Skip Navigation


British Journal of Criminology Advance Access originally published online on October 18, 2006
British Journal of Criminology 2007 47(4):655-670; doi:10.1093/bjc/azl078
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
47/4/655    most recent
azl078v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Dinovitzer, R.
Right arrow Articles by Dawson, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

The British Journal of Criminology 47:655-670 (2007)
© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (ISTD). All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Family-Based Justice in the Sentencing of Domestic Violence

Ronit Dinovitzer and Myrna Dawson*

* Ronit Dinovitzer, University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School; ronit.dinovitzer{at}utoronto.ca. Myrna Dawson, University of Guelph; mdawson{at}uoguelph.ca. Please address correspondence to Ronit Dinovitzer, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, 725 Spadina Avenue Toronto, Ontario M5S 2J4, Canada; ronit.dinovitzer{at}utoronto.ca. Order of authorship does not reflect seniority or priority.


  Abstract

While historical research has noted the importance of the ‘family’ in criminal justice, recent empirical work has tended to neglect the emphasis placed on the family in the criminal process. Drawing on Daly’s work on familial justice, this paper investigates the role of the family in the sentencing of offenders in a specialized domestic violence court. We examine both the likelihood of incarceration and the determinants of sentence length, and find that conceptions of the family continue to have an important influence on these criminal process outcomes. In cases in which the victim has suffered serious injuries, offenders in intact relationships are more likely to be sentenced to jail, yet, at the same time, when incarcerated, these offenders receive shorter sentences. Thus, even as researchers are documenting broader shifts away from the promotion of substantive values through the criminal process, the current study suggests the continued relevance of ‘family-based justice’ in the sanctioning of offenders, so that moral imperatives continue to intersect with the actuarial logic of modern penal practices.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Criminal Justice ReviewHome page
J. H. Garner and C. D. Maxwell
Prosecution and Conviction Rates for Intimate Partner Violence
Criminal Justice Review, March 1, 2009; 34(1): 44 - 79.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.