Rebecca Dobash

Protection, Prevention, Rehabilitation or Justice? Women's Use of the Law to Challenge Domestic Violence*:

This article addresses the neglected question of what women who experience ‘domestic violence’ want from the law and examines the ways in which women actively engage with the legal system. Viewing women as agents trying to survive abuse, we examine their interaction with both civil and criminal legal systems as part of their ‘active negotiation and strategic resistance’ to mens violence. This represents a break from the tradition which has tended to view women survivors as passive recipients of the law and has focused on outcomes of legal intervention to the exclusion of process. Using data from a British evaluation of criminal justice responses to domestic violence, we analyse legal processes which support or fail to support women and argue that legal interventions can contribute to womens improved safety and quality of life.

Drug-Taking, 'Risk Boundaries' and Social Identity: Bodybuilders' Talk about Ephedrine and Nubain

The instrumental use of steroids and analogous drugs is a normalised practice in bodybuilding subculture. However, in a society where bodily health and lifestyle are conjoined, such risk-taking carries negative connotations. Bodybuilders using drugs for purposes of physique enhancement are able to resist accusations of opprobrium and maintain competent social identity by drawing a sharp contrast between themselves and ‘junkies’. This self-serving differentiation appears untenable, however, when bodybuilders take Ephedrine and Nubain: drugs that may be compared respectively and unfavourably to amphetamines and heroin. Using qualitative data, this paper considers the variable status of Ephedrine and Nubain as risk boundaries among bodybuilders. In operating as risk boundaries, these drugs signify limits beyond which ‘sensible’ drug-using bodybuilders should not venture. As social constructs, risk boundaries are also contingent. Correspondingly, bodybuilders using Ephedrine and Nubain may redraw lines delimiting (in)appropriate behaviour thereby retaining competent social identity. These ethnographic observations ground theoretical debate about the impact of risk society on body- and identity building in late modernity and highlight some of the limitations of influential cultural theories of risk.

Domestic Violence: Sociological Perspectives

Domestic violence is characterized by a recent history of rapid social change in institutional policy and practice. The problem is primarily one of mens violence against women and a considerable proportion of women have experienced this type of physical and sexual violence. Physical injuries are often severe and women may suffer from persistent health and emotional problems. When women are murdered, the perpetrator is usually an intimate partner. Women find it difficult to leave a violent relationship because of threats, lack of support, and, historically, the inadequate responses of institutions. Sociological explanations stress the importance of male power and control.

When Men Murder Children

This chapter draws on data from the Murder in Britain Study to examine male perpetrators and compare family to nonfamily perpetrators. These comparisons were examined in terms of the nature of relationships, the murder event and the life course of the perpetrators. The results suggest these perpetrators experienced adversity in childhood and problematic adult lives, but contextual factors such as the orientations of the men, the type of relationship with the child and the child’s mother were also significant.

Ellen Pence Appreciation: Letters From Britain and Europe:

Letters from Britain and Europe were compiled and edited by Rebecca Emerson Dobash and Russell Dobash and includes contributions from the following: Scotland—Monica Wilson, formerly codirector of CHANGE and now Advisor to the Caledonian System, currently being developed by the Scottish government; Dave Morran, former codirector of CHANGE, now Lecturer in Social Work, University of Stirling, Scotland; Dorothy Anderson, previous Administrator of CHANGE. England —Neill Blacklock, Development Director, Respect, London. Respect is the national association for professionals working with people to end their abusive behavior. Europe—Rosa Logar (Austria) and Ute Roesemann (Germany), WAVE network -Women Against Violence Europe.