Review of exponential rise in domestic violence amid COVID-19: theories and perspectives

Conclusion

1. The paper brings to the fore the rise of domestic violence during the COVID 19 pandemic, adopting criminological theories to better explain the problem in relation to the existing literature.

2. The findings posit that domestic violence is a learned behavior and the learning is through association. Due to lack of social bond, lack of attachment, lack of commitment to important institutions, such as family, friends, work places and church, people resort to violence as a result of all forms of frustration, imposed on them by the pandemic.

3. The study demonstrates that the national lockdown hindered victim support and empowerment, victim assistance and imposed re-victimisation on victims. And due to the closure of most critical institutions, such as police stations and courts, the entire socio-political system was frustrated, while justice was delayed and subsequently denied.

4. For fear of contracting the coronavirus, victims of crime resorted to not reporting the incidents of domestic violence against them. By the same token, the police response to issues of victimization was extremely poor because of the fear of contracting the infection.

5. The study unveiled that South African government failed to consider domestic violence and victims of crime when preparing for the national lockdown to control the spread of the virus. Information on victim assistance was not disseminated hence victims became frustrated and helpless. This is most likely to impact negatively on victim- criminal justice relations, not only for the present time, but also in the nearest future.

As recommendation, given the myriads of post-traumatic stress disorders, experienced by victims, the national policies on victim assistance should be reviewed to incorporate preliminary measures against the outbreak of disasters like COVID-19. Further empirical research is deemed necessary to assess and document victims' journey in the prosecution process, considering the fact that the process has not been initiated properly and the relation has always been of a tarnished nature.

References

Dubai Medical Journal, 3 (2), 44-49. doi: http://doi.org/10.1159/000508448

2. Contini, C., Di Nuzzo, M., Barp, N., Bonazza, A., De Giorgio, R., Tognon, M., Rubino, S. (2020). The novel zoonotic COVID-19

pandemic: An expected global health concern. The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries, 14 (3), 254-264. doi: http://doi.org/10.3855/jidc.12671

3. Wijoyo, H., Akbar, M. F., Safii, A. R., Prasada, D., Yusuf, A., Sudarsono, A., Widiyant, W. (2021). The Effect of Tax Stimulus during the

COVID-19 Pandemic in Improving the Performance of Taxpayers. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: http://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3873695

4. Kunguma, O., Ncube, A., Mokhele, M. O. (2021). COVID-19 disaster response: South African disaster managers' faith in mandat

ing legislation tested? Jamba - Journal of Disaster Risk Studies, 13 (1). doi: http://doi.org/10.4102/jamba.v13i1.1099

5. Navsaria, P. H., Nicol, A. J., Parry, C. D. H., Matzopoulos, R., Maqungo, S., Gaudin, R. (2020). The effect of lockdown on inten

tional and nonintentional injury during the COVID-19 pandemic in Cape Town, South Africa: A preliminary report. South African Medical Journal, 111 (2), 110-113. doi: http://doi.org/10.7196/samj.2021v111i2.15318

6. Dlamini, N. J. (2021). Gender-based violence, twin pandemic to COVID-19. Critical Sociology, 47 (4-5), 583-590. doi:

http://doi.org/10.1177/0896920520975465

7. Anderson, C. A., Bushman, B. J. (2018). Media Violence and the General Aggression Model. Journal of Social Issues, 74 (2),

386-413. doi: http://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12275

8. Weiss, B. R. (2020). Rhetorical and Organizational Typification of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking as Discrete

Forms of Violence. Social Problems, 68 (3), 625-641. doi: http://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spaa007

9. Cavanagh, K., Dobash, E., Dobash, R., Lewis, R. (2001). Remedial Work: Men's strategic response to their violence against inti

mate female partners. Sociology, 35 (3), 695-714. doi: http://doi.org/10.1017/s0038038501000359

10. Gulati, G., Kelly, B. D. (2020). Domestic violence against women and the COVID-19 pandemic: What is the role of psychiatry? International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 71, 101594. doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2020.101594

11. Corcoran, J., Stephenson, M., Perryman, D., Allen, S. (2001). Perceptions and Utilization of a Police-Social Work Crisis Intervention Approach to Domestic Violence. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 82 (4), 393-398. doi: http://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.181

12. Ishani, A. (2019). Violence Against Women (Domestic Violence, Rape, Marital Rape, Prostitution). SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: http://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3655112

13. South Africa. Domestic Violence (1998). Act 116 of 1998. Pretoria: Government Printers.

14. Frank, C. (2007). Quality Services Guaranteed? A Review of Victim Policy in South Africa, 137 Iss Monograph Series 1.

15. Glantz, L., Spiegel, A. (1996). Violence and family life in contemporary South Africa: Research and Policy Issues. Human Science Research Council Issue 96.

16. Anitha, S. (2019). Understanding Economic Abuse Through an Intersectional Lens: Financial Abuse, Control, and Exploitation of Women's Productive and Reproductive Labor. Violence Against Women, 25 (15), 1854-1877. doi: http://doi.org/10.1177/1077801218824050

17. The National Prosecuting Authority (2004). The Service Charter for Victims of Crime in South Africa, 8.

18. Global and regional estimates of violence against women. Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and nonpartner sexual violence (2013). World Health Organisation. Geneva, 51.

19. Tuerkheimer, D. (2004). Recognizing and Remedying the Harm of Battering: A Call to Criminalize Domestic Violence. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 94 (4), 959-1024. doi: http://doi.org/10.2307/3491414

20. COVID-19 lockdown escalated GBV cases (2020). SABC News. Available at: https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/covid-19- lockdown-escalated-gbv-cases/

21. Preventing intimate partner violence and sexual violence against women: Taking action and generating evidence (2010). World Health Organisation. Geneva, 102.

22. Vetten, L. (2014). The ghost of families past: Domestic violence legislation and policy in post-apartheid South Africa. Agenda, 28 (2), 48-57. doi: http://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2014.927261

23. Hass, A., Moloney, C., Chambliss, W. (2016). Criminology: Connecting Theory, Research and Practise. Rouledge, 728.

24. Burke, R. H. (2018). An introduction to criminological theory. Routledge. doi: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781315204871

25. Lilly, R., Cullen, F., Ball, R. (2018). Criminological Theory: Context and Consequences. New Jersey: Sage Publications, 592.

26. Olofinbiyi, S. A. (2021). Exploring Youth Awareness of Cybercrime and Factors Engendering its Proliferation in Nigeria. African Renaissance, 18 (4), 319.

27. Kirchhof, G.; Shohom, S. G., Knepper, P., Kett, M. (Eds.) (2010). History and a theoretical structure of victimology. International handbook of victimology. Boca Raton: Taylor and Francis.

28. Pritchett, S., Moeller, K. (2021). Can social bonds and social learning theories help explain radical violent extremism? Nordic Journal of Criminology, 1-19. doi: http://doi.org/10.1080/2578983x.2021.1889133

29. Akers, R. L. (2017). Social learning and social structure: A general theory of crime and deviance. Routledge. doi: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781315129587

30. Laub, J. (2004). The life course of criminology in the United States. American society of criminology, 42 (1), 1 -26. doi: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2004.tb00511.x

31. Schreck, C. J. (2014). Hirschi, Travis. The Encyclopedia of Theoretical Criminology. John Wiley & Sons, 1-3. doi: http://doi.org/10.1002/9781118517390.wbetc133

32. Schmalleger, F. (2013). Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction. New Jersey: Pearson.

33. Merton, R. K. (1938). Social structure and anomie. American Sociological Review, 3 (5), 672-682.

34. Binmore, K. (2021). Early Utilitarians. Springer Books, 108. doi: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74583-7

35. Sutherland, E. (1939). Principles of Criminology. New York: Lippincott, 651.

36. Dollard, J., Doob, L., Miller, N. (1939). Frustration and aggression. New Haven: Yale University Press, 190. doi: http://doi.org/10.1037/ 10022-000

37. Warshaw, C., Brashler, P., Gil, J.; Mitchell, C. (Ed.) (2009). Mental health consequences of intimate partner violence. Intimate partner violence: a health-based perspective. London: Oxford University Press, 147-171.

Размещено на Allbest.ru