TOWARDS A "THIRD WAY" IN DEALING WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

NYU and Brooklyn D.A. Jointly Sponsor Feb. 2 Conference On New Models for the Criminal Justice System Response to Domestic Violence

In recent years, the long-term failure to deal decisively with domestic violence has become an issue of significant public debate. Violence in the home was often treated differently - and far more leniently - than other violent crimes, as though it were simply an inevitable part of home life. And while new and aggressive law enforcement tactics were yielding significant drops in crime nationally, domestic violence remained doggedly resistant.

In order to counteract this trend, public officials, often prompted by feminist legal and social critiques, began to enact mandatory arrest and prosecution policies for domestic violence crimes. This, however, led to another problem: families in general and women in particular found themselves caught up in a legal system that compelled and prescribed their compliance, allowing victims no latitude to be an active partner with law enforcement in the decision-making of their own cases.

To explore new models that ensure attentiveness to the criminality of domestic violence but provide a way to try to permit victims to derive some healing from the process, NYU's Ehrenkranz School of Social Work, NYU's Law School and the District Attorney's Office of Kings County will jointly sponsor a symposium titled, "Domestic and Family Violence in the 21st Century: Emerging Controversies and Best Practices for Professionals," which will be held Friday, February 2nd, from 8:30am to 4:30pm at the NYU School of Law, 40 Washington Square South.

Prof. Gerald Landberg, a professor of social work at NYU and conference organizer, and Prof. Linda Mills, who holds joint appointments at the Schools of Law and Social Work and will be a key presenter at the conference, said, "We need to reconsider mandatory interventions in domestic violence cases. We need to ask ourselves whether these sorts of remedies really serve the best interests of battered women. Research indicates that the process is much healthier for these women when they can view themselves as full partners in the process with some decision-making ability, rather than actors dragged along for the ride.

"The Brooklyn DA's Office in particular has been exemplary in developing a new model to address these emerging concerns, and that is why we are so glad to have it as a co-sponsor of this event."

The symposium will begin with a presentation by Lisa Smith of the Kings County District Attorney's Office on its analysis of Brooklyn homicides in 1999 and 2000, and particularly with regard to domestic violence homicides. Other sessions during the day will include:

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