Interpreting Community Accountability: Citizen Views of Responding to Domestic Violence (or Not)

Authors

Jacob Z. Hess, Utah Youth VillageFollow
Nicole E. Allen, University of Illinois at Urbana ChampaignFollow
Nathan R. Todd, DePaul UniversityFollow

Abstract

In spite of common public condemnations of domestic violence, survey research suggests that citizens aware of actual abuse often believe they cannot or should not personally respond. Through in-depth interviews with 20 local citizens across the political spectrum, we sought to explore this dynamic more carefully by better understanding community interpretations of domestic violence and its appropriate response. This paper explores ten specific views identified in these interviews as potentially relevant to citizen action (or inaction) in response to known abuse. After examining subtle consequences of each belief, we explore broader implications for community mobilization and propose several ways of facilitating a more thoughtful and extensive deliberation about domestic violence among the general public.

Keywords

Domestic Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, Community Accountability, Hermeneutic Philosophy, Qualitative Research

Publication Date

7-4-2011

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2011.1123

Recommended APA Citation

Hess, J. Z., Allen, N. E., & Todd, N. R. (2011). Interpreting Community Accountability: Citizen Views of Responding to Domestic Violence (or Not). The Qualitative Report, 16(4), 1096-1123. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2011.1123