Domestic Violence Offences from Police Records - Essay Example

Abstract This paper describes some of the problems associated with measurement of the extent of domestic violence offences from police records. It outlines the various sources of data that concerns domestic violence and illustrates the importance of using a variety of data sources in any particular study in order to get accurate results. The paper also describes the scientific process of using problem-solving paradigm as a means of enhancing the reliable of police records in the measurement of the extent of domestic violence. Finally the paper describes the significance of scientific evolution in the prediction, control and prevention of domestic violence cases. Introduction Domestic violence is a complicated pattern of actions that include physical acts of violence, sexual harassment, and emotional abuse. Women normally experience more domestic violence than men as a result of the men attempting to have a more control of the women and children. Domestic violence is an important public health problem and is very frequent in women mainly in the clinical practice. In the last decade, domestic violence has been acknowledged as a significant public health problem. It affects all individuals despite their economic, educational, social, geographical, or racial background leading to reasonable morbidity and mortality. The main challenge in the measurement of domestic violence is lack of an appropriate definition (Howe, 2002) Domestic violence can thus be measured after getting a clear definition of the term and the main features constituting domestic violence. In the Australian community, domestic violence is normally taken to describe partner abuse and particularly physical violence occurring between a male and female partner. Under the Australian law, domestic violence strictly refers to violence committed by a heterosexual partner and it entails physical harm, intimidation and severe harassment, intentional damage to property and a threat to commit any of the mentioned acts (Addriaansen & Jacob, 2001). Forms of domestic violence as outlined by The Australian Public Health Association include: Physical abuse, resulting to pain and injury; denial of rest, warmth or food; denial of necessary medical care; sexual attack; violence to possessions or animals; disablement; and murder; Verbal abuse, either in private or in public, intended to humiliate, demean, disgrace, threaten, suppress, including the threat of physical harm Economic abuse, including deprivation of basic requirements Social abuse, via isolation, control of all social activity, deprivation of freedom, or the intentional creation of irrational dependence. Frequency of domestic violence in Australia Domestic violence is a significant problem in Australia and most of the world. An estimate of the extent of the problem can be got from public records which include police reports, hospital records, and applications for protection orders, lists of refuge positions, and spousal homicides, clinical samples or from community surveys. Though public records are not absolutely correct due to intrinsic bias in the manner of selection and under reporting of cases, they do reveal that women are the major victims of domestic violence (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] 1996). Police records show that women have over five percent chances of experiencing domestic violence as compared to men. Crime surveys reveal that a third of all attacks on women are by partners, as opposed to attacks on men by spouses which are significantly small. Victorian public hospital records reveal that 1.3% of women and 0.14% of men admitted to emergency departments are due to partner-inflicted injury Every year, more than 20 000 women in Australia search for shelter in women's refuges and find protection orders (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2000). Importance of domestic violence statistics Domestic violence statistics are important mainly in the estimation of the violence in Australia and the rest of the world. They are also important in that governments are informed about the seriousness of the matter from the data and are thus able to implement the appropriate strategies to control domestic violence. Policy makers are also able to set provisions for victims of domestic violence and set the appropriate guidelines for service providers to handle the victims in a sympathetic and more informed way. The service providers will ensure that the victims’ access services in an easier manner and supportive interventions are provided where a need arises. This will also ensure that programs are developed where necessary in order to combat the matter (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2000). Sources of data on domestic violence National and state crime surveys Data Collection Processes. Police records: callouts to incidents of domestic violence Courts data: applications for protection orders. The final orders and the orders that are infringed provide important information in regard to domestic violence. Criminal charges and conviction rates can also be important sources of data. Emergency accommodation: Figures of women and children seeking refuges and numbers turned away Child protection services data: Figures of incidences where domestic violence is an identified issue Health data: Health facility admissions All these sources of data on domestic violence should be used in collaboration since no particular source is absolute in providing the true information concerning domestic violence. This is because most of the data will be biased and is just a sample representation of the population unless it is a population survey. Failure of police records in estimating the extent of domestic violence Estimating the extent of domestic violence from police records is a major challenge due a various reasons. One of the major reasons is that not all incidences of domestic violence are reported to the police. Most of the cases go unreported since many victims are unwilling to undergo the rigorous process of criminal proceedings and police investigation processes. Other victims fear that they will put their family unions at stake should they involve the police in issues concerning the family units. Using the data from police records would thus be an underestimation of the true figure of domestic violence cases (Roberts et al, 2004). Another aspect that makes the records unreliable is where the police prosecutors persuade the defendants of a domestic violence case to plead guilty to a particular charge in exchange for withdrawal of several other charges or where the police investigate, prosecute and charge a single breach where a number of breaches have taken place. In this case, relying on their data implies that a number of incidences will be left out in the tally. It is not surprising in some instances that charges seem to have been negotiated with a plea to infringe being recognized by the police while charges in relation to concerning other criminal charges are withdrawn. For instance, a particular domestic violence incidence can be handled together with a breach issue such as breach of a protection order. In this case, the police can provide adequate information concerning the breach issue and leave the domestic violence issues unattended. This implies that the domestic violence issues will not recognized by the police records (Howe, 2002). Although the police may at times bring the evidence of domestic violence to court, the defendant is only charged with the breach issue while the assault charge is left out. In other cases a defendant is only charged with one breach or assault charge though other charges were previously recorded. In some cases, a defendant may not only harm the victim but also offend the police in the process. In this case the police are required to charge the defendant on two separate charges that is assault charge and the offence to the police. In such a case, the police might be tempted to lay more emphasis on the criminal charge and ignore the assault issue. All these issues make the police records unreliable sources of data to estimate the extent of domestic violence (WESNET, 2000). Another issue that affects the reliability of police records is pressure on victims and their families. Pressure on Victims and their Families Most of the victims of domestic violence are unsure about the gains of supporting or pursuing criminal proceedings. In several domestic violence issues women victims are not willing to assist in criminal proceedings either as witnesses or by providing vital information in regard to the case. This will affect police recorded crime statistics since most of the suspects will be released due to lack of evidence. In fact, most of the victims prevent the prosecutions in the best way they can. This is due to the pressure placed upon them by the case and their families (Blanchard et al, 2000). Some of the issues hindering the women from assisting in such cases include language barrier and other social cultural issues. For instance, women from no-English speaking origins may have language problems when dealing with the police. Uncertainty in immigration status can also affect the victim’s ability and willingness to involve the police in domestic violence issues. Other victims may fear increased violence should they involve the police in the matter or assist them in their investigation and prosecution. In certain circumstances the victims may also feel that they caused the violence and are partly guilty of the whole incident. Others decide not to assist the police or at least involve them since they feel that the court procedure is hectic and traumatic and that the efficiency of the whole process is questionable and ineffective. Entrenched police perception about domestic violence could also be an obstacle to more serious charges being employed. All these issues point out to the unreliability of police records as sources of data for the estimation of the extent of domestic violence (Blanchard et al, 2000). Barriers to disclosure of domestic violence Other barriers to disclosures of domestic violence cases to the police are all associated with the social cultural setting of the community. Victims of domestic violence and especially the women are willing to handle the issues by themselves rather than reporting to the police. They would rather talk to their friends or seek for advice from their family members rather than report to the police for fear of issues such as isolation, shame, ridicule or other dire consequences such as separation or divorce (Cunneen, & Stubbs, 2002). This can be supported by the results of the report by Keys Young in 1998. The reported titled Against the Odds: How women survive domestic violence found out that: Less than 20% of the participants had the contacts of domestic violence crisis services at the time they were assaulted or at the time they were in abusive relationship About 25% of the women contacted the police while they were abused or in an abusive relationship These results were also supported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (1996). Women’s Safety Australia survey which found that: Only about 4.5% of women who were physically abused by their spouses reported to any crisis agency. Only 19% of the women that had been physically assaulted in the past one year alerted the police. About 42% of the women gave the reason of not contacting the police or any crisis organizations as the wish to handle the issue themselves 58% of the women physically abused in the past one year sought advice from either their friends, family members or both. Failure to disclose domestic violence due to fear Police records are an under-estimate of the actual figure of the number of domestic violence cases since most of the cases are unreported. One major reason that forces many people particularly the women have fear for their lives due to the posts held by the perpetrators or how well off the offenders are in their respective nations. The courts as well as the prosecutors have faced numerous challenges in their efforts to bring the perpetrators to book. In some cases, the courts have received letters from the victims withdrawing the cases from the courts and instead opting to solve the issues through other channels. In one instance in which the defendant was in custody, police provided an affidavit opposing bail to the defendant on the claims of risk of further assault to the victim, the charge was dismissed after the victim failed to appear in court and give the much required evidence to nab the offender. The defendant was acquitted on the grounds of lack of sufficient evidence. The defendant’s previous records indicated that the offender had committed close to 30 other cases in different states ranging from threatening violence, deprivation of freedom and general assault. This history suggested that the individual was probably an intimidating person which is evidenced by the failure of the victim to appear in court (Cadzow et al, 1999). There is also a raised risk of danger for most of the women who involve the police in the resolving issues of domestic violence. This shows the need to have a witness protection program especially to the women dealing with well connected and funded dangerous offenders. Certain protections have been put in place to safe guard the most vulnerable witnesses providing evidences in Australian courts. These are however limited to screens and providing evidence on closed circuit television. In other places especially Queensland the protection measures are frequently applied in child-sex abuse. Variable comments by some police prosecutors imply that the measures are rarely used in domestic violence cases due to the supposed prejudice to the defendant and limitation of resources in the magistrate’s courts. However, these witness support strategies should be made available in magistrate’s courts handling domestic violence cases. The courts should be well equipped with such mechanisms to successfully handle the cases. The application of this strategy is however a challenge where the witness is already known to the offender. All these factors will ensure that more cases are reported and the offenders prosecuted in order to have accurate data on the extent of domestic violence (Cadzow et al, 1999). How domestic violence is recorded The manner in which domestic violence incidences are recorded greatly affects their reliability in determining the reliability of the records in determining the extent of domestic violence in any given country. Whether abuse is essentially recorded as a domestic violence will largely be based on the description of domestic violence. If domestic violence is recorded on the basis of physical abuse, then several women experiencing sexual abuse or other forms of abuse such as psychological or social abuse will not be recorded. Methods that confine domestic violence to physical harm have been criticized since they do not provide a true picture as to what domestic violence is. For instances, the findings by one of the frequently used research tools called Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) have been criticized for several reasons. One of the reasons is that they do not provide a significant meaning or the intention of the act of violence in question. They also do not mark the separation between attack and defence and lastly they fail to include several acts of violence linked to domestic violence (Edleson, 2001). These acts include burning, suffocating, squeezing, spanking, scratching, sexual harassment and other forms of abuse ranging from psychological, social and economic abuse. Researchers and policy analysts have found the importance of employing a more comprehensive and systematic approach to the gathering of information related to domestic violence. At the moment, a number of ongoing data collection projects have been launched to guarantee more precise knowledge bases about domestic violence in the Australian context. Such projects include the Northern Territory Data Collection project and the Victorian Family Violence Database, and NSW Child Death Review Team (Edleson, 2001). How definitions of domestic violence affect measurement The definitions given to domestic violence greatly affect the extent to which it can be estimated in a country. An analysis of the manner in which domestic violence is measured is significant to the entire study of the criminal justice response to domestic violence. This is noted through the various results that show the frequency of abuse and even the general data concerning the increases or decrease of domestic violence. It is thus difficult to assess the impact of such transformations overall or even more hypothetically on specific kinds of relationships or groups within the population. There are different definitions given to the term domestic violence. The definitions given to the term by various agencies affect the extent to which any data can be relied on in the measurement of the extent of domestic violence. Some agencies will classify domestic violence incidences as either severe or mild while others will not note this difference. Others have various classifications such as physical abuse and non-physical abuse. All theses definitions will lead to different kinds of records (Edleson, 2001). Problem-solving policing One of the ways of having a reliable estimate on the extent of domestic violence is by incorporating all the major sources of data domestic violence in the tallying. Another reliable method that also performs the role of combating domestic violence is policing domestic violence. Policing domestic violence will provide the data required in the estimation of domestic violence incidences and will also provide a means of controlling the number of incidences. Policing domestic violence is a form of scientifically developed method of the problem solving paradigm. It is a very useful tool for problem solving (Ursel, 2004). The problem solving paradigm that will be applied in this case will involve three elements: Describing public problems in a more precise manner Analyzing each problem Finding more effective solution to every problem Problem-solving policing is normally a science that involves the testing of hypothesis with empirical observations, drawing conclusions, predictions, and causation which correspond to the above mentioned factors. Policing domestic violence is the most reliable scientifically developed problem solving paradigm. For the past three decades, police and academic social analysts have tested hypothesis about categorization, prediction, and prevention of domestic violence. Although some tests have been unconvincing and contradictory, various useful results have been developed and supported through duplication. Police have adequate experience in regard to prevention of domestic violence that they possibly possess in regard to other crimes. While this experience is still not adequate in regard to various untested hypothesis, it is a useful case study to the development of a problem-solving paradigm. It is also valuable in the examination of the problem-solving experience as a guide to the efforts placed in crime prevention. Thus policing domestic violence is the most applicable method of estimating the extent of domestic violence since it also serves as a method of combating the vice. In domestic violence, no efforts have been placed in improving the categorization of domestic problems with the objective of police practices. Instead, more effort has been placed in developing predictions although the findings have been mathematically defective and unscientific. The most effort has been placed to evaluating the police influence on domestic violence with highly developed techniques of hypothesis testing. Though the findings have been very useful to many interested parties, their complexity has been an obstacle to their application in science. This response in turn depicts the lack of understanding of the science involved in the development of problem-solving paradigm. Nevertheless, policing has become increasingly associated with institutions of science which provide the field with significant constituents of the problem solving paradigm. The police have intensified their application of the problem solving paradigm due to its effectiveness. In addition, the police are applying the method in other forms of crime such as gun violence and abandoned cars with the aim of collecting information which will enable them categorize, predict, and prevent future incidences (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] 2002). The success of this method is clearly depicted by the experience with domestic violence. In the past, the police approached the issue of domestic violence with the aim of crime prevention. Maintaining order or just implementing the stipulations of the justice system in the current state was their goal with little or no concern on the impact of their current conduct on the occurrence of the violence in future. Based on police developments such as in San Diego Police Department, a clear shift from emphasis on crime prevention can be seen. There has been an increase in data collection, computerization, and analysis as opposed to ten years ago. Computerized data bases concerning domestic violence have been developed to assist the police in applying the problem solving paradigm (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] 2002). These data bases have been developed in various countries including America and Australia. The commitment has however been on the objective of prevention of domestic violence as opposed to development of scientific tools for the prevention of the same. In the meantime, policing can be constructed on the understood concepts of the paradigm, the emphasis being on results. The fact that no police organization assesses domestic violence reliability makes it difficult for any firm to manage the prevention in an effective manner. Short-term investments in implementing the appropriate indicators of the extent and magnitude of the problem will open a way to more scientific administration of police prevention efforts. The indicators may them promote long-term growth of a trial and error practice of problem solving (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] 2002). The three elements of the problem solving paradigm are classification, predicting and control. Classification: Varieties of Domestic Violence One of the areas that have been left out in the scientific process of preventing domestic violence is classification. The traditional methods of analyzing crimes that police use are abstract and are not effective in the prevention. While the experimental group of domestic violence is a main advance in classification over the legal class of assault, several police organization have failed to divide domestic violence into classes necessary to initiate prevention strategies. As a consequence much of the talks have been on appropriate police policy for domestic violence failure to instill relevant distinctions among cases ranging from severity of harm, repeated incidents, presence, or absence of the perpetrator when police handle such matters. There are several dimensions of looking at the issue of domestic violence at least from the police perspective. The dimensions reveal major differences in domestic violence and must be integrated into police recordkeeping if they need to advance in the application of problem solving paradigm (Howe, 2002). Severity of Injury Domestic violence includes everything beginning from shouting to shooting. This labeling procedure reduces the significance of the most severe cases and overstates the importance of the far more plentiful cases without injury or worse still without physical violence entirely. This may result to the police doing very little in handling the most severe cases. In states like Milwaukee and Victoria, for instance, several incidences described as domestic violence have no evidence linking them to domestic violence. In most cases, upon investigations the incidences turn out to be arguments, disturbances or any other non-violent event. Out of the 1200 incidences recorded in Milwaukee 3% involve severe injury while 53% are just verbal assaults (Duncan, 2002). In Victoria out of 42, 728 cases of domestic violence, 49% of incidences were determined to be no crime while violence was found in 21% of the cases. The masking of brutality of injury is made clear in the rare cases of severe injury which are undifferentiated in even the most sophisticated police records. Police records could be developed in such a way that a few signs of injury are included. This includes injury in all forms ranging from severe injury, minor injury and no injury. The Victoria incidences in which a quarter of the incidences are serious indicate that this is another dimension that can be included in the police records (WESNET, 2000). Almost any dependable measure of the pyramid of harm in which the enormous majority of cases indicate little medical challenge or life-threatening potential would be an involvement upon the present practices of putting most domestic cases together. Repeat Offenders and Victims This is another dimension hidden by the overly wide label of domestic violence is the preceding history of violence or at least police encounters, the perpetrator, the victim of the couple. In the two states Milwaukee and Victoria, the repeated cases are a considerable portion of all domestic violence cases and may demand diverse prevention strategies. It would be necessary for the police handling domestic violence cases to get information regarding recent domestic violence cases from individuals who handled such cases. This does not happen in reality since very few police agencies are willing to provide such information to other investigators. Records in Minneapolis revealed that of the 13 different police records that responded to a distress call, none of them was aware of the others involvement (Roberts, et al, 2004). Offender Presence This is the most practical dimension that affects the responses that police provide to domestic violence incidences. Whether the offender was at the scene of the incident when the police arrive is significant in terms of the impact it has on the police response to the incident. The actions of the police are particularly evident when the offender is found at the scene the range of the police alternatives is limited when the perpetrator is gone. The actions of the offenders also show the various diverse characteristics of the offenders. The offenders who leave the scene after the incident are different from those who defiantly remain at the scene. This gives the police alternatives to work from (Howe, 2002). Predicting and control of domestic violence incidences The basis for any initiative to prevent or manage a problem is the capability to predict the occurrence of the incidences. Prediction in this is taken to imply a perfect accuracy. The difference between certainty and probability in prediction is not easy to determine. Some police agencies especially in the U.S have been sued for their failure to predict and therefore prevent domestic violence incidences. The issue on focus in such cases is whether the incident was likely to take place whether in the knowledge of the police or not (Howe, 2002). Predicting Serious Injury Due to lack of adequate research, police do not have valid techniques to predict non-fatal but severe injuries from domestic violence. There are almost no potential epidemiological studies that use the severe injuries as the numerator and the previous police records as the denominator. Availability of such records would make is statistically easier to identify any predictive link. The comparative risk from being involved in a hostile relationship known to police would also become vivid and more dependable by employing non-fatal harm as the product criterion. One test of the theory that threatens predictions on severe harm based on the Milwaukee records. The Victoria data offers a significant test of the increasing hypothesis for non-fatal incidences by employing police data (Addriaansen & Jacob, 2001). Measuring Domestic Crime: Police Activities Vs Results The greatest challenge facing the problem-solving paradigm is the evaluation of crime prevention results. This is specifically true for crimes such as domestic violence with greatly inconsistent in reporting and also inconsistent definitions. Police decisions to document domestic violence events may be enhanced, in relation to the figures of appropriate incidents they encounter. Reports can also be documented even where violence has not occurred. These elements make the evaluation of police effectiveness extremely difficult with accessible data system. The only immediate solution could be collaboration between police and medical service providers in the assessment of trends in the extent of traumatic injury to women (Addriaansen & Jacob, 2001). A cultural development in policing must be developed to support the scientific insurgency of the problem-solving paradigm. This cultural development can progress rapidly due to the growing collaboration between police and criminologists or any other experienced scientists like the public health society in regard to domestic violence. This expanding cultural exchange can assist in clarifying the difference between actions and final results that still evade several police organizations. With improved measurement of the target crime challenges, the collaboration of policing and science can reasonable widens the application of trial and error techniques in crime prevention. By working together they can device new methods of predicting domestic violence incidences as well as means of preventing or controlling the incidences (Howe, 2002). Some of the devices that the police can think of include portable alarm devices in the prevention of domestic violence incidences. G Through strong scientific experimentations significant innovation can be justified on the basis of provision of effective methods of prevention. Regardless of the type of crime, enhanced measurement and a developing culture of scientific improvement are critical in enhancing crime prevention. This will prevent the police from gathering data and information that will largely go unanalyzed and thus not useful in the prediction and prevention of domestic violence cases (Addriaansen & Jacob, 2001). Conclusion Domestic violence is a multifarious pattern of conduct that entails acts such as physical violence, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse, such as social seclusion and financial withdrawal. Despite of the lack of universal agreement on definition of the issue, it remains a major problem for many citizens in Australia and all over the world. Doctors need to be aware of the potential indicators of domestic violence and should handle the issue in an empathic and judgmental manner. At a personal level, domestic violence can result to physical and emotional ill health and this needs to be countered if women and children are to remain safe (Cadzow, 1999). Domestic violence is thus a major public health problem that everyone needs to take into consideration. Public sector staff and especially the clinicians need to take the issue in a much deeper manner in order to become advocates for the victims of domestic violence. It is however a challenge to measure the exact extent of violence against women in most instances of domestic violence since most of the cases are never reported. Getting the information from police records would thus tantamount to underestimation. In 2005, Personal Safety Survey conducted by Australian Bureau of Statistics indicated that only about 19% female victims of sexual abuse and about 36% female victims of physical abuse reported to the police. 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