacy of criminal law interventions in cases of partnership violence: Comparing the Criminal Trial and Victim-Offender Mediation (out of court offence compensation - ATA)'. The result of this first study had evoked the authors' provocative summarizing statement that 'Men don't get better, but women get stronger'. In other words: it was the women whose claim to a partnership free of violence had been reinforced and confirmed by the VOM intervention, while a deep-reaching inner change of the men had happened only very rarely. Now, ten years later the quantitative part of the new study, i.e. the results from the questionnaire sent out to women victims of partnership violence provides empirical evidence that it has been possible to contribute to the prevention of violence both by way of an empowerment of women, but also by an effect towards a change of attitude of perpetrators. What has happened within this time span, between 1998/99 and 2008? The qualitative part of this research was to shed light on this question. We were able to trace the processes that led up to such an inner change - as observed in the course of the VOM procedure and as related by the women. This study is therefore not least also about social change and about the repercussions of the women's movement and the effect of legislation and its implementation - seen through the observation-slit of VOM applied to cases of partnership violence. References (Published Abstract)