Domestic Violence and Repeat Victimization
| Published date | 01 January 2005 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026975800501200104 |
| Date | 01 January 2005 |
| Author | Maxwell McLean |
| Subject Matter | Repeat Victimization |
International
Review
ofVictimology,
2005,
Vol.12,
pp.
51-74
0269-7580/05
$10
© A B
Academic
Publishers
-Printed
in
Great
Britain
DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
AND
REPEAT
VICTIMIZATION
MAXWELL
McLEAN
West
Yorkshire
Police,
UK*
ABSTRACT
This
paper
seeks
to
establish
domestic
violence
as
the
most
prevalent
repeated,
criminal
offence
of
our
time.
The
author
makes
use
of
his
experience
in
introducing
the
United
Kingdom's
first
ever
Repeat
Victimiaztion
Methodology
to
the
crime
of
domestic
violence,
implemented
in
Killingbeck
Division,
Leeds.
He
seeks
to
show
that
early
structured
intervention
does
reduce
repeated
attendances
and
that
significant
achievements
can
be
made
with
little
or
no
extra
resources.
The
paper
demonstrates,
by
reference
to
a
murder
case
study,
the
tragic
consequences
of
agencies'
failure
to
share
information.
A
number
of
policy
recommendations
are
made
for
consideration
by
governments,
many
of
which
are
now
being
implemented
in
the
United
Kingdom.
INTRODUCTION
In
1997
I
was
the
head
of
the
Criminal
Investigation
Department
at
Killingbeck
Division
in
Leeds,
where
we
undertook
a
considerable
change
to
the
way
we
responded
to
domestic
violence
incidents.
This
was
based
on
repeat victimiza-
tion
principles
and
a careful
assessment
of
risk.
That
project significantly
reduced
the
number
of
repeated
attacks
on
women,
and
the
findings
were
published
by
the
Home
Office
in
1999
in
a
book
called 'Arresting Evidence'
(Hanmer
et
al.,
1999).
This
remains
the
latest
study
of police investigative
methods
for
domestic
violence
in
the
United
Kingdom.
My
day
job
is
the
investigation of
homicide
and
in
my
area
of
West
Yorkshire,
England,
one
woman
a
month,
every
month,
is
killed
by
a
man
known
to
them.
Nationally,
of
course,
a
woman
is
killed
every
three
days
by
her
partner
(Mirlees-
Black,
1999).
My
plea
is
for
agencies
to
share
information
openly
and
honestly
about
women
at
risk
and
thereby
to
create a
process
by
which
repeat
offenders
and
victims
can
be
properly identified. I
have
seen
such
benefits
from
the structured
process
of
sharing
information
within
the
child
protection
arena
that
I
would
love
to
see
transferred
to
the
investigation of
domestic
violence.
In
support
of
that
plea I
will
tell
you
a
story
of a
murder
recently
committed
in
Halifax, of a
woman
called
Patricia
Goddard.
It
can
be
seen
as
a
classic
text
in
terms
of repeat victimization
and
domestic
violence.
*
Detective
Chief
Superintendent
West
Yorkshire
Police,
England
52
THE
NATURE
OF
DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
The Crime
The
definition of
domestic
violence
set
by
the
Home
office
for
all
police
forces
is:
'Any
incident
of
threatening
behaviour,
violence
or
abuse
(psychological,
physical,
sexual,
fmancial
or
emotional)
between
adults
who
are
or
have
been
intimate partners
or
family
members,
regardless
of gender'
(Home
Office
Circu-
lar
19/2000,
p.
4,
Section
2.
'Definition').
But
what
is
unique
about
domestic
violence?
Why
is
it
so
different
from
other
assaults?
Consider
the
following
facts
that
often
characterise
cases
of
domestic
violence:
•
Victims
are
emotionally
involved
with
the
offender.
•
Victims
are
financially
dependent.
•
The
victim
lives
with
the
offender.
•
There
are
no
other
witnesses.
•
Offenders
exercise power
over
the
victim.
•
Victims
are
threatened.
•
The
victim
is
likely
to
see
the
offender
again.
•
There
is
a
high
chance
the
victim
will
be
assaulted
again.
Taking
these
factors
into
account,
many
police
forces
extend
their positive
action
against
domestic
violence
beyond
adults
in
intimate
relationships
or
within
families
to
include,
for
example,
violence
by
grown
children
or
extended
families.
There
has
been
considerable
change
in
the
UK
over
the
last
twelve
years
or
so
in
police
attitudes
to
domestic
violence.
The
Home
Office
Circular
60
(2000)
for
the
police
benefited
from
considerable
contributions
by
other agencies,
including
the
Crown
Prosecution
Service,
Women's
Aid,
refuges
and
Victim
Support.
It
provides
the
police
with
clear
directions
on
how
they
should
deal
with
domestic
violence,
reflecting
the
ethos
and
legislative
duties
of
the
Human
Rights
Act
1998,
which
came
into
force
in
October
2000.
In
2000,
Professor
Betsy
Stanko
also
presented
her
collection of data
at
a
National
Day
of
Action
in
September
(Stanko,
2000)
in
which
she
showed
that
the
police
received
a
call
from
the
public
nearly
every
minute
for
a
domestic
violence-related
matter.
Yet
she
also
found
that
more
women
contact
Women's
Aid
or
refuges
on
a
day-to-day
basis
than
contact
the
police.
Combined,
these
organisations
house
more
than
two
times
the
number
of
people
who
contact
the
police
on
any
given
day
for
assistance
from
domestic
violence.
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