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A 262% I I I I I A 262% I I I I I I A STUDY OF DELAWARE’S RESPONSE TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE I I I By I Amy Jewusiak ' I . I I I A thesis submitted to the Behavioral Science faculty in partial fulfillment of the V I requirements for the degree ofWilmingtonMaster of College.Science in Criminal Justice Studies at i April, 2001 I I I I I _ 2 Wilmington College Division ofBehavioral Science Master of Science Program in Criminal Justice Studies A Study ofDelaware’s Response to Domestic Violence A thesis submitted by Amy Jewusiak Approved: I '\ / / Anita Davenport Masters in Criminal Justice Evaluator Coordinator, Criminal Justice Programs ’ 7 ‘W A ' J MAL Jame Wilson Chair, = vioralScience Division I 3 N Table of Contents Abstract / 6 I Chapter U 1 Introduction / 7 I 2 An Overview ofDomestic Violence / 13 Prevalence / 14 U Types ofAbuse / 20 , Cycle ofViolence / 22 Risk Factors / 24 U Victim Characteristics / 25 Offender Characteristics / 27 Effects ofDomestic Violence on Children / 29 I Myths ofDomestic Violence / 31 Why Women Stay / 32 I Why Traditional Approaches Don’t Work / 33 Postscript I 34 I 3 Theories on Domestic Violence / 35 Postscript / 40 U 4 The History of Domestic Violence Law / 41 Historical Context ofDomestic Violence / 41 I Federal Law / 48 How Domestic Violence Cases are Now Being Handled / 49 I Arresting Domestic Violence Offenders / 50 Convicting Domestic Violence Offenders / 52 ' U Postscript / 54 5 Delaware’s Response to Domestic Violence / 56 I Law Enforcement’s Response / 57 The Legislature’s Response / 62 ' Presumptive Sentencing / 64 I Department of Correction’s Response / 66 Future Initiatives / 68 U Postscript / 70 6 Probation and Parole’s Response / 71 U Postscript / 91 __ - 4 7 Movement ofDomestic Violence Cases / 93 I Summary ofFindings/ 107 Postscript / I08 ‘ 8 Recommended Areas for Improvement /109 Postscript / 114 9 Areas for Future Researchl 115 ‘ 10 Conclusion / 1 l 17 U 11 Endnotesl 120 12 References / 123 I Appendix A: Domestic Incident Report / 127 . Appendix B: Probation/Parole Statistical Report / 130 I Appendix C: Conditions of Supervisionl 133 Appendix D: Probation/Parole Violation Report / 137 Appendix E: Survey for the Domestic Violence Unit / 144 r I U List of Tables I Table I 1 Domestic Violence Unit: Demographics Statistics ofDomestic Violence Offenders Supervised During the Month ofAugust, 1999 / 76 I 2 Domestic Violence Unit: Court Infomiation / 77 U 3 Domestic Violence Unit: Special Conditions / 78 4 Domestic Violence Unit: Type of Ofienses / 79 5 Domestic Violence Unit: Length ofProbation Sentence / 80 U 6 Domestic Violence Unit: Criminal and Victim Information / 82 l 7 Demographic Statistics ofDomestic Violence Oifenders Supervised Outside the Domestic Violence Unit During the Month ofAugust, 1999/ 84 I 8 Probation Sentences ofDomestic Violence Oflenders Supervised Outside the Domestic Violence Unit During the Month ofAugust, 1999 / 86 I 9 Criminal and Victim Information ofDomestic Violence Offenders Supervised I Outside the Domestic Violence Unit During the Month ofAugust, 1999/ 87 10 The Movement ofDomestic Violence Cases fiom August, 1999 to January, 2000 I / 94 ll General Statistics on those who Violate their Probation / 100 12 History ofDomestic Violence Among Those that Violate Their Probation / 101 N 13 Type ofProbation Violations For Domestic Violence Offenders / 102 6 ABSTRACT Domestic violence emerged from the protection ofthe family to protection under the criminal justice system. Since the 1980s, changes in every aspect ofthe criminaljustice system have emerged to keep domestic violence oflenders more accountable and provide domestic violence victims with assistance and protection fiom oflenders. An example of these changes is exhibited within Delaware’s criminal justice system. Specialized units were formed not only within police departments and the Attorney General’s oifice, but also within the Probation and Parole Department. The Probation and Parole Department has formed domestic violence units within each county ofDelaware. These units are compromised ofofiicers specially trained to supervise domestic violence oflenders and directing domestic violence victims to specialized services. The type ofoffenders the New Castle County Unit supervises are typically white, males between the ages of 25 to 40, serving a Family Court sentence. There appears to be no overt characteristics that lead a sub-group ofthese offenders to violate his/her probation. Once an offender does violate his/her probation, there appears to be no set formula to determine the sentence he/she may receive, despite guidelines enacted by SENTAC. Despite ofthe innovation ofthis unit, there are many areas ofthis unit that can be improved and fixture research is vital to determine ways to improve the effectiveness ofthis unit. 7 Chapter 1: Introduction Domestic violence is the abusive behavior ofone party ofan intimate relationship against another with the goal ofmaintaining power and control over the victimized party. It crosses all socio-economic levels, age groups, and ethnicities. It affects not only the victim, but also the offender, children and/or others who witness the violence. Domestic violence is a learned behavior transmitted through generations and reinforced by stereotypes and myths. Because law enforcement oflicers are ofien the first responders to domestic violence incidents they are in a unique position to influence the outcome of events. Recent research has proposed pro-arrest policies and arrests without a warrant for misdemeanor domestic violence ofienses (Schmidt and Sherman, 1993). This research extends beyond the role of law enforcement to roles ofother segments ofthe criminal justice system, such as courts and corrections, and other agencies that come in contact with domestic violence victims and ofi°enders. In order to prevent future violence the cycle must be broken. Recent research supports a coordinated approach to handling domestic violence cases based on the premise and evidence that domestic violence is one of few crimes where fiiture violence can be prevented (O’Dell, n.d.). Current research on domestic violence focuses on law enforcement and is still in its infancy with regard to the court’s and probation/parole’s response. For this reason, this thesis will focus on the criminal justice system’s response as a whole and will end with an extensive analysis on probation and parole’s response to domestic violence, using Delaware as a case study. Delaware, like most other states, initiated a pro-active approach to domestic violence incidents afler a Connecticut court ruled in Thurman v. the City of Torrington (1984) that law enforcement ofiicers could be held liable for not holding a 8 domestic violence oifender accountable (McCue, 1995b). In Delaware, this approach started in police agencies and spread to the courts and probation/parole. The writer was a probation/parole officer for the State ofDelaware for four years. For three years, she supervised primarily domestic violence offenders on Home Confinement; a program that utilizes electronic monitoring to aid in supervision. Her last year, she supervised domestic violence offenders on intensive supervision; a program requiring weekly reporting ofprobationers/parolees and a stringent curfew. This writer had a unique opportunity to start the first domestic violence caseload within the Home Confinement unit and be a member ofone ofthe few domestic violence probation/parole units in the country. From this experience came an insight into the dynamics of domestic violence and an observation of some techniques that worked and others that do not. With this experience as a starting point, this thesis focuses on the effectiveness ofdomestic violence units within probation/parole departments by focusing on the results or outcome of such a unit in Delaware. It will address the strengths and weaknesses ofhaving such a unit, acknowledging problems that may limit its effectiveness, and making suggestions for improvement and future research. In order to analyze the Domestic Violence Unit within the New Castle County Probation/Parole Department in Delaware, the writer gathered information on five areas of this unit. First, the writer determined ifthe Domestic Violence Unit is supervising most of the domestic violence cases in the probation/parole department. Ifnot, why? Second, was the type of otfenders that the Domestic Violence Unit supervises. For example, are they habitual ofifenders or was this their first offense. Third, how many probationer/parolees successfully complete their probationary period compared to how many violate their 9 probation. Fourth, the manner in which domestic violence probationers/parolees violate their sentence. Fifih, the court’s sentences for probation/parolee violations. To answer these questions, qualitative and quantitative research was conducted on probation/parolee cases supervised bylthe Domestic Violence Unit, located at the New Castle Probation/Parole Oflice in Delaware. Research was based on cases supervised during the months ofAugust 1999 through January 2000. Before outlining the qualitative and quantitative data gathered from the probation and parole department, it is important to first establish what constitutes domestic violence. Therefore, the second chapter ofthis paper will begin with an overview ofdomestic violence. This section will include the definition of domestic violence, its prevalence, types of abuse, the cycle of abuse, risk factors of abuse and characteristics ofoffenders and victims. During the first half ofthe 20“ Century,
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