Policing Domestic Violence Essay

Domestic violence can be considered to be an act of violence which has been observed to occur in every socio-economic class as well as within all cultures. Domestic violence is defined as a pattern of coercive control that one individual intermittently exerts over another by means of spiritual, emotional, sexual, physical or economic abuse (http://www. dvvap. org/i). This form of exploitation has victimized mostly the women and children and men in much fewer cases and it continues to be perpetrated all over the world. In some regions or nations of the world, domestic violence has become a daily occurrence. Domestic violence leads to very drastic effects on the family, especially if perpetrated on both women and children. When this form of violence is done through physical harm, it results to injury, disability or even death in victims. Mental problems that may also occur usually make the victims feel unloved, lonely and have low self-esteem. Depression occurs in many victims of psychological abuse, which in turn may cause severe isolation of the victims from family and friends. Sexual violence and incest are other forms of domestic violence. In some regions of the world, domestic violence causes continue to rise due to patriarchal, cultural and religious traditions, (Human Rights Watch, 2005. , pp 12). All over the world, different governments handle domestic violence in many ways due to differing views on violence Different proposals have been presented to encourage the governments to have certain views on this form of violence. According to Lisa, domestic violence should be treated as a political and public problem. It should also be viewed as a breach of the human rights. It is a violation of human rights which every individual is entitled to. Those who perpetrate actions of violence against the others should be stopped, (Lisa, H. 78-79). Policing domestic violence refers to a scientifically developed application that aims at solving the domestic violence problem. In the past, it has involved testing of hypothesis in relation to the classification, prediction and the domestic violence prevention. Policing domestic violence policing as a tool of solving domestic violence also experiences several challenges as a crime prevention strategy (Hoctor, M. 53). In order to identify more effective policing strategies for domestic violence prevention and control, a culture of science is very necessary where the strategy integrates trial and error as a norm in crime prevention. The domestic violence policing programs aim at offering support to victims of domestic violence while at the same time preventing domestic violence. However, the public has raised concern about the domestic violence public policy. Lawrence et al states that in the past, the public has been concerned about the domestic violence policy. This is because it is sometimes based on ideology and it lacks evidence based on science. The public advocates for an effective domestic violence policing which should be practical and also be implemented appropriately. This would be a very good measure in preventing domestic violence (Lawrence S. et al, 24). In the last decade, police response to domestic violence has been criticized with a claim that the police did not take violence incidents seriously. However, effective measures to curb domestic violence are being developed and implemented through better policing. In this paper, the domestic violence policing issue will be discussed. The ethical stance of domestic violence in policing will be looked at, as well as the police departments’ responsibility of policing. The past system and current issues arising due to violence will be evaluated. Discussion For effective policing in domestic violence, a cultural evolution in policing needs to be developed in order to support the scientific revolution in order to solve the domestic violence problem. The cultural evolution rapid movement requires a growing partnership between the police and criminologists, public health community officers and professional scientists. Coherence of approach by the different police units to domestic violence is promoted by policy statements or documents where the Police officers introduce the policy documents with varying extent and content. With the increasing reports of domestic violence to the police, the police service has been required to utilize their limited resources to improve domestic violence service delivery to the people. Domestic violence is a great concern for the community where the police intervene in many cases. Whenever the police receive an initial call for assistance, it is their responsibility to provide immediate protection to the victim due to the fact that the police have certain powers which allow them to respond to domestic violence incidents. Whether the victims feel confident in contacting the police departments later in future will depend on how the police perform their tasks when the victim makes the initial contact (Lawrence, S. 126). The police have a major role in arresting criminals or offenders with the perpetrators of domestic violence considered as criminals because they undermine the human rights of the victims. The suspects are usually arrested and charged if there is enough evidence of violence against the victim. However, law enforcement officers should ensure that the suspect’s rights are not violated until the truth is established much later as one of the requirement in the police departmental policy. The police forces have domestic violence policy documents which contain written aims and priorities that are expected to assist them either solve, prevent or reduce domestic violence incidents. The policy documents normally contain the domestic violence definition, its implications, as well as guidance about the various police response components. The responsibility to implement domestic violence policies is something that is shared across a range of the police roles. The policies are very vital in protecting domestic violence victims against actions of exploitation such as domestic violence involving withholding of economic resources from a victim. Some children are even denied education through this form of abuse, as well partners who do not work. This denies the victims their basic needs, which is considered unethical and unacceptable. Domestic violence policing prevents this form of exploitation and instead promotes ethical practices in the society. Through policing, public safety problems are defined, analyzed and effective solutions to the problems addressed. Though the society is responsible for propagating ethics, it sometimes undermines the ethics if it allows domestic violence to occur without taking any action. For instance, in patriarchal societies, men are sometimes allowed to completely dominate over women. This had led to lack of knowledge and empowerment in women to speak out against violence, whereby the victims lack the ability to express their views and opinions with those who do not adhere to this being severely punished through domestic violence. Domestic violence policies have been developed to address such cultural practices with the police ensuring that law enforcement in relation to such policies is carried out. The police department should have the responsibility of policing domestic violence in the community because they are law enforcers who are responsible for ensuring law and order is maintained in the society and the human rights are well protected. Preventing and reducing domestic violence is one of the ways in which the human rights of everyone in the community are protected. For instance in Australia, police powers and procedures are well set out in the Crimes Act 1990(Policing Domestic Violence in New South Wales NSW, 1999). In addition, the police powers can be found in the police guidelines, referred to as Domestic Violence Standard Operating Procedures. Another example can be seen in the US, where the police department has adopted mandatory arrest policy for domestic violence cases. For spousal violence cases, arrest based on probable cause could be done where the Police officers were allowed to arrest suspects without a warrant as long as the officers had probable cause whether he/she had witnessed the incident or not. This was happening in 23 states of the United States of America by the year 2005 (Hoctor, M. 007) Another reason why the police should participate in domestic violence policing is that, the legislation that protects people from domestic violence in most cases directs the police to intervene in protecting the victims of domestic violence. The police have the power to exercise arrest of criminals or offenders when need be. In policing domestic violence, domestic violence incidents should be stopped as soon as possible making the arrest of offenders by the police an effective means of stopping domestic abuse. This therefore makes it their vital responsibility in policing domestic violence with the responsibility aiming at stopping the conflict, as well as protecting and ensuring the immediate safety for the victims. As law enforcers, the police have a responsibility to ensure criminals are charged in court which mitigates future abuse. The police department receives reports on domestic violence from the community members and then investigates the cases to establish the cause of the abuse, the effects and the victim or offender. After establishing the facts about a case, offenders are charged in court. For instance policies allow police officers to apply for an apprehended violence order (AVO), which guides the judicial process (Lawrence, S. 101). Good police service initiatives in the police departments that enhance awareness in people about violence and service delivery show that they should have a good responsibility in domestic violence policing. The police departments in many nations have instituted the initiatives as a result of their recognition that a high percentage of people in our community are now aware that domestic violence is a crime. These initiatives include, public awareness through advertising campaigns, placement of domestic violence liaison officers (DVLO), specialized training for officers, working with the Attorney General and the development of COPS (Computerized Operational Policing system) to produce statistics relevant to the development of effective domestic violence prevention measures. The initiatives are a good indication of how effective the police department can be in domestic violence policing. The domestic violence issue has attracted widespread public concern, in the past and also in the current world. However, the past system differs with the current system in relation to how policing in domestic violence was/is handled. In the past, the number of domestic violence cases that were reported was fewer than the current number of the cases reported to the police. The continued increase of the reported cases in turn has necessitated the development of measures that will curb the violence effectively. This has led to the development of new measures/policies to address this problem. However, in the past, this problem was not handled with much seriousness as it is now which made the past system less effective in domestic violence policing. Cultural beliefs and practices in the past contributed to continued domestic abuse, because the victims were sometimes convinced that they deserved to be abused. Different societies have changed their beliefs towards domestic violence over time with people become more aware of domestic violence as a crime currently, which has greatly assisted in effective domestic violence policing. People are more willing to speak out about this issue in the modern world as compared to the past years. Modern police service initiatives have enhanced better domestic violence policing as compared to the past system of policing. For instance placement of domestic violence liaison officers (DVLO) in the local areas as a modern initiative has made it easy for people to report violence cases. In addition, offenders are easily apprehended and charged for their offences. In the past, lack of awareness in some victims and the community as a whole in policing encouraged continued abuse because the offender had no action taken against them. Current systems have developed specialized training for officers, which involves training of officers in response to domestic violence and other issues that surround domestic violence. On the other hand, the past systems did not have such training programs. The standard operating procedures (SOP) launching together with the development of computerized operational policing system (COPS) have been very instrumental in adoption of effective domestic violence policing measures in the modern systems (Policing Domestic Violence in New South Wales NSW,1999). The domestic violence policing have also experienced several problems. The policing may lack inadequate support which may in turn undermine how effective the policing can be in solving domestic violence. The police officers who handle domestic violence cases have been accused of not providing the involved parties with enough information and sometimes they have an inappropriate attitude towards the victims. In addition, they have shown unsympathetic, rude and indifferent behavior towards the victims. Nevertheless, solutions to these problems have been integrated in domestic violence policing programs to ensure domestic violence is prevented. Though domestic violence prevention measures were present in the past, current measures have been developed to improve on the past strategies

Cultural Competency Essay

Cultural competency is defined a set of personal and academic skills required for increasing understanding and appreciation of cultural differences. Actually, becoming culturally competent is a developmental process taking lots of time. Cultural competence helps to shape behavioral patents as well as it affects health care delivery. Culturally competent pharmaceutical providers should appreciate family ties and realize that family and behavioral values are determined by peculiarities of culture. Apparently, cultural competence relates to pharmacy, because it suggests pharmaceutical provider-customer relations meaning that health care providers should find individual approach to every patient requiring treatment. The goals of cultural competence are to increase cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural skills and cultural encounters. Cultural differences should be appreciated and accepted and, therefore, it is necessary to seek out new world views of diseases and medicines. Cultural knowledge helps pharmacy to promote better understanding between cultural groups. Cultural competence promotes assessing patient without relying only on written facts. It means that there is a need to find another perspective, to reduce resistance and defensiveness and to acknowledge interactive mistakes. Pharmacy suggests meeting and working directly with people of different cultures and, thus, developing cultural competency helps to dispel stereotypes and to contradict academic knowledge. Pharmacy requires gathering cultural knowledge which is often neglected. Cultural competency welcomes cooperation and collaboration instead of insulting other culture’s perspectives. For example, physicians belong to cultural group possessing their own beliefs, customs, practices and rituals. This includes definitions of illness and health, systematic approaches, compliance, prevention through annual exams, the superiority of technology, etc. Therefore, cultural competency plays crucial role in medicine. Works Cited Spector, R. Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness. Stamford, CT: Appleton & Lange, 1996.

The World of Abstract Art Painting Research Proposal

The World of Abstract Art Painting - Research Proposal Example The paper "The World of Abstract Art Painting" aims to describe the abstract art by looking at the intended as well as created meaning from the artist’s and viewer’s perspective respectively. The artist in focus when it comes to contemporary abstract painting is John Walker, an English printmaker, and painter, and the work is entitled ‘Oceania – My Dilemma’ painted in the year 1983. The work is presented on triptych: oil on canvas and its dimensions on the overall are 217cm by 513cm by 4.3cm. His current collections include Maine landscapes and Seal Point Series. ‘Oceania – My Dilemma’ is a series presented in triptych formation, which uses motifs from his earlier works. The monolith motif is taken as a representation of the Duchess of Alba from the portrait of Goya of 1797. The quotation on the left panel of St. John is a representation of spiritual transcendence. The complexity of imagery in the painting reflects the painter’s Australian experience, which acknowledges European legacy contact with indigenous landscape and people. Incorporation of Aboriginal and Oceanic art elements like spirit figures, masks, barks, skulls, biblical references, and the Alba figure show a collision between traditional beliefs and the introduced Christianity. Therefore, the abstract form of art has grown over the years to take a dominant position in the world of painting. It has helped artists to break from the traditional forms and be free to include word and image in their paintings.

Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Response - Essay Example It is hard to interpret this new move of soda giants. It could be a step in the right direction, or another corporate lie aiming at health-oriented people who would think they are making the right choice by consuming chemical-infused sodas that might not be so healthy for them in the long term perspective. According to a recent publication in The New York Times, a new advertising battle is brewing between soft beverage giants Coca Cola and PepsiCo (Martin, 1). After the cola wars, the diet cola wars and the mid-calorie cola wars, a vitamin cola war is ahead. Diet sodas will be dueling to entice consumers with the promise of a little healthy extra in their glass. Coca Cola plans to introduce a new brand of diet Coke with vitamins and minerals. The company is preparing for a spring or mid-summer launch of the Diet Coke Plus. PepsiCo is also ready to shoot. Their new Diet Pepsi Max will be infused with ginseng and more caffeine than the well-known, regular Diet Pepsi. The company is also preparing a vitamin counter-attack - Tava, which is expected to hit the shelves in June. Both diet sodas respond to a growing market niche. The health and wellness industry boom created a new category of "functional beverages". They promise a wide range of benefits for the consumers - they claim to invigorate, energize, stimulate, refresh and beautify, among everything else. Right now this immensely growing market segment is dominated by small players such as Red Bull, Mountain Dew, Vitamin Water and green tea drinks, while Coke and Pepsi are staying behind the healthy scene. The author of the article claims that the $ 68 billion soda business has dropped for the first time in 2005 (Martin, 1). A steady downfall was estimated even in diet Coke consumption. As sales of full-sugar soda decline, PepsiCo and Coca Cola are racing to add low-calories and non-carbonated drinks to their product mix. In contrast, sales of mineral water, energy drinks and green tea drinks are growing in double-digits. Confused by the fact that Coca-Cola Classic may not continue to make life taste good for a long time, Coca Cola marketing teams are exploring different opportunities in response to the poor performance of soda drinks. An increased interest in soft drinks with vitamins added has emerged. The beginning of this brand new trend was put by the "Gatorade concept" which aimed to increase the popularity of health drinks with both energizing and rejuvenating qualities among sport-oriented consumers. As drinks like "Gatorade" became widely spread, so did the soda giants' marketing plans towards a growing niche of specific target groups with specific wants and needs. In fact, healthy soda seems not to be an entirely new idea. According to the New York Times article, "7UP Plus", which appeared in 2004, was a low-calorie soda fortified with minerals and vitamins. It was claimed to be "100% natural". The product contained high-fructose corn syrup though and after public pressure the company was forced to change the label to: "100 percent natural flavor" (Martin, 1). When large and popular companies, such as Coca Cola and PepsiCo explore new market opportunities and invade new market niches, they face the need to build up new public images of their "healthy" brands. These companies must decide whether to use their already affirmed brands for assistance, or to invest in search for new corporate identities. If the