Unpopular View, but (imho) Necessary!
This is a really unpopular position-warning-so feel free to jump down my throat at any point (lol). I’m taking Domestic Violence and the Law, and it’s a great class. Also, as you all know, I’m hella liberal (like, WHOA)-just a preface.
We’re talking about sentencing of abusers and how punishment can be reformed to be more effective. One of my points was that if we’re going to address this social problem and hopefully eradicate it, we have to look at domestic violence as the unique social issue it truly is. Domestic violence is not like drug abuse or sale, not like random violent crimes, not like robbery, etc. Therefore, we have to deal with it in a radically different way. I think that we not only need to punish the offender, but also deal with the social environment that allowed the abuse to go on.
There are (at least) two people in every violent relationship. Obviously, the individual who is the abuser is the person in the wrong. However, I do not think that we can discount the role of the victim, or survivor, of domestic abuse. These individuals do not deserve to be blamed for the behavior of the abuser-it’s not the victim’s fault, it never could be. However, when trying to address this social problem, we can’t only punish the abuser-we have to deal with the context in which the abuse arose. Many (if not most) victims of domestic abuse fall into other abusive relationships after one’s first experience of intimate violence. Clearly, while the abuser in the violent relationship is clearly the person in the wrong, that abuser preys upon something that exists in the victim. Therefore, when addressing the problem of domestic violence within overall society, we need to not only punish the violent offender, but also teach the victim to break the cycle and disallow other violent individuals from taking advantage of the victim again.
I’m not sure how to do that, though. It’s easy to say that we need to incarcerate the abuser and require that individual to undergo intensive therapy. It’s much more difficult to require a victim to undergo treatment; but I do think that such treatment is necessary both for that individual, specifically, as well as society, overall.
I know that this is logistically problematic and an unpopular view, but what we’ve been doing for the past thirty years has failed at even diminishing domestic violence in society. Just look at Rihanna and Chris Brown. We need to try something new-no matter how radical it may seem.
We’re talking about sentencing of abusers and how punishment can be reformed to be more effective. One of my points was that if we’re going to address this social problem and hopefully eradicate it, we have to look at domestic violence as the unique social issue it truly is. Domestic violence is not like drug abuse or sale, not like random violent crimes, not like robbery, etc. Therefore, we have to deal with it in a radically different way. I think that we not only need to punish the offender, but also deal with the social environment that allowed the abuse to go on.
There are (at least) two people in every violent relationship. Obviously, the individual who is the abuser is the person in the wrong. However, I do not think that we can discount the role of the victim, or survivor, of domestic abuse. These individuals do not deserve to be blamed for the behavior of the abuser-it’s not the victim’s fault, it never could be. However, when trying to address this social problem, we can’t only punish the abuser-we have to deal with the context in which the abuse arose. Many (if not most) victims of domestic abuse fall into other abusive relationships after one’s first experience of intimate violence. Clearly, while the abuser in the violent relationship is clearly the person in the wrong, that abuser preys upon something that exists in the victim. Therefore, when addressing the problem of domestic violence within overall society, we need to not only punish the violent offender, but also teach the victim to break the cycle and disallow other violent individuals from taking advantage of the victim again.
I’m not sure how to do that, though. It’s easy to say that we need to incarcerate the abuser and require that individual to undergo intensive therapy. It’s much more difficult to require a victim to undergo treatment; but I do think that such treatment is necessary both for that individual, specifically, as well as society, overall.
I know that this is logistically problematic and an unpopular view, but what we’ve been doing for the past thirty years has failed at even diminishing domestic violence in society. Just look at Rihanna and Chris Brown. We need to try something new-no matter how radical it may seem.