Community Policing to Reduce Domestic Violence

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Community Policing to Reduce Domestic Violence

• Dynamics of Domestic Violence
• Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
• And the Office of
• Community Oriented Policing Services

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Terminal Point Objectives

• Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge
  and understanding of the dynamics of domestic
  violence and its impact on victim safety.

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Interim Performance Objectives

• To define and apply the Power and Control Model
  to understand domestic violence.

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Interim Performance Objectives Continued . . .

• To identify common tactics and techniques of
  physical, sexual, and emotional abuse that
  batterers use to gain and maintain power and
  control over victims.

5
Interim Performance Objectives Continued . . .

• To describe the impact of the law enforcement
  response on offender accountability.
• To discuss the reasons victims of domestic
  violence maintain relationships with batterers.

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Interim Performance Objectives Continued . . .

• To describe the impact of domestic violence on
  children.
• To identify and understand issues facing
  traditionally underserved populations.

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Domestic Violence

• Any abusive or coercive behavior used to control
  an intimate partner.
• Includes multiple actions a pattern of
  manipulative and violent tactics.
• Victim forced to change her behavior in response
  to the abuse.

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Domestic Violence

• Occurs in current or former dating, married or
  cohabiting relationships of heterosexuals, gay
  men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people.

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Domestic Violence

• Using the term battered women, since the
  overwhelming majority of domestic violence is
  perpetrated by men against women.

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Power and Control Model

• Batterers seek to gain and maintain power and
  control over their intimate partners by the use
  of actual and assumed power.
• Power takes the form of strategic, abusive
  tactics (physical, sexual, verbal, emotional) to
  reinforce this control.

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Power and Control Tactics

• Physical
• Sexual
• Emotional
• Intimidation
• Coercion and threats
• Economic

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Power and Control Tactics Continued . . .

• Male privilege
• Using children
• Isolation
• Minimization, denying and blame

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Power and Control Wheel

• Illustrates the tools, pressures and rationale
  utilized in justifying coercive and dominant
  behavior.
• Provides snapshots of coercive techniques
  physical and sexual violence, emotional abuse,
  intimidation, threats, economic abuse, etc.

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Power and Control Wheel continued . . .

• At the core of domestic violence (represented by
  the core of the Power and Control wheel) are
  all of the psychological tactics and emotionally
  abusive behaviors used by batterers.

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Same Sex Battering

• The very term domestic violence often makes
  lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
  people feel that they cannot seek help. Why?
  Because their relationships are not seen as
  legitimate or even legal in most places, even
  when they share a residence.

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Same Sex Battering

• LGBT batterers may threaten to out their
  partner at their jobs, to their family, friends
  or landlord.
• LGBT victims could lose custody of their
  children, their jobs, or other support from
  family and friends if their sexual identity is
  disclosed.

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Same Sex Battering

• Service providers such as social workers, police
  officers, hospitals, and judges may be
  heterosexist and treat LGBT victims with
  hostility or in ways that are demeaning or even
  abusive.
• Staffs of hotlines and shelters often assume the
  batterer is a he when women call for help.

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Same Sex Battering

• There are very few shelters for battered men.
• Most shelters for battered women or men do not
  think to screen for same sex partners.
• LGBT batterers use power and control, just like
  heterosexual batterers.

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Elder Abuse

• Do you consider elder abuse
• to be domestic violence?
• How is it different?
• How is it similar?

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Elder Abuse

• Two-thirds of elder domestic abuse and neglect
  are women.
• More than half of all reported elder abuse and
  neglect is caused by family members.
• Older people are often more economically
  vulnerable than younger people and may fear
  poverty, homelessness, or loss of health care
  benefits if they report abusive behavior by a
  spouse or other family member.

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Elder Abuse

• Friends, neighbors, and even health care
  providers often assume that older womens/mens
  injuries and behavior are due simply to old
  age, when those symptoms are actually cause by
  abuse.

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Barriers to Women Leaving

• The dynamics of domestic violence, coupled with a
  communitys inability to help keep battered women
  safe and hold offenders accountable

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Barriers to Women Leaving Continued . . .

• KEY POINT A victim is the best expert at
  determining her own level of safety, and
  therefore is the best expert at determining how
  to survive a violent relationship, even if that
  means staying in the relationship.

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Barriers to Women Leaving Continued . . .

• Relentless behavior of the batterer
• Fear of what the batterer might do
• Fear for children
• Financial dependence
• Conflicts with religious beliefs
• Isolation/lack of support
• Access to the batterer

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Barriers to Women Leaving Continued . . .

• Culture
• Shame making excuses for his violence
• Self-esteem
• Immigration issues

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Relentless Behavior of the Batterer

• When faced with losing control of their partner
  through separation or intervention, batterers
  often turn their attention toward getting their
  victim back, using kindness or cruelty, or both
  in a continuous and repetitive manner.

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Fear of What the Batterer Might Do

• . . . to the victim, children/family, pets or
  personal belongings. The violence may take on a
  more severe quality or expand to others
  children, friends, families and co-workers.
• There may be very real threats of homicide and/or
  suicide if the victim leaves.

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Fear of What the Batterer Might Do continued . .
.

• The batterer may begin to stalk the victim
  following her to work and other places.
• Making harassing phone calls.

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Fear for Children

• A batterer may threaten to fight for sole custody
  of the children.
• A victim may believe that the children need a
  father, or that since the batterer will always be
  a part of the childrens lives, the batterer will
  always be a part of her life.

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Fear for Children continued . . .

• A victim may not want to uproot her children from
  school, home, friends and family.

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Financial Dependence

• This can include responsibility for
  mutually-created bills/debts.
• Inability to afford the practical needs for self
  and/or children rent, food, clothing,
  insurance, transportation, child care, household
  and school supplies, etc.

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Conflicts with Religious Beliefs

• Victims with strong religious beliefs may believe
  that divorce is a sin or is otherwise not
  permitted.
• A victim may believe that the abuser is the
  God-appointed head of the household and that his
  decisions and directives must be followed.

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Isolation and Lack of Emotional Support

• A victim who has been isolated by her batterer
  may believe that no one will believe her, that
  there is no one who will be supportive and
  non-judgmental of her.
• She may have fears of loneliness or the unknown.

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Batterer Access to the Victim

• Living with or having casual access to the
  batterer can provide valuable information,
  including knowledge of his whereabouts, his
  current mood and if he is currently taking drugs
  and/or alcohol.

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Batterer Access to the Victim continued . . .

• The victim may be able to gauge whether danger is
  near.
• Otherwise, the victim has to guess or predict
  what preventive strategies to use.
• Having this information bay give the victim a
  sense of control over the situation.

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Battering

• KEY POINT For the batterer, the violence is
  about power and control. Looking at the victims
  behavior as an explanation for the violence takes
  the focus off the perpetrators responsibility,
  and unintentionally supports the abusers violent
  behavior.

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Battering continued . . .

• The victim has NO control over the batterers
  violence.
• Many perpetrators repeat their pattern of control
  in all their intimate relationships.

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Why Batterers Batter

• Society says its OK. For too long, our society
  has condoned abuse in families, and failed to
  hold batters accountable for violence.
• It works. Terrorized by the abuse, the victim
  will say or do anything to survive.

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Why Batterers Batter continued . . .

• It is a choice. The batterer chooses to use
  violence to maintain power and control over the
  victim. Just like the batterer, everyone has
  problems, gets angry, and has stress, but not
  everyone chooses to use violence.

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Why Batterers Batter continued . . .

• Control. The abuser wants total control of the
  victim and family, and may use a combination of
  violent abusive tactics to achieve and maintain
  control.
• Learned Behavior. It is learned from childhood,
  schools, peers, sports, and the media.

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Battering is NOT Caused By . . .

• Illness. Only a small percentage (less than 5)
  of violence against adult intimates is caused by
  an illness-based behavior.
• Genetics. Domestic violence is a behavior
  learned through observation and reinforcement.
  It is not caused by genetics.

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Battering is NOT Caused By . . .

• Alcohol. While it may be present in many
  domestic violence situations, alcohol does not
  cause anyone to be violent. Batterers often use
  alcohol as an excuse for their violence.

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Battering is NOT Caused By . . .

• Out of control behavior. The violence is usually
  controlled and usually directed only toward
  family members. BATTERERS MAKE CHOICES about
  whom, how and when they will abuse. They are very
  much in control of their behavior.

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Battering is NOT Caused By . . .

• Stress. Everyone suffers from stress (e.g., job,
  relationship conflicts, money, illness, etc.),
  but stress does not cause people to be violent.
  Violence is a choice made by the perpetrator.

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Battering is NOT Caused By . . .

• Anger. Some battering episodes occur when the
  batterer is not emotionally charged, and some
  episodes occur when the batterer is very
  emotionally charged.

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Battering is NOT Caused By . . .

• Anger. Batterers choose violence or other
  tactics of control, such as displays of anger, to
  get what they want or that to which they feel
  they are entitled. The source of violence is not
  anger, but rather the abusers need to control.

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Battering is NOT Caused By . . .

• Victims Behavior or Relationship Problems.
  Looking at the relationship or the victims
  behavior as an explanation for domestic violence
  takes the focus off the batterers actions and
  being held accountable for them.

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Womens Anger

• The anger of people who are dominated by another
  is always powerful.
• What are some other examples of this type of
  anger?

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Womens Anger

• Whites are afraid of the anger of people of
  color.
• Parents are afraid of their teenagers anger.
• Management is afraid of labors anger.

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Womens Anger

• And men are afraid of womens anger.
• Women are usually discouraged from ever showing
  anger, whereas anger is one of the few emotions
  men are encouraged to express.

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Womens Anger

• Women who are victims of domestic violence often
  feel safer in demonstrating anger when police
  arrive on the scene because they know that their
  batterer is less likely to hurt them in the
  presence of an officer.
• However, the moment the batterer is alone with
  the victim, he will most likely make her pay
  for showing anger or speaking honestly about what
  happened.

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Women Who Use Violence

• CATEGORY ONE
• To show him if he hits her or abuses her she
  wont take it.
• To go toe to toe with him.
• To stand up to his abuse.
• CATEGORY TWO
• Feeling of helplessness/last resort, e.g., to
  make him stop drinking, talk to her, take care of
  the kids, stay at home.

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Women Who Use Violence

• CATEGORY THREE
• Self-defense, to keep him from immediately
  harming her or another person.
• CATEGORY FOUR
• To put him in extreme fear in order to control
  him.

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Impact on Children

• Children are often present when battering occurs.
• Children can be traumatized by witnessing the
  attacks.
• Children can get in the way of the attack and
  receive injuries.

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Impact on Children continued . . .

• High co-occurrence of domestic violence and child
  abuse, so many children will also be abused by
  the batterer.
• Batterers use children as a way to maintain
  control over victims.
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in children who
  witness domestic violence.

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Children Living with Domestic Violence

• May not always or immediately exhibit outward
  cues of the violence they have witnessed.
• May never discuss the violence.

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Children Living with Domestic Violence

• Some children will exhibit cues or red flag
  behaviors that may signal that something terrible
  is happening at home.

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Possible Red Flag Behaviors

• Aggressive Attacking others, destroying
  property, cruelty to animals, verbal attacks.
• Passive/Withdrawn Avoids conflict, internalizes
  feelings, becomes the perfect child.

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Possible Red Flag Behaviors

• Manipulative Extreme jealousy, sulking, often
  sick.
• Rebellious/Acts out Challenges authority, uses
  substances, skips schools, runs away, steals.

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Possible Red Flag Behaviors

• Psychological Cues Suicidal ideations/behaviors,
  depression, self-mutilation, phobias, eating
  disorders, sleeping disorders, nightmares.

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Possible Red Flag Behaviors

• Health Problems Headaches, stomach aches,
  irritable bowels, bedwetting, backaches, skin
  rashes, mouth ulcers, ear aches.

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Impact of Law Enforcement Response

• Sends a clear message that domestic violence is a
  crime and it will not be tolerated.
• Officers are in a position to hold batterers
  accountable.

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Impact of Law Enforcement Response

• Arresting the batterer
• Provides immediate safety.
• Gets the victim into the criminal justice system
  and sends the message that the system supports
  her.
• Alerts the batterer that he has committed a
  serious crime.
• Creates a window of opportunity to give
  information to the victim and refer her to
  services that may help her get away.

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Impact of Law Enforcement Response

• Provides victims with access to services and
  support, such as shelter and legal advocacy.
• This may be the key that helps victims begin to
  trust persons on the outside and may lead to
  immediate or future decisions that positively
  impact safety.

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Impact of Law Enforcement Response

• By collaborating with local domestic violence
  advocates, officers can help enhance victim
  safety.
• Law enforcement serves as an essential partner in
  a coordinated community response to domestic
  violence.

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Questions ?
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