The Multiple Meanings of Domestic Violence: A Constructivist Inquiry

Spurred by the work of the Battered Women's Movement, domestic violence has been responded to since it emerged as a problem in the 1970s. At first the response was providing places for victims to stay and recover from the violence while also providing opportunities for consciousness raising and empowerment work. As domestic violence became a more recognized problem, policies were created and enacted to end the problem. Through the 1980s and 1990s, changes in federal policies in regards to domestic violence were incorporated. The criminal justice system began incorporating such policies as mandatory arrest and no-drop prosecution policies as well as using batterer intervention programs (BIPs) to provide services to those accused of domestic violence charges.In Virginia, domestic violence advocates, batterer intervention program service providers and members of the criminal justice system worked together to create coordinated community responses with the stated goals of safety for domestic violence victims and accountability for perpetrators of domestic violence. The coordination, however, seemed to be fraught with difficulties, as domestic violence advocates, BIP providers, and the criminal justice system continued to struggle with the implementation of the standards. It seemed that although all three groups were able to agree upon the goals of accountability and safety, there were underlying issues of difference that were not being considered.The participants of this inquiry had congruent understandings of the term domestic violence; however their understandings of the social problem domestic violence were quite different. Because the way a social problem is understood influences policy as it is created, implemented, and experienced, it is important to strive for clarity concerning the social problem to which the policy is responding.This inquiry is an exploration of the multiple understandings of the social problem domestic violence as understood by those who participated in the inquiry. The tentative findings, or lessons learned, are not to be understood as generalizable findings, but as the unique, co-created understandings of the multiple meanings of the social problem domestic violence as understood by the participants and the inquirer.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Social Work, Ph.D.

Year dc:date.available

2007

Author dc:creator

• Leisey, Monica Rene'

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Mary Katherine O'Connor

• constructivist inquiry
• policy
• social problem
• abuse
• Battered Womens Movement
• domestsic violence
• Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Social Work

Statement dc:rights

• © The Author

Identifier

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1182

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-2181