Battered women in the courtroom : the power of judicial responses / James Ptacek.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ptacek, James.

Series:

Northeastern series on gender, crime, and law

The Northeastern series on gender, crime, and law

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Family violence--Law and legislation--United States.

Family violence.

Family violence--Law and legislation.

Restraining orders.

United States.

Abused women--Legal status, laws, etc--United States.

Abused women.

Abused women--Legal status, laws, etc.

Restraining orders--United States.

Judicial process--United States.

Judicial process.

Physical Description:

xii, 240 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Boston : Northeastern University Press, [1999]

Summary:

Recent Laws Have Given Women Much Needed Rights in Seeking protection from abusive men, but judges still hold the authority to issue restraining orders or send batterers to jail. While most studies on state intervention for victims have focused on the role of police, Battered Women in the Courtroom probes for the first time the ways in which judges respond to women who are seeking legal redress.

This investigation of women, violence, and the courts centers on encounters between women and judges in restraining order hearings in Massachusetts, one of the first states to offer new civil and criminal options to victims of abusive behavior.

James Ptacek questions whether judges still respond to abused women with indifference or impatience, as they have in the past, or whether they now treat battering as a serious crime. He looks at the types of violence that women report to the courts, analyzes how judges exercise their authority in restraining order hearings, examines how they perceive their role in negotiations with women, and studies their impact on women's efforts to escape the social entrapment of violence.

Ptacek exposes many of the myths and dilemmas about the abuse of women and offers crucial insights into the power of judges to encourage or discourage women from claiming their rights.

Contents:

1 Judges and the Social Entrapment of Battered Women 3

2 Political Moves: Class, Race, and Research on Woman Battering 16

3 The Reconstruction of a Public Problem: Judicial Responses to Woman Battering in Massachusetts 40

4 Why Women Seek Restraining Orders: The Tactics and Strategies of Men Who Batter 69

5 Judging as Emotional Labor: Courtroom Observations of Restraining Order Hearings 92

6 Judges' Perspectives on Restraining Order Hearings 112

7 Women's Experiences Seeking Restraining Orders 136

8 Disorder in the Courts: Battering and Judicial Responses 168

Appendix: Research Methods 185.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-231) and index.

ISBN:

1555533906

1555533914

OCLC:

40143044