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Lessons From A Pandemic: Recommendations From The Georgia Tpo Forum For Strengthening Protections Against Domestic Violence, Christine M. Scartz, Sarah White, Jaime Boorman Jan 2022

Lessons From A Pandemic: Recommendations From The Georgia Tpo Forum For Strengthening Protections Against Domestic Violence, Christine M. Scartz, Sarah White, Jaime Boorman

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A civil protective order in Georgia is commonly called a temporary protective order, or TPO. The Georgia TPO Forum (the Forum) is a collaborative effort among practitioners who are deeply passionate about ending domestic violence and minimizing its effects on victims.1 The Forum is made up of advocates and attorneys who work every day with people who need protection from violence. Members provide each other not only with suggestions and solutions to problems, but also a listening ear in a profession where another tragic case is always on its way. The Forum is also uniquely positioned to offer recommendations about …


Our National Psychosis: Guns, Terror, And Hegemonic Masculinity, Stewart Chang Jan 2018

Our National Psychosis: Guns, Terror, And Hegemonic Masculinity, Stewart Chang

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In this Article, Professor Stewart Chang, through the examination of three recent mass shooting, proposes that mass shootings driven by hegemonic masculinity should be classified and addressed as acts of terrorism. Professor Chang defines hegemonic masculinity as patterns or practices that promote the dominant social position of men and the subordinate social position of women and other gender identities. In this Article, he examines how hegemonic masculinity is allowed to become mainstream and flourish unchecked based on our characterization, classification and reaction to mass shootings and their perpetrators.


Safe Haven Conundrum: The Use Of Special Bailments To Keep Pets Out Of Violent Households, Joan Macleod Heminway Jul 2017

Safe Haven Conundrum: The Use Of Special Bailments To Keep Pets Out Of Violent Households, Joan Macleod Heminway

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Family violence is a continuing social problem that breeds new complexity at every turn. Just as we seem to get a modicum of control over the sheltering of at-risk mothers and children (among other human victims), we find that family pets—dependent creatures endangered by the same violent behavior that threatens their human caretakers—often are left unprotected or under-protected by both law and society. In most cases, pets are unable to be sheltered with human victims of domestic violence due to shelter restrictions. Restrictions on the sheltering of abuse victims with their pets result in difficult choices for human victims who …


From Victims To Litigants, Elizabeth L. Macdowell Jan 2016

From Victims To Litigants, Elizabeth L. Macdowell

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This Article reports findings from an ethnographic study of self-help programs in two western states. The study investigated how self-help assistance provided by partnerships between courts and nongovernmental organizations implicates advocacy and access to justice for domestic violence survivors. The primary finding is that self-help programs may inadvertently work to curtail, rather than expand, advocacy resources. Furthermore, problems identified with self-help service delivery and negative impacts on advocacy systems may be explained by the structure of work within self-help programs and the nature of partnerships to provide self-help services. The Author uncovers previously unseen impacts of self-help programs on survivors …


Models Of Invisibility: Rendering Domestic And Other Gendered Violence Visible To Students Through Clinical Law Teaching, Elizabeth L. Macdowell, Ann Cammett Jan 2016

Models Of Invisibility: Rendering Domestic And Other Gendered Violence Visible To Students Through Clinical Law Teaching, Elizabeth L. Macdowell, Ann Cammett

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The proliferation of university courses about domestic violence includes clinical courses in law schools in which students represent victims in their legal cases. This essay advocates for a broader approach to teaching about the problem. Using examples from their clinic cases, the authors show how teachers can overcome pedagogical challenges and render domestic and other forms of gendered violence, including state and community violence, more visible to students by intentionally raising and placing it within larger frameworks of structural inequality. In this way, students learn to identify and address gendered violence even when it is not the presenting problem.


Domestic Violence And The Politics Of Self-Help, Elizabeth L. Macdowell Jan 2016

Domestic Violence And The Politics Of Self-Help, Elizabeth L. Macdowell

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Self-help programs are conceptualized as alternatives to attorney representation that can help both courts and unrepresented litigants. The rhetoric of self-help also typically includes empowering unrepresented individuals to help themselves. But how do self-help programs respond to litigants’ efforts at self-advocacy? This Article reports findings from a study of courthouse self-help programs assisting unrepresented litigants applying for protection orders. The central finding is that self-help staff members were not neutral in the provision of services despite a professed ethic of neutrality. Using the sociological concept of demeanor, this Article shows that staff members rewarded protection order applicants who conformed to …


Theorizing From Particularity: Perpetrators And Intersectional Theory On Domestic Violence, Elizabeth L. Macdowell Jan 2013

Theorizing From Particularity: Perpetrators And Intersectional Theory On Domestic Violence, Elizabeth L. Macdowell

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The role of identity-based stereotypes about perpetrators in domestic violence cases has not received much attention in legal scholarship, which has instead focused on the identities of victims. However, stereotypes governing who is a recognizable victim (e.g., that victims are white, middle-class, passive, and dependent women in heterosexual relationships) cannot by themselves explain why nonconforming victims are sometimes successful in family court cases and other, more “perfect” victims are not. Drawing on intersectionality theory, which studies the ways experiences are shaped by the interaction of multiple identity categories, I argue that understanding this phenomenon requires a relational analysis that examines …


When Courts Collide: Integrated Domestic Violence Courts And Court Pluralism, Elizabeth L. Macdowell Jan 2011

When Courts Collide: Integrated Domestic Violence Courts And Court Pluralism, Elizabeth L. Macdowell

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This Article proposes court pluralism as a new theory for analyzing the role of the justice system in addressing domestic violence. It argues that a systemic view of the justice system is essential to developing coherent reform strategies, and lays out the foundation for taking into account the unique functions of civil and criminal justice in domestic violence cases. In doing so, the Article challenges the one-dimensional characterization of a fragmented court system as bad for victims of domestic violence that dominates legal scholarship, and shows that court fragmentation can be an opportunity and potential source of protection from systemic …


When Reading Between The Lines Is Not Enough: Lessons From Media Coverage Of A Domestic Violence Homicide-Suicide, Elizabeth L. Macdowell Jan 2009

When Reading Between The Lines Is Not Enough: Lessons From Media Coverage Of A Domestic Violence Homicide-Suicide, Elizabeth L. Macdowell

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In October 2008, Karthik Rajaram murdered his wife, mother-in-law, sons and, ultimately, himself, in a wealthy Los Angeles suburb. This Article analyzes media reports about the deaths to illustrate the resilience of patriarchy and significant gaps in research and scholarship about domestic violence, and suggests a strategic approach to building counter-narratives about violence against women.

The Article is composed of five parts. Part I is the Introduction. Part II draws on narrative theory and critical media scholarship to lay the groundwork for analysis, and to show why media coverage of homicide-suicide is implicated in the production of dominant ideology.

Part …


Supreme Court Of Nevada, Administrative Office Of The Courts, Nevada Domestic Violence Resource Manual, Mary E. Berkheiser Jan 2000

Supreme Court Of Nevada, Administrative Office Of The Courts, Nevada Domestic Violence Resource Manual, Mary E. Berkheiser

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No abstract provided.


Tort Remedies For Victims Of Domestic Abuse, Douglas D. Scherer Jan 1992

Tort Remedies For Victims Of Domestic Abuse, Douglas D. Scherer

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This Article discusses the use of intentional tort actions by victims of domestic abuse who seek monetary damages. Part I discusses the phenomenon of domestic abuse, with emphasis on physical and emotional harm and factures that justify punitive and compensatory damage awards. Part II discusses the torts of battery, assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and the appropriateness of these actions in domestic abuse cases. Part III discusses the interspousal immunity doctrine and demonstrates the limited extent to which the doctrine bars domestic abuse tort actions. Finally Part IV discusses judicial acceptance of tort actions in domestic abuse cases. …