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Show violence, the children will, or if the cycle is not stopped, the children may become violent too. A comparison of delinquent and non-delinquent youth found that family violence or abuse was the most significant difference between the two groups (Miller, 1989). There is insufficient data to say whether or not mandatory reporting of domestic violence injuries to law enforcement is in the best interest of the victim (Hyman & Chez, 1995). There are arguments on both sides of the issue, but what is known, is the fact that arrest and treatment are the most effective means of stopping future violence which would suggest that intervention by reporting the crime is in the best long-term interest of the victim, the children and even the perpetrator. The best study was done by Donald Dutton, a Canadian, who found after a 16 week study that 40% of untreated perpetrators had subsequent reports of abuse to police in contrast to only four percent of the retreated group. Follow up on the wives' reports suggested that treated husbands still used acts of severe violence an average of 1.7 times a year in contrast to their pretreatment average of 10.6 times per year. The data strongly suggests that there is a reduction in domestic violence in some cases following arrest and further reduction in violence following treatment (Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, 1995). Utah's law is much like Canada's law. Law enforcement must be notified before arrest and treatment will happen. Often the health care provider is the only professional to see the abuse or injuries that are the result of a crime. Usually, the provider sees the victim as she is coming out of the acute battering stage of the cycle of violence and she may not have entered the honeymoon stage yet. The legal significance of this is that the victim is more likely to admit the abuse was the result of domestic violence, there may be statements made by the victim for the purpose of medical diagnosis and treatment that can be entered into evidence if the case were to go to trial, and the evidence is still fresh for law enforcement to investigate the crime. By the time a prosecutor gets a victim, the victim has entered the honeymoon stage, and she may be a hostile witness, refuse to testify-if she even shows up to court at all. With the help of health care providers mirroring the mind of the prosecutor: "How do I prove this case without the victim?," the case can go forward based on evidence of the injury reported by the health care provider, police will be called to investigate the incident, the perpetrator arrested if there is probable cause to believe a domestic violence crime has been committed, prosecutors will charge, the judge can convict based on the injury report and the police investigation which can then lead to court ordered treatment. Intervention in domestic violence can accomplish several things: first, it lets the victim, the children and the perpetrator know that the abuse is a crime and violence in the family will not be tolerated; second, the victim may, for the first time, feel that someone cares about the abuse she has suffered, and she may feel that someone is on her side who will help stop the abuse, protect her, and hold the perpetrator accountable; and finally, it may be the first step to healing the family. Suppression The United States Constitution provides for the life, liberty and property of its citizens as inalienable rights. The victims of domestic violence have these rights threatened on a daily basis. At times, we as professionals are called on to rise to the occasion and protect the rights of others, speak when those threatened have no voice, and do something about a social problem which will eventually affect all of us. In the case of domestic violence, health care providers report crimes, law enforcement investigate and arrest, prosecutors determine if there is enough evidence to convict, the judge or jury determine guilt, and judges sentence and impose punishment on the guilty. The victim becomes a witness to a crime, she doesn't determine if a injury is reported, the arrest made, whether the abuser is charged, nor does she determine whether he is convicted or what his sentence will be-this is not taking away her rights as a responsible adult, nor does it take away her autonomy-victims of domestic violence will be treated like victims of any other crime. We may consider the feelings of the victim, but that does not take away our responsibility to stop the crime. Suppression of crime is not a law enforcement issue alone, it is every citizen's responsibility to do what is in their power to do and what the law tells them they will do. Although there are frustrations at times, when health care providers don't feel supported by police, prosecutors, and judges, that does not alleviate the duty of the provider to make a report. All of the entities dealing with domestic violence have weaknesses, none is any better Utah's Health: An Annual Review 1996 |
