The concept of family violence, tied in with mental illness is highly contentious and arguable. When reading about the Luke Batty case, I was firstly shocked and later confused. The whole situation is terrible and I feel remorse for everyone who was affected, especially Rosie. On the surface this case appears to be black and white, however when you dig deeper there’s a lot more to it.
Rosie suffered for several years due to Greg, dealing with verbal/physical abuse and life threats. Some would question why Rosie stayed with him. From my own experiences, I have a witnessed a friend who was in a relationship, arguably similar to the one that Rosie and Greg shared. He was verbally abusive and extremely manipulative and controlling. My friend,
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like Rosie, understood what he was like, yet continued to put up with it. Everyone around her was telling her that she needed to break up with him, although this would never change her mind. As I have seen this, and tried to help someone in a similar circumstance, I know that there isn’t much that an onlooker can do in a situation like this. I can recognize how Rosie put up with Greg for so long and continually let him back into her life, as they seem to make themselves remember the good in that person. Although this scenario is similar, I have more understanding for why Rosie kept Greg in their lives. It originally seemed strange that Rosie was letting Greg have so much contact with Luke and that she was encouraging this relationship. However, after reading Bartol and Bartol (2014), when they are discussing developmental risk factors that lead to delinquency and crime, the reason is clearer. They point out a well-known risk factor, single-parent households. It appears as though Rosie wanted to protect Luke from growing up to be like his father and to prevent this, she was allowing Luke to spend time with him to try and keep the family unit together. Another issue that became evident in the ‘4 Corners’ Episode, by Thompson and McGregor (2014) about this case, was Greg’s mental illness. Greg’s alleged mental illness by no means justifies his actions but it does explain some of them. Bartol and Bartol (2014) explore the notion that mental illness is not a causal factor for vicious or irrational crimes. Although there is no causation, these authors do recognise the rates and trends representing those with mental disorders being more prominent in arrest rates and imprisonment rates. They further discussed that someone with schizophrenia has a tendency to be violent and when they do commit serious offences it tends to be towards loved ones. Ross (2014) discussed how Greg suffered from undiagnosed schizophrenia, with Rosie agreeing to the fact that he suffered from a mental illness for several years but was not seeking treatment. If Greg was suffering from this disorder, it gives me, not justification, but partial explanation to Greg’s behaviour. To be specific ‘male mentally disordered patients, who have a history of at least one violent incident, have a high probability of being violent again...’ (Bartol & Bartol 2014, p. 234). I don’t know anyone with schizophrenia and therefore have never seen the way someone with this disorder acts, but I do think that Greg should have been forced to seek treatment for his health. I have always lived in a society whereby if someone has something wrong they will seek treatment and they will want to get better.
In Greg’s case, I don’t think he had this and I don’t think that Rosie was strong enough to force Greg, as she feared his reaction. I think that Rosie did everything she could do to try and get help to protect her family when getting intervention orders and making reports to the police. This required braveness and courage. When put into the hands of the police, it makes me question why the police didn’t do anything to stop him or to prevent this from escalating. I originally shared Appelbaum’s (2003) views when he asks a good question, ‘must authorities charged with protecting public safety wait for violence to occur before intervening?’ However Merkel (1993) shaped and challenged my opinion on this. I originally thought that if someone is dangerous and threatening peoples life, why wouldn’t you just put him or her in prison? I never thought about, is this person a risk to society? How high is the risk they pose? Or how long is their sentence going to be? And if they did go to prison why would they be any different when they came out? Understanding the multi-faceted sides to risk assessment has made me step back and question my opinions. I have never been in a criminal situation or even known someone in one and therefore feel as though my initial response is always one that is naïve and
sheltered. I come from a family where we trust the police and if we had an issue we would believe that they would help us in a situation that required it. Rosie was similar in that she put her trust in the police system. Although I do not blame anyone in this situation for Luke’s death but Greg, I feel as though the police did not do everything they could. Articles by Hurley and Dowsley (2014) and Aussie Criminals (2014) discuss the police department’s response to this situation and how they admit that they need to have better communication between units and admit failing to implement arrest warrants before the incident. I am thankful that they have acknowledged these mistakes, which will benefit others in the future. Although this is such a traumatic and tragic event, to me it has brought upon change and awareness. It has made people more responsive to family violence and the steps to take in order to prevent it from escalating into a situation like this one. It has also established the importance of treating mental illness and helping those around you.
The question raised in the Hawthorne v. State amicus was related to the expert testimony of Dr. Lenore E. Walker, a Clinical Psychologist with extensive involvement in the study and research of “battered woman syndrome.” Amicus indicated Dr. Walker’s testimony would provide the Trier of facts with expert opinion on a battered woman’s belief that resorting to the use of deadly force against her husband was required, if the woman had perceived imminent death or bodily hard to herself and/or her children. Dr. Walker would clarify battered woman’s syndrome to the jury including clarifying all the relevant stages, cycles of violence, symptoms and reasons why women choose to stay with the abuser.
While there is no official agreement that battered women’s action of killing their abusers should be justified, people need to understand that battered women are in different positions with relation to justice than defendants in general cases of homicide. Perhaps, victim advocates, the judge, attorneys, psychologists/psychiatrists, and social workers from women’s shelters should consider alternative approaches, such as creating a more comprehensive system to review and assess past cases where battered women have been convicted of killing their abusers from a legal, medical, and psychological perspective. Although it may not be practical to alter the law, it is possible to amend the legal system to support those battered women who deserve more freedom from their abuse with fair judgments.
In the article, “In Death, Florida Family Reveals a Spiral of Domestic Abuse,” the children portrayed in this story had shown many of the signs listed above, and yet, no one intervened. Lizette Alvarez and Frances Robles wrote about the horrific abuse that had plagued the whole household in a small Florida town. In Bell, Florida a woman by the name of Sarah Spirit, 28 years of age would constantly call the police on her father who she claimed was brutally violent and that she was terrified of him. The uniqueness about this story is that the abuse was not between a husband and wife, it was between a father and daughter and her six children. However, as stated previously, domestic violence can be any form of abuse between two people in the household.
Violent behavior by men against their family members were traditionally considered private matters. We recognize public violence as being morally wrong or socially destructive. Domestic violence and child abuse are two forms of private violence that were more or less immune from public scrutiny and considered inappropriate for "outsiders" to intervene in unless the problem reached extreme proportions.
There are two main models in the criminal process, the crime control model and the due process model. The crime control model focuses on repression of crime in a speedy and conclusive way. The use of “presumptions of guilt” speeds the process up because very little evidence is needed against the suspect for them to be considered guilty. In this model, it is believed the laws should be stricter, the police force should be increased, and the sentences should be more intense. The due process model has more steps and is more dependable. It focuses more on investigation and finding all the facts. This model pays attention to the person’s rights and liberties as stated in the and the limited powers of the government. The due process model also takes mental illness into consideration, whereas, the crime control model does not. In The Brothel Boy, Mr. Blair used the due process model. Mr. Blair did not think the brothel boy should be as harshly judged and persecuted for his actions because he did not know any better and did not know what he was doing, he was “just like an animal.” Dr. Veraswami, contrarily, uses the criminal control model. He thinks the brothel boy should be treated as everyone else would, and should be hanged for what he did (Packer).
The purpose of this research paper is to prove that criminal law in America has failed to provide a defense that adequately protects women suffering from Battered Women's Syndrome. Battered Women's Syndrome, or BWS, is a very complex psychological problem facing criminal courts today and has caused great debate on whether or not it should even be allowed in the courtroom. Although the syndrome has been given more consideration as a warranted issue by society, those who create our laws and control our courtrooms, have not developed a defense that sufficiently protects these women. United States courtrooms, instead of protecting battered women, have put these women on trial and found them guilty of murder.
Markowitz, F. E. (2011). Mental illness, crime, and violence: Risk, context, and social control. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 36-44.
Welton, Nathan. “Mentally Ill Are More Likely To Be The Victims Of Violence.” The Tribune [California] 19 Mar. 2006: n. pag. NewsBank Special Reports. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
Domestic violence and abuse takes place within family-type intimate relationships and forms a pattern of intimidating and controlling behaviors, which overtime escalates (Dennis, T. 2014, p 1). It can also cause physical psychological or sexual harm to these relations as well (Gul & Faiz, 2013). Domestic Violence according to Fairtlough (2006) is “the misuse of power and the exercise of control by one individual over another, generally by men over women, with whom they have been in an intimate relationship. It assumes a wide range of abusive physical, sexual, and psychological behaviors.” Dennis argued that domestic violence has become a serious societal and public health issue and is a major risk factor for psychiatric disorders
There are many sad scenarios that come to mind when thinking about the victims of domestic violence. With this particular issue, the victims are impacted mentally and physically. A situation that comes to mind is one of a little boy hiding under his bed. He is in a neighboring room and can hear furniture moving and screams of his mother in agonizing pain. He understands that he is too small to intervene on his mother’s behalf and too scared to confront his father. What is he left to do? The young boy calls 911 with the hopes that they could step in and end his mother’s pain. The boy’s father repeatedly abused his mother and insisted that she stay in her place and never considers ending the relationship. This fictional situation is one that occurs everyday in every corner of our country. Domestic violence incidents in 2005 accoun...
Paddock, Catharine, PhD. "Mental Health Disorders Linked to Domestic Violence." Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 2012. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.
Robbins, Pamela Clark, John Monahan and Eric Silver. 2003. “Mental Disorder, Violence, and Gender.” Law and Human Behavior 27(6):561-571.
Fisher, B. S., & Lab, S. P. (2010). Family violence. In Encyclopedia of victimology and crime
Ronald V Clarke originally developed the idea of situational crime prevention in the 1980’s (Brantingham & Brantingham 2005). This particular crime prevention theory addresses techniques that increase the effort required to commit the crime, increase the risks involved with committing the crime, reducing the reward gained by the offender after committing the crime, reducing the provocation between the offender and others and remove excuses (Brantingham & Brantingham 2005). Majority of crime is believed to be committed because there are no high risks of being caught and the rewards outweigh the risks (Brantingham & Brantingham 2005). Increasing the effort by controlling access to locations and target hardening can deflect many offenders, as more effort is needed to commit the crime (Brantingham & Brantingham 2005). Another main technique would be to increase the risks; this may be achieved by extending guardianship, creating natural surveillance or artificial surveillance such as CCTV (Brantingham & Brantingham 2005).
Glied, S., & Frank, R. G. (2014). Mental Illness and Violence: Lessons From the Evidence.