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The scanning section defines multiple issues: recurring domestic violence problems concerning the public and police, consequences of domestic violence for the community and police, proportioning domestic violence problems, developing broad goals for domestic violence, confirms that domestic violence actually exists, defines how frequent domestic violence is and how long that it has been taking place, and elects domestic violence problems for closer review (Schultz, 2013).
Analysis of the SARA model encompasses various issues: identifying and understanding events and conditions that precede domestic violence, identifying relevant domestic violence data to be collected, researching what is known about domestic violence, taking inventory on how domestic violence is addressed and the pros and cons of the current solutions, narrow the scope of domestic violence, identifying a source that can be of use in developing a deeper understanding, and developing a workable hypothesis about why domestic violence is occurring (Schultz, 2013).
Response in this model is dedicated to many aspects: brainstorming new interventions for domestic violence, searching for communities with similar domestic violence problems and review their solutions, choosing among the intervention alternatives for domestic violence, outlining a response plan to identify and hold the parties involved in domestic violence responsible, stating the specific objectives for the domestic violence response plan, and carrying out the planned activities for domestic violence (Schultz, 2013).
The last part of the SARA model is the assessment which covers a altitude of things: whether or not the domestic violence plan was implemented, collected pre and post response qualitative and quantitative data for domestic violence, if the broad and specific goals were attained for the domestic violence issue or not, any new strategies identified to help with domestic violence, and the conduction of ongoing assessment to ensure effectiveness for the domestic violence response plan (Schultz, 2013). Scanning In response to the problem of domestic violence, deep probing is needed to identify causes and solutions.
To better understand what the material is about, the understanding of the purpose of crime analysis is a necessity. The University of Maryland defines crime analysis as “the systematic study of crime and disorder problems as well as other policy-related issues- including stereographic, spatial, disorder reduction, crime prevention, and evaluation,” (Boob, 2008). Crime analysis uses both quantitative and qualitative data (Santos, 2013). Qualitative measuring is used when you examine non-mathematical data to understand the reasons behind crime (Santos, 2013).
Quantitative measuring is used when dealing with mathematical data (Santos, 2013). The understanding of crime analysis is essential to being able to know where the statistics of domestic violence are coming from. Stereographic, spatial, and temporal characteristics are the types of crime analysis most often used (Santos, 2013). Stereographic characteristics are age, race, gender, income, and education; spatial characteristics are the nature of the crime central to understanding the nature of the problem; temporal aspects are the breakdown of what analysis is spread over (Santos, 2013).
Domestic violence does not discriminate against any of these characteristics and can appear in any relationship; Hough it is most prevalent in the lower classes. Crime analysis can be used synonymously with problem analysis (Retaliate, 2007). A well-known problem analysis stem is problem-oriented policing (Retaliate, 2007). Problem-oriented policing works well because it, not only identifies the crime problems and tries to find a remedy for the problems, but also helps to improve the police responses (Retaliate, 2007).
The problem of domestic violence was identified through the use of problem-oriented policing along with other major problems that society deals with today. Though mommies violence rates have gone down over the past decade, it still remains a problem Monsoons, 2007). The Office of Victim for Crimes showed statistics that twenty percent of homicides happen within families or intimate relationships (Office, 2001). The Office also reports that twenty-eight percent of violent crimes against females were committed by intimate partners (Office, 2001).
Many women have been losing their lives on account of partner abuse. Consequences of the ongoing cycle of domestic violence is that children who see their mothers abused are thirty to sixty recent more likely to abuse their children, leaving a harsh upbringing for the next generation Gaffe, 2009). To better help the community police need to first tackle the homicides that have occurred due to domestic violence, and then move onto the second-generation domestic violence problem.
Police should have goals to decrease homicide rates where the partner is the perpetrator, and to better educate how the effect of violence between spouses ash on children. Statistics show us that children who witness abuse or murder of their parent by their parent’s partner will be more likely to abuse their own children. Domestic violence has been recorded all the way back to the late sass’s Nonstop, 2009). The Domestic Violence Resource Center provides statistics that record over 960,000 to 3 million incidents every year where the perpetrator is a significant other (“Domestic violence resource,” 1999).
The resource center also says that twenty-five percent of women will experience domestic violence sometime in their life, and seventy-four percent of Americans personally know someone who has been victimized by a significant other (“Domestic violence resource”, 1999). The need for awareness, specialized police tactics, and under- education of police have been constant themes among the evolving crimes of domestic violence. Many people are not aware that domestic violence can come in multiple forms or that domestic violence is as widely spread as it is. Officers are not it comes to domestic violence.
Many officers do not know what to look for except the “classic signs” of domestic violence and when responding to a domestic violence many are confused on how to handle domestic violence. Analysis In order to better understand how to combat domestic violence, the common causes and signs need to be universally known. There are two sets of signs: physical and emotional (Smith & Seal, 2013). Physical abuse is when the significant other uses physical force that in some way endangers or harms the victim (Smith & Seal, 2013). For example, sexual abuse is a form of physical abuse (Smith & Seal, 2013).
Emotional abuse has more components then physical abuse and are not as easily noticeable. The abusers try to break down the victim until they feel no self worth or have a strong sense of dependence (Smith & Seal, 2013). Emotional abuse can consists of yelling, name-calling, blaming, and shaming, among other things (Smith & Seal, 2013). There are six main ways that abusers use to control their victims: dominance, humiliation, isolation, threats, intimidation, and denial/blame (Smith & Seal, 2013). Understanding these will make law enforcement officers better equipped when working in the field.
Abusers use dominance to abuse their victims in order to feel in control of the relationship (Smith & Seal, 2013). Humiliation is a tactic used to make the victim feel inferior about themselves in the abusers eyes (Smith & Seal, 2013). With isolation abusers are attempting to make the victim feel dependent on them (Smith & Seal, 2013). Threats and intimidation are both ways for the abusers to make the victim submit to what they want (Smith & Seal, 2013). Denial and blame are the abusers way of making excuses for the inexcusable (Smith & Seal, 2013).
All six strategies manifest themselves in different ways, but the abuser always gets the same result: control. Many officers do not realize the multiple facets of domestic violence. The organization Help Guide, has come up with a cycle for how abusers fall into certain patterns and to bring awareness to how domestic abusers operate. The beginning of the cycle starts with the abuse: the abuser tries to show hat they are in control of the relationship (Smith & Seal, 2013). What follows is the abusers attempt at “quilting” the victim.
The abusers guilt the victim not because they feel remorse but the possibility of repercussions of their actions (Smith & Seal, 2013). The next step in the pattern is for the abuser to make excuses and try to rationalize their actions (Smith & Seal, 2013). Soon after the abuser resumes “normal behavior” trying to regain control of the relationship (Smith & Seal, 2013). The abuser soon starts to fantasize about abusing the victim again. After careful plotting he abuser starts to set-up ways to start abusing the victim again (Smith & Seal, 2013). The cycle then restarts itself and keeps continuing until interruption.
Data to be collected is the specifics of the domestic violence for the certain area. Examples of this are the number of court cases that are in the court now pertaining to domestic violence, domestic violence calls to the police in a particular area, and number of domestic violence related homicides. The problem of domestic violence has been better attended to then in previous years. The current response in all fifty states is to rest any perpetrator of domestic violence warranties, some even mandating arrest, which has decreased domestic violence rates minimally Monsoons, 2007).
Some law enforcement agencies have also dedicated a specific unit to handling domestic victims of domestic violence have also started to work hand in hand with law enforcement Monsoons, 2007). Limitations are that education for officers is still needed. Older officers are especially handicapped when it comes to domestic violence and how they are gender discriminatory Monsoons, 2007). Strengths with this approach are domestic violence recidivism has gone down when an arrest was made n a domestic violence dispute Monsoons, 2007).
Weaknesses are that most victims are afraid of their abusers and believe that they cannot leave. Law enforcement really needs to direct its attention to the domestic violence cases that involve children and how children are used as weapons against victims of domestic violence. Many cases where a partner asks for protection are parents of minors (Reynolds & Peoples, 2012). Domestic violence doesn’t Just apply to when the abuser is violent with the significant other, it can also happen with the abuser’s children which happens more often than not. The abuse of children is no new concept.
It dates back to the times of ancient Greece. Aristotle once said, “The Justice of a master or a father is a different thing from that of a citizen, for a son or slave is property and there can be no injustice to one’s own property. ” All throughout history we see examples of children being treated as property rather than as humans. This leads to the modern day misconception that abusing children is what is necessary to have a disciplined child (Flowers, 2000). Abuse to a child does not only range too physical or emotional but even as far as sexual (Flowers, 2000).
Numerous cultures have practiced, and some still do, that of child prostitution where parents sold them into the trade (Flowers, 2000). Domestic violence comes in all forms so that law enforcement needs to be aware of. Domestic violence is a problem that needs to be tackled. This problem can be better understood by tapping into resources that are readily available. First hand accounts of victims who have been through the process of domestic violence disputes would be a good resource to understand the basis and feelings inside a relationship where domestic violence has occurred.
Public awareness of the problem can also help with the fight against domestic violence Monsoons, 2007). Counseling for victims of domestic violence is a resource that is infrequently used Monsoons, 2007). Social services is not solely to be used in matters dealing with children but can also be used concerning adults. Social service agencies help to stabilize a situation by providing needs unable to be met under normal circumstances Monsoons, 2007). Domestic violence isn’t new, but has been a significant problem for centuries. Violence is a deeply rooted problem stemming from psychological issues the abuser has.
It also produces other multiple issues like Jealousy, social stress, mental illness, and conflict disorders (Panky, Jittered, Mali & Kamala, 2013). Abusers’ behavior should not be excused due to these reasons, but rather there should be an attempt to help them cope with these issues. Psychological issues could stem from childhood. A child could watch a parent be abused, or they could have been abused themselves. These cases could lead to the child’s future as an abuser. Mental illness is another main cause of domestic violence.
When a person is not in the correct mindset no one predict how that person will react. One third of all abusers have been diagnosed with some kind of mental illness (Panky, Jittered, Mali & Kamala, 2013). Jealousy is one of the keys to the perpetuation of domestic violence because the abuser may think the (Panky, Jittered, Mali & Kamala, 2013). There is, however, no exact answer for why domestic violence occurs, and there more than likely will never be. Response Domestic violence has been a known problem for years. The best way for law enforcement to help victims is for them to become more educated.
Many law enforcement officers, especially those in older generations, take a hands off approach hen it comes to domestic problems Monsoons, 2007). Awareness classes should be implemented to make law enforcers more aware of not only abuse to women, but to also that of men and children (Flowers, 2000). Officers should have some training in counseling or be able to easily contact someone with appropriate training when dealing with abuse victims. For rates of violence to go down, consequences need to be more severe and officers need to be more aggressive in their approach to abusers.
Consequences need to be more than Just three years in prison (Pan]AK, Jittered, Mali & Kamala, 2013). Victims need to be taken more seriously when applying for protective custody (Reynolds & Peoples, 2012). Specialized domestic violence units also seem to be making an impact on violence rates Monsoons, 2007). All of these things can help to lower the domestic violence rate significantly. Many communities have set up hotness for victims to call for advice and have set up specific shelter for domestic violence victims to use (Gelled, 1992).
Law enforcement often forget to use family and friends when it comes to helping victims, some victims feel like they cannot turn to family when in actuality they can and should (Gelled, 1992). Few women actually leave their abusers (Gelled, 1992). Many women need to become aware of their rights, with that knowledge they can defend themselves against their abuser. Counseling should be provided to victims and abusers to help with domestic violence (Panky, Jittered, Mali & Kamala, 2013). The court system and law enforcement need to be inextricably linked and work together to crack the code of domestic violence.
Knowledge is the key to solving any type of problem. With officers becoming more aware of all the different types of violence and abuse that can occur inside a relationship it will better equip them for field work. Awareness can play a major factor in knowing when someone is actually being abused or when it is just for attention. With officers being aware of the forms of domestic violence it will lead to more prevention of serious domestic violence issues and will cause the homicides related to domestic violence to decrease drastically.
Also when officers who see domestic violence cases on a regular basis they will be better equipped to handle domestic situations. To better respond to domestic violence law enforcement needs to require that its officers become trained on the various kinds of domestic lenience. The officers can then start to respond to the early calls of domestic violence and treating the calls properly rather than waiting until a significant event happens where intervention is a necessity. Police need to be more proactive when it comes to domestic violence calls.
When there is any signs that there could be domestic abuse inside a home immediate actions needs to take place, by either removing the responsible party or trying to get counseling to mediate the parties. Officers then need to check up from time to time to see how the parties are working out. Prevention is the best way to respond to any problem. Assessment To determine if your plan was implemented it would obviously shown by the violence call the responding officers should be evaluated by internal affairs to see if the protocol was followed.
Not only should the decrease be solely in homicides it should lower all types of domestic violence offenses. When domestic violence units are installed it will make for a more knowledgeable police force. If rates continue to increase once implemented new officers may need to be trained or make standard protocols that should be followed. Before implementing, data should be taken to see how officers respond to various scenarios and also how many types of domestic violence in a certain area.
Once the revisions to the law enforcement protocol have been made and implemented given a three-year span to do so, a new collection of data should be made. The data collected should be the same type of data as taken before. The differences is that the percentages of domestic violence crimes should have decreased dramatically. If there is a drop in the homicide related deaths of domestic violence victims and that of second-generation abuse then the goal was reached. Determining this is simple once the data has been collected and if said data shows an increase or decrease.
To reach the law enforcement goal should be easy if the new protocol is implemented and is welcomed by the law enforcement officers. New strategies could range widely from starting to remove children along with their mothers from abusive homes, or in some cases fathers from abusive homes, depending on the circumstances. In home counseling may need to be provided to the families. Many people forget about the poor who could not pay for counseling so should be considered for counseling provided by the government or should be offered to speak with a religious leader.
Longer training may be needed for officers if protocol is not being followed or if officers are wrongly implementing the new strategies. New data should be collected annually or semi-annually to see if the new strategies are being correctly implemented. Feedback should try and be taken from domestic violence victims to see if there could be any new adjustments that were not yet voiced. As the saying goes hindsight is twenty-twenty. When new strategies are implemented and time goes on the best way to Judge their effectiveness is to wait and see.
Biblical Integration Biblical God calls us to love one an another. There are no exceptions to this in any case. In Colombians 3:18-19 it tells us: “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. ” God is saying that in marriage women should submit to their husbands. That does not mean that men can do what they want to their wives. Many people do not read the second verse where God tells men to love their wives and not be harsh with them.
To better clarify not being harsh, men that means not to beat your wives. This can also be switched depending on the circumstances where a woman should not be abusive to her husband. Again in Ephesians 5:22-33 God is telling us how man and wife should act in marriage: “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. Now as the church submits to Christ, so wives are to submit to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, Just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the rankle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, Just as Christ does for the church, since we are members of His body. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be Joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.
This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband. ” God once more shows us the importance of the relationship between man and wife. This relationship is directly related to the relationship that Christ showed with his bride, the church. God calls everyone to follow his commands and respect His word. There are multiple examples of how a marriage relationship should be carried out in the Bible; prime examples are Esther with King Assures and Hoses with Comer.
These are the types of marriages that God has called us to have. This does not mean that there won’t be problems but if we follow what God tells us domestic violence rates will decrease. Conclusion In conclusion, domestic violence is a serious problem. The various forms keep growing with the evolving society of today. To decrease homicides related to domestic violence and abuse of partners, law enforcement officers need to become more aware of the forms of domestic violence. Awareness is the best way to fight against domestic violence in this day and age.
Twenty percent of homicides happen with a domestic partnership, which by all means is ridiculously high (Office, 2001). Domestic violence should still not be a problem in today’s society. Law enforcement needs to make more specific police tactics when fighting mommies violence. When officers who mainly dealt with domestic violence cases were put together as a unit, it showed decrease in rates Monsoons, 2007). With making officers more specialized in domestic violence it will make society feel more confident in going to the police for help when the situation arises.
Officers are our first line in defense against domestic violence. They are who respond first and can help diffuse a situation before it becomes out of hand; only if they have correct training. With making officers aware of the forms of domestic violence and educating them on how o handle it, officers can become integral on how to lower domestic violence rates. By following the SARA model set forth, constantly educating officers, and annually collecting data law enforcement analyst should see decline in domestic violence, especially those that involve children.