Limitations of the Protection from Abuse Order Process: Judicial Inattention to Psychological Abuse
Date
2015-05
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Intimate partner abuse (IPA) affects nearly one in four women in the United
States within their lifetimes (Luken, Rosky, & Watkins, 2014). In most cases of IPA,
women are typically the victims and men are the abusers. Civil protection orders are
an effective way to protect women from experiencing future abuse; however, fewer
than 80 percent of women in the United States who are victims of abuse by an intimate
partner are issued a civil protection order each year (Holt, Kernic, Wolf & Rivara,
2003). Physical abuse is the most widely publicized form of intimate partner abuse.
Despite this, most woman report that the psychological and emotional abuse that they
experience is more damaging and long lasting that their physical injuries (Follingstad,
Rutledge, Berg, Hause & Polek, 1990). Unfortunately, this type of abuse, even though
it almost always works in tandem with physical abuse, is often overlooked by judges
in court (Stark, 2008). The purpose of this research is to draw attention to
psychological abuse and the need for judges to identify tactics of power and control as
well as to utilize risk assessments. Two case studies observed in the Delaware civil
court system are used to exemplify judicial inattention to psychological abuse and
demonstrate the utility of a more comprehensive examination of judicial response to
intimate partner abuse.
Description
Keywords
Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES, Research Subject Categories::LAW/JURISPRUDENCE, Criminal Justice