The Danger Level For Each Victim Essay

Domestic violence, or intimate partner violence, is a common problem. As a result, the criminal justice adapted to demands, especially from feminists, who bemoaned the poor response of police, and in turn, the justice system by instituting mandatory arrests. However, mandatory arrests have proven that just like protection or restraining orders, they are not effective in deterring domestic violence (Davis, 2008). Similarly, the arrests do not have a substantial effect on recidivism and create undue procedural complications for the criminal system (Zelcer, 2014). On the contrary, proponents of the approach, argue that it has a deterrent effect on the perpetrators and that it can even protect offer immediate protection for the victims (Clark, 2010). Nonetheless, using statistical evidence and arguments from scholarly sources, this position paper will expose the inefficiencies and constitutional inconsistencies that make mandatory arrests harmful for the batterer, victim, and the criminal justice system.

Stalking is a very dangerous form of violence and is more common than people think. As a society we have many different ideas of what the definition of stalking is. There are many different forms of stalking, sure some of them may seem harmless but it is difficult to differentiate harmful situations and acts from harmless situations and acts. The main thing that makes it stalking is it is a form of abuse is that it is unwanted by the victim. Before the paper starts it is going to define stalking, a little history, and some of its forms.

When examining the victim’s actions, the differences between a ‘positivist perspective’ and ‘feminist perspective’ become evident. A ‘positivist perspective’ implies "identifying the factors that contribute to the non-random victimization pattern, focusing on the interpersonal violent crimes, and endeavouring to identify the victims who are prone to contribute to their own victimization" (Kostić, M. 2010 p69). This shows the victim as being the kind of person that they are; this can also include lifestyle factors such as victims who brazenly display their wealth. ‘Positivist Perspective’ examines which social and psychological characteristics of victims make them different from and more vulnerable than, non-victims. An example of positivist victimology is Marvin Wolfgang's (1958) study of 588 homicides in Philadelphia. Wolfgang found that 26% involved victim precipitation – the victim triggered the events leading to the murder (Spalek, B. 2006 p34).

Throughout every state and county across the United States there are various means for offering assistance to victims of crime. Each municipality has its own victim advocacy program. For smaller areas such as rural counties they use the next organizational level up as their victim advocates. For the purpose of this paper I sat down with Ms. Mari Dennis of the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD). Ms. Dennis is employed as the Victim Advocacy Unit Coordinator and is embedded within the Investigations division of the department. CSPD employs four staff victim advocates and around 35 volunteer advocates.

Before delving into the main points, the definition of stalking must be outlined. According to Patricia Tjaden and Nancy Thoennes, in their study of the National Violence Against Women Survey, “Stalking generally refers to harassing or threatening behavior that an individual engages in repeatedly, such as following a person, appearing at a per son 's home or place of business, making harassing phone calls, leaving written messages or objects, or vandalizing a person 's property. These actions may or

The first stalking laws were defined by the state of Claifornia. Now all fifty states have their own state penal code defining stalking. The California Penal code 646.9. stalking. 2008 defines stalking as “any person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows or willfully and maliciously harasses

However, fear is also an imperative reason that causes law enforcement to hesitate in the involvement of domestic violence cases. Until recently, police officers weren’t aware of the proper protocol in handling domestic violence cases. Also, in many cases the victim can also turn out to be the aggressor when an officer attempts to make an arrest. This can be a convincing deterrent in lack of police response. The most important reason I would like to discuss is police attitudes towards domestic violence cases and victims. The reasons I mention above are all characteristics that contribute to the lack of involvement; however the individual attitude of the officer places much emphasis on their actions.

Stalking has been around since the beginning of time. Men and women alike have been accused of such a crime cause they either can't get it out of their head that the other person does not want to have anything to do with them, or they are just obsessed with a stranger. It is just recent that they United States Government have decided to make stalking a crime in it self. This type of crime was labeled as harassment, annoyance, or domestic violence. It wasn't until the 80's and 90's that stalking cases were brought to the attention of the media and high political policy makers.

In the view of domestic violence, men are primarily the attackers and women the victims, but when the victim strikes back in self-defense and the police arrive on scene, the victims are now being arrested for the violence. It is stated that the result of the victims becoming arrested more often is because they are now becoming assertive of themselves. The impact of these victim incarcerations are leaving a negative effect on their views of law enforcement. Due to the fact that police officers are arresting the victims instead of the perpetrators, they now are faced with the problem that they cannot trust the criminal justice system. Another factor that is taken into account is that because of the arrest the victim is now encountered the humiliation and possibly the loss of their jobs or education. The most important factor in these arrests is that the victim is now wary of calling for help in future situations because of their loss of faith in law

The one word that best characterizes the experience of domestic violence victims within the criminal justice system is, "complicated." Victims suffer from a two-fold problem when dealing with the criminal justice system. When dealing with law enforcement and courts, many victims might be not taken seriously or their wishes not respected. This poses a significant problem, as if victims feel they cannot trust the system to help them, they will not seek help in the future when they need it. This, in turn, creates the opposite of the deterrent effect the criminal justice system wants, as abusers learn that their victims will not seek help, allowing them full control over them.

Stalking is a word most people are familiar with. Nevertheless, this word is not easily defined. In fact, it is defined differently based on the state you reside in. According to Schmalleger and Hall (2014), stalking is defined as “the intentional frightening of another through following, harassing, annoying, tormenting, or terrorizing activities” (p. 245). Normally the stalker is someone the victim has a personnel relationship with, yet, that is not always the case. Stalking is not a victimless crime and can happen to men or women.

Stalking is a terrifying and potentially lethal crime that seems to be on the rise in recent years. While the act itself can be displayed in a variety of ways with many different motivations, the effects on the victims always result in some sort of fear, anxiety, and paranoia among others, along with crippling the victim financially. The media portrayal of stalking can lead to misconceptions about the crime and minizations of the behavior by the general public can lead to a secondary victimization and cause the crime to go unreported. Although anti-stalking laws exist they vary from state to state and may not always provide the adequate of protection, even a person convicted of stalking will only serve a year or less in prison if no other charges

Cyber stalking and harassment is a serious, unlawful activity by the federal government, all 50 states and U.S. territories. Although the definition of stalking differs between the federal and state jurisdictions, all have created criminal law to address cyber stalking and harassment. According to the DOJ report, state laws do vary in regards to the element of victim fear and emotional distress. (Catalano, 2012) The report said some states required victims must have been frighten by the act of stalking, while other states require a reasonable person to experience fear.

Taylor Thill Stalking            Stalking is defined as the pursuit of another person that is not wanted, examples of this are following somebody, randomly showing up at a person's home or place of business, leaving written messages, objects, or harassing phone calls, and vandalizing a person's property. It is typically not a one-time occurrence, and the actions of the stalker will cause the victim to fear for their safety. In Wisconsin (Stat. § 940.32), stalking is defined as “Actor knows or should know that his intentional conduct causes reasonable person to fear bodily injury to or death of himself or of his immediate family. Acts actually induce such fear” (http://statelaws.findlaw.com/wisconsin-law/wisconsin-stalking-laws.html).

Two important and well thought of forms of criticisms can come along with the battered woman syndrome, one form is that women are categorized by others as being sensitive, powerless and submissive when she is living with a batterer. Another form is that sometimes there are deficiencies with the appropriate hypothetical and background information which make it difficult to use in court (2009, pg. 178). There have been times whereas lawyers and judges have misconstrued the use of the battered woman syndrome and the fact that women claim that they were only defending themselves. These lawyers and judges thinks that the battered woman defense is used by experts only to clarify why the action of women as a battered woman. When battered women claim self-defense after killing their batterers’ some lawyers takes on the role of partiality which produces inadequately defense for women. Denial by society is another problem that women face as a battered woman or using the battered woman defense. Sometimes the reaction of a lawyer and judge shows up in disbelief and awkwardness when they find out the defendant is alleging the battered woman syndrome to help with her defense. (Dowd 1991, pgs. 11-12).