Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Family-based justice in the sentencing of domestic violence
Other Titles:	British journal of criminology
Authors:	Dinovitzer, Ronit Dawson, Myrna
Keywords:	Criminal justice responses;Specialist courts
Year:	2007
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Citation:	47, 2007
Notes:	General Overview: :This journal article analyses sentences imposed by a domestic violence court in Ontario, Canada and suggests that value judgments about families affect decisions about the incarceration of offenders and the length of their sentences. Discussion: :The authors report that increased “actuarialism” (focus on efficiency and specialisation) of criminal justice policy has shifted attention away from social goals, such as the promotion of intact families. The authors examined files from an Ontario domestic violence court and asked whether family based factors produce different punishments for male domestic violence offenders in these courts. They found that relationship status and the presence of children (taken individually) did not affect whether a defendant will be sent to jail. However, where the relationship was intact and the victim had suffered a serious injury, the defendant was more likely to go to gaol. Relationship status and the presence of children were significant in predicting the length of a jail sentence. Offenders whose relationship with the victim was intact received shorter sentences, while offenders who had a child with the victim received longer sentences. The authors conclude that conceptions of what is good for families still motivate the decision making of criminal justice officials. In particular, courts seem be using jail as a cooling off period where an offender has inflicted serious injuries. However, the shorter sentences received by offenders in intact relationships suggests the courts prefer to maintain family structures. Longer sentences received by offenders with children may suggest an awareness of the detrimental effect of domestic violence on children.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/14796
ISSN:	1464-3529
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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