Web resource:	http://new.vawnet.org/Assoc_Files_VAWnet/AR_CustodyRevised.pdf
Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Battered women's movement ideals and the judge-led social change in domestic violence courts
Other Titles:	The good society [electronic resource].
Authors:	Mirchandani, Rekha
Keywords:	Specialist courts;Criminal justice responses
Year:	2004
Publisher:	Penn State University Press
Citation:	13 (1), 2004
Notes:	General Overview: In this short article from the United States (US), the author argues that specialised domestic violence courts are both more efficient and more able to facilitate social change. Discussion: In this article the author describes the battered women’s movement and its attempt to bring about social change through legal change. She then discusses her case study of a domestic violence court in Salt Lake City, Utah, which dealt with around five thousand misdemeanour domestic violence cases per year, to explore whether specialised courts are responsive to calls for social change. The author argues that the battered women’s movement has had a significant influence on the approach of the specialist court in Salt Lake City. The professional rhetoric and practice of the Salt Lake City domestic violence court reflects the three fundamental principles of the battered women’s movement: that dominance is not essential to masculinity, that domestic violence is a crime for which the batterer is responsible, and that women are not responsible for the violence against them. The author argues that the specialist court produces efficiencies that save judicial time. Rather that compromising justice, this efficiency contributes to social justice by allowing judges to speak at length to defendants. Judges discuss the family background of defendants, challenge beliefs about the male prerogative, advise defendants about the effects of domestic violence on children and warn victims about the cycle of violence that can end in homicide. Other professionals in the court reinforce these principles, thereby facilitating individual and social change.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/13590
ISSN:	33255990
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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