Is Domestic Violence Violent Crime?

Davies, Elouise and Francis, Brian and Walby, Sylvia and Towers, Jude (2022) Is Domestic Violence Violent Crime? PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

This thesis analyses domestic violence as a form of violent crime to examine if (and how) violence by domestic perpetrators differs to violence by strangers and acquaintances. Violence by domestic perpetrators has been argued to differ from violence by other perpetrators in several ways, including sex (of the victim and of the perpetrator), repetition, and severity (Bachman 1994; Walby, Towers and Francis 2014). This thesis compares these key factors associated with different forms of violence (sex, repetition, and severity) using a large quantitative dataset of violent crimes compiled from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) to determine whether domestic violence is significantly different to other forms of violent crime and thus should remain distinct and separate in its analysis, policymaking, and practices, or whether domestic violent crime should be integrated into “violent crime”. The overall conclusion is that DVC should be mainstreamed in analysis of violent crime, but victim-perpetrator relationship should be disaggregated to highlight patterns and differences. While domestic violence is different to violence perpetrated by strangers or acquaintances on the abovedimensions, it does not make sense to exclude it from discussions of violent crime.