Arrests of women for assault increased more than 40 percent over the past decade, while male arrests for this offense have fallen by about one percent. Some studies report that for the first time ever the rate of reported intimate partner abuse among men and women is nearly equal. Susan L. Miller’s timely book explores the important questions raised by these startling statistics.
Are women finally closing the gender gap on violence? Or does this phenomenon reflect a backlash shaped by men who batter? How do abusive men use the criminal justice system to increase control over their wives? Do police, courts, and treatment providers support aggressive arrest policies for women? Are these women “victims” or “offenders”?
In answering these questions, Miller draws on extensive data from a study of police behavior in the field, interviews with criminal justice professionals and social service providers, and participant observation of f
Trade Review
Finally, a book that moves us forward in the 'mutuality debate'. Miller's research demonstrates the seeming inability-or unwillingness-of the criminal legal system to recognize that gender (as well as race, class, and sexual orientation) matters in intimate partner violence, but even more importantly, she offers compelling answers to the question, 'What can we do about it?'-Claire M. Renzetti, Ph.D., editor of Violence against Women: An International, Interdisciplinary Journal
Table of Contents
Contents; Acknowledgments; Preface; Chapter One - Introduction; Chapter Two - Prior Research Findings and Controversies; Chapter Three - Background: Site, Data, Methods and Program Philosophy. Chapter Four - The Police Ride-Along Study; Chapter Five - Hearing from Criminal Justice Professionals and Social Service Providers; Chapter Six - A Day in the Life: Inside a Female Offender's Treatment Group; Chapter Seven - ""Violent"" Women: Motivations and Context; Chapter Eight - Summary: The Findings and their Policy Implications; Appendix A - Summaries of Domestic Violence Calls for Police Service; References; Index.
