Domestic Violence and Social Justice: A Structural Intersectional Framework for Teaching About Domestic Violence. (October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Coker, Donna
• Other Names: Adelman Madelaine guest-editor.; Coker Donna guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Violence against women. Volume 22:Number 12(2016)
• Page Start: 1426
• Page End: 1437
• Publication Date: 2016-10
• Subjects: domestic violence -- intimate partner violence -- pedagogy -- critical theory -- social justice -- law teaching -- intersectionality; Abused women -- Periodicals; Women -- Crimes against -- Periodicals; Violent crimes -- Periodicals; Femmes victimes de violence -- Périodiques; Femmes, Crimes contre les -- Périodiques; Crimes violents -- Périodiques; 362.8292
• DOI: 10.1177/1077801215625851
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1077-8012

Abstract

My Domestic Violence and Social Justice law school course is organized around a structural intersectional framework to encourage students to recognize how structural inequalities inform the types of abuse perpetrated, individual and community responses to abuse, meanings that a victim ascribes to abuse, and factors that increase the risk of abuse. The course challenges the dominant neoliberal ideology focus on individual responsibility that eclipses shared responsibility. The course combines experiential exercises, a presentation by members of a community-based survivor organization, discussion of a hypothetical case with a legal practitioner, and court observation to help students apply theoretical insights to practical issues of individual representation and policy-making.