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The Violent Family: Domestic and Family Violence

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Family Criminology

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Abstract

In the previous chapter we explored how crime—namely, organised crime—plays a key role in some families’ lives. In this chapter we explore crime within families in a different way—as interpersonal crime that is perpetrated by family members against family members. We begin this chapter by exploring what we mean by gender-based violence.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    As we discussed in Chapter 2, such constructions explain why the home and family is frequently claimed to offer the solution to crime.

  2. 2.

    This framework for understanding harms in terms of its cumulative effects also underpins the increasingly influential ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) approach to understanding trauma and resilience.

  3. 3.

    #MeToo and #TimesUp are examples of digital feminism that sought to challenge the epidemic of gender-based violence. Following allegations of sexual assault by film producer Harvey Weinstein in 2017, the #MeToo hashtag was used in social media (particularly Twitter) to share personal stories of sexual assault to highlight its prevalence, especially within the cultural industries. The #MeToo hashtag gained attention when used by Hollywood actor Alyssa Milano, though it was initially used in 2006 by Black women’s activist Tarana Burke. The #TimesUp movement started in 2018 in solidarity with the #MeToo movement, and was set up to campaign against the extent of sexual assault across all workplaces.

  4. 4.

    Romito explains that ‘In systemic family therapy the couple is considered as a problematic unit and the relationship is analysed from a circular perspective’ (2008: 65). Thus, from a feminist perspective, the use of family systems theory in understanding family violence is problematic.

  5. 5.

    In an earlier version of this typology, Johnson (1995, 2006) suggested that there were two types of IPV: ‘intimate terrorism’ (re-worked into coercive controlling violence) and ‘common couple violence’ (re-worked into situational couple violence).

  6. 6.

    This theoretical approach taps into broader debates about whether those who experience family violence should be understood as ‘victims’ or ‘survivors’. The term ‘victim’ recognises the powerlessness and vulnerability of those subject to such violence, and the relational nature of the term implies the existence (and thus accountability) of the perpetrator. In contrast, the term ‘survivor’ recognises the strength and resilience of those who have endured such violence and rejects the weakness that the term ‘victim’ connotes. However, others suggest that any kind of labelling of a designated victim/survivor status is unhelpful, and that people should instead be simply described as people who have experienced family violence.

  7. 7.

    Poor Law Amendment Act (1868)

  8. 8.

    Serious Crime Act (2015)

  9. 9.

    See also Chapter 7, Sect. 3.1 for a discussion about ‘whole family approaches’ to IPV intervention work.

  10. 10.

    Children Act (1989).

  11. 11.

    Adoption and Children Act (2002).

  12. 12.

    Children Act (2004).

  13. 13.

    Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act (2004).

  14. 14.

    Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007.

  15. 15.

    Education Act (2002); Female Genital Mutilation Act (2003).

  16. 16.

    Examples include the deaths of Denis O’Neill in 1944, the death of Maria Colwell in 1973, the death of Victoria Climbie in 2000 and the death of Peter Connolly (Baby P) in 2007.

  17. 17.

    This is a play on their 30-year advertising tagline ‘The best a man can get’.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Sciences, University of Roehampton, London, UK

    Amanda Holt

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  1. Amanda Holt
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Correspondence to Amanda Holt .

Useful Websites

Useful Websites

The Duluth Model

https://www.theduluthmodel.org

Offers resources and training for practitioners who are interested in drawing on ideas from the Duluth Model in their own family violence intervention work.

NSPCC

https://www.nspcc.org.uk

Provides information about child abuse and advice for parents, family members and practitioners about issues such as online safety, child mental health, sex and relationships and how to report abuse and neglect. Also offers resources for teachers and parents about the PANTS programme.

The MeToo Movement

https://metoomvmt.org

Provides information about sexual violence, campaigning toolkits and resources for practitioners who work with assault survivors.

World Health Organisation

https://www.who.int/health-topics/violence-against-women

Provides international research reports, statistics and infographics, and the WHO global plan of action to combat the many forms of gender-based violence around the world.

United Nations Population Fund

https://www.unfpa.org/gender-based-violence

Site run by the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency and includes statistics and infographics about gender-based violence, international research reports, and information about their campaigning work on gender equality and human rights.

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Holt, A. (2021). The Violent Family: Domestic and Family Violence. In: Family Criminology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71169-6_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71169-6_5

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