CRJ 577 - Intimate Partner and Family Violence Credits: 3

This course provides an overview of the theoretical paradigms examining the definitions of, causes of, ramifications of, and interventions for intimate partner and family violence. More specifically, we will (1) examine the nature and extent of intimate partner and family violence; (2) take an in-depth look at the perpetrators and victims of IPV; (3) examine theories to gain a better understanding of why these forms of violence take place; (4) examine the criminal justice response to intimate partner and family violence; and (5) examine some of the larger cultural contexts within which the varieties of abuse occur. This course recognizes that a disproportionate number of the victims are women, but that a strict feminist analysis needs to be modified to recognize abuse in same-sex relationships and a growing literature on female offenders.