This article covers domestic violence and its psychological impact on the victim. Domestic violence is one of the major factors relating to divorce, financial decline, loneliness, and national social costs.
The domestic violence offender, if convicted, faces criminal penalties, including imprisonment, fines, and mandatory behavioral therapy that targets an offender’s challenges with managing their anger and emotional propensities.
Attendance in anger management instruction is often a condition of the offender’s probation.
Criminal and Civil Implications for Domestic Violence
According to national studies, as many as one in five women are victims of domestic violence. According to law enforcement, 40% to 60% of men who abuse women also abuse children.
Domestic violence is also one of the primary causes of legal separation and divorce and is a severe criminal offense. The psychological impact on the children and abused spouse is profoundly damaging and allows the abused spouse to seek civil remedies against the abuser and stay-away orders, also referred to as restraining orders. Both superior and family law courts have jurisdiction to issue such orders depending on the circumstances involved.
If custody battles are over the children, rest assured that a conviction or civil finding of domestic abuse can be fatal to the abusing spouses’ custodial rights. In some instances, a court will order that parental custody be terminated.
The Criminal Penalties for Domestic Violence
The crime of domestic violence occurs in every state and affects both men and women from all social, educational, and economic backgrounds.
In criminal court, domestic violence cases are usually charged as misdemeanor offenses. However, if the injuries are significant and the victim has agreed to testify against the defendant, most prosecutors will file the charges as a felony and proceed to trial. In most states, an aggravated domestic violence charge is a felony battery.
Jail And Fines
In most jurisdictions, punishment for domestic violence can include jail, fines, community service, and mandatory attendance in a twenty-week anger management program.
The court can issue a protective order enjoining the defendant from engaging in future abusive conduct toward the victim to further protect the victim. This is also known as a temporary restraining order. Violating the order is a separate criminal violation known as contempt of court.
The Individual and Social Costs of Domestic Violence
Domestic violence does not need to be physical to be damaging. Domestic violence can also cause the victim to endure profound emotional troubles, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The personal cost to the victim can be devastating.
Domestic violence occurs in many different types of families and relationships. However, women are at a much greater risk for domestic violence than men. Concerning children, witnessing domestic violence is itself a traumatic event.
Domestic Abuse Can Begin Slowly and Then Progresses
According to mental health experts, domestic abuse usually begins slowly and progresses into more pronounced rage, anger, and violent incidents. After an episode of abuse, the offending spouse will often express remorse for losing control and promise the other never to engage in such behavior again. Unfortunately, the statistics tell a different story. Acts of rage and violence are rarely isolated events.
According to law enforcement, over 70% of first-time domestic violence offenders will commit the crime again within twelve months.
Causes and Consequences of Domestic Violence
According to the experts, there is no single cause of domestic violence – yet there are many consequences for both the victim and the offending partner. In many instances, the offender has been a victim of physical violence or has witnessed domestic violence in the home as a child. The propensity of such offenders to act out their aggression is often aggravated by the excessive and addictive use of alcohol and drugs.
Finally, domestic violence can also damage a victim’s job performance and loss of employment. Recent labor studies have shown that victims of domestic violence tend to miss substantial time from work.
Today, many states offer victims of domestic violence the legal right to take time off from work to care for their physical and emotional condition and the resulting circumstances that often follow.
Federal Family and Medical Leave Act
At the federal level, the Family and Medical Leave Act permits employees to take up to twelve weeks off every twelve months to attend to their health conditions or a close family member.
If your spouse or partner is acting out in aggressive and abusive ways, reach out to someone you know and trust as soon as possible. It could be a friend or neighbor. If you sustained injuries, you should call the police immediately and tell your physician about the circumstances so they can document your medical records.
Anger Management Classes
In most states, Anger Management Courses are usually part of a court-ordered program resulting from a domestic violence conviction to attend and complete, as a condition of probation or as part of the court-imposed sentence, a certified anger management program. Individual behavioral therapy has proven to be most effective in treating offenders.
Probation officers can also order these types of courses. The state must approve and certify the schools that staff and administer these programs.
The Goal of Anger Management Classes
Attendees begin a learning process to detect and manage their anger and avoid situations that bring about violent and uncontrolled behavior.
The goal of the in-class work is to understand the value of non-violent communication while learning how to calm oneself through breathing techniques and other mindful exercises that induce inner calm while reducing escalating anxiety levels.
Learning the warning signs that trigger angry outbursts
Anger management is a form of therapy that helps people identify specific triggers in their life that set off emotional outbursts of anger. The student learns ways to identify, manage and control these triggers before they erupt into full-blown outbursts of anger and potentially physical violence.
Behavior Modification
Behavioral therapy
Some courses employ behavior modification techniques to control emotions. It is a form of emotional conditioning in which the student, step-by-step, is taken to higher stress levels and then, for each class, is taught to internally lower stress through breathing and visualization techniques.
The student gets the chance to practice these methods in a safe environment while learning alternative ways to express disappointment and high levels of stress in non-violent ways.
People prone to angry outbursts
We only need to look at the phenomena of road rage to realize that certain people can’t control their anger. These people are typically either working or living in high-stress, high-conflict environments. From a clinical perspective, many offenders suffer from anxiety, depression, and chronic pain.
Offenders were often victims of physical abuse
Others have been victims of violence themselves as children and have acquired this behavior from their parents. Still, other people’s uncontrollable anger is biologically based and is best treated by a physician in a clinical setting or through medication.
Length of Anger Management Program
Depending on your state’s requirements, a complete anger management program is generally ten weeks, which includes ten weekly sessions that run between 90-120 minutes.
The total hours required for an intermediate-level anger management course is 15-20 hours of instruction.
Class Size
Classes are usually offered in a small group setting (ideally ten students or less), and some cases may be supplemented with one-on-one counseling. The average price for such a course is about $150.00 plus a registration and materials fee.
Class usually includes a combination of role-playing, lectures, group discussions, videos, and videos. The core of the work is to learn effective non-violent communication strategies and self-relaxing techniques and exercises.
Distance Learning Classes
Since the 2000 Covid-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions, most states began permitting anger management classes to be taken online. These were 16-hour online classes that can be completed for just under $100.00 plus a registration fee. However, since courts are reconsidering the value of such online courses, make certain your county permits online learning and will accept the certificate as evidence of completion of the course.
Returning To In-Person Meetings
Most programs have returned to in-person classes believing they offer a more impactful learning experience.
Rehabilitative counseling experts tend to agree that the personal experience of being physically present in anger management classes is an important feature of these classes’ overall impact and success.
Unfortunately, for some domestic violence offenders, distance learning anger management classes equate to enrolling in an online traffic school. Some offenders simply do not recognize the course’s potential value and merely see it as a form of punishment – and the cheaper and quicker they can complete it, the better.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
Finally, know this telephone number: 1-800-799-7233, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and they are ready to help you any time of the day or night.
Consult A Criminal Defense Lawyer
Should you have specific questions or require additional information about your legal rights and obligations, we recommend you consult a verified Criminal Defense Lawyer as soon as possible.
Related Articles…
