Desmond Ellis

Rethinking Estrangement, Interventions, and Intimate Femicide

North American research shows that interventions and their type, appropriateness, timing, and patterning may help explain variations in the relationship between estrangement and intimate femicide on one hand and reintegration or conciliation on the other. The main objective of this article is to build on Wilson and Dalys male proprietariness thesis by integrating it with a theory of interventions.

Crowding and prison violence: Integration of research and theory.

A review of the literature on social density/crowding effects indicates the need for a process explanation of the density, violence, crowding relationship. The mediational variables that should be included in such an explanation are age, transiency, and their relation with social density and crowding, as described in the model. Unique to this model is the treatment of crowding as a cognitive-evaluative state and as a dependent variable. In an attempt to indicate its utility, the model is, in the final segment of the article, applied to a concrete situation.

Post-separation woman abuse: the contribution of lawyers as "barracudas," "advocates," and "counsellors".

For many women, separation is viewed as a solution to a number of marital problems, including physical and emotional abuse (Ellis, in press; Ellis & Wight, in press). Studies of woman abuse among separated and divorced women reveal that separation decreases the incidence and seriousness of abuse for some women but not others. The literature also suggests that women in this group varied in the kinds of lawyers they consulted. Available to them was quite a varied menu of lawyers. “Barracudas,” “undertakers,” “mechanics,” “mediators, ” “social workers,” “therapists,” “moral agents,” “mercenaries,” “counsellors,” “ pilots” and “advocates” are all available to be consulted. A fair amount of the extant literature on “divorce lawyers” is devoted to the construction of typologies of this kind (Cavanagh & Rhode, 1976; Kressel, 1985; Kressel, Hochberg, & Meth, 1983; O’Gorman, 1963; Williams, England, Farmer, & Blumenthal, 1976). Two major problems characterize these efforts. The first has to do with the validity of the measures used to generate types of lawyers. More specifically, operational definitions of such types tend to miss their core meaning or essence. Secondly, the construction of lawyer role types and styles often proceeds without reference to the consequences for clients of becoming involved with different types of lawyer. Rarely does the typologist go on to examine the relationship between constructed lawyer types and the real world experiences of clients, including the experience of abuse among female separated and divorced clients (Sacks & Benedict, 1977). To help improve upon the reliability and validity of measures generating lawyer role types and to describe their contribution to post-separation wife-abuse, are the principal objectives of this paper.

Sibling Violence: A Review of Canadian Sociological Research and Suggestions for Further Empirical Work

The seeds for this paper were sown in the spring of 1993 during a conversation with one of Walter DeKeseredy’s neighbors. She was deeply distressed by the ways in which her children interact with each other and asked DeKeseredy if it is common for siblings to beat, hit, and insult each other. Lacking an answer to this question, we conducted a review of the extant literature and found a conspicuous dearth of Canadian empirical and theoretical work on sibling violence. In this paper, we explain way sibling violence is overlooked in Canada, briefly describe the current state of Canadian sociological knowledge on this “intimate intrusion,” and provide suggestions for future research.

Deviance and Crime : Theory, Research and Policy

This book sensitizes the reader to the fact that there is substantial disagreement within the academic community, and among policymakers and the general public, over what behaviors, conditions (e.g., physical attributes), and people should be designated as deviant or criminal. Normative conceptions, the societal reaction/labeling approach, and the critical approach are offered as frameworks within which to study these definitions. A comprehensive explanation of theory and social policy on deviance is constructed.

Policing wife-abuse: The contribution made by "domestic disturbances" to deaths and injuries among police officers

This study examines the claim that domestic disturbances account for a disproportionate number of deaths and injury to police officers. The uses to which this claim was put and the shift to arresting wife abusers during the 1980s are described. The crises of hegemony faced by the state during the 1960s is used to explain the widespread implementation of a family crisis intervention program that did nothing to reduce deaths and injuries to police officers or family members. The emergence of the womens movement helps explain the states shift in emphasis from crisis intervention to arresting wife abusers.

Safety, Equity, and Human Agency Contributions of Divorce Mediation

The primary objective of this article is to present the merits of the case for the contribution made by divorce mediation to the safety, equity, and human agency concerns of separating women. Research findings indicate that divorce mediation makes a greater contribution toward achieving these outcomes than either lawyer negotiations or court adjudication. The article ends with a segment on what men can do to promote womens safety.

Marital Separation and Lethal Male Partner Violence

Findings reported by many researchers indicate that the association between marital separation and intimate partner femicide has achieved the status of a sociological empirical generalization. The primary objective of this article is to contribute toward the cumulative development of a conflict theoretic explanation of separation- associated femicide by creating and testing a deductive conflict resolution theory that explains the empirical generalization. The causal mechanism identified in the theory is the intensity of conflict that increases with participation in adversarial and separation and divorce proceedings. Interventions logically derived from the theory are presented in the penultimate segment. Limitations are identified in the concluding segment.

Preventing Intimate Partner Homicide and Femicide

In this chapter, the contributions made to preventing femicide by three national femicide prevention programs, shelters for abused women, and domestic violence risk assessment are reviewed and evaluated. Two of the three national programs are grounded in prediction using a lethality assessment instrument (Danger Assessment), and one of them is grounded in the use of a domestic violence risk assessment instrument as a screening tool. The evaluation of domestic violence risk assessment includes instruments designed to assess both nonlethal and lethal violence.

Separation and Suicide

In this chapter, social integration–regulation, personality, and conflict resolution theory are reviewed and evaluated. The process of evaluation includes a critical analysis of findings cited in support of the theories and the causal mechanisms derived from them.