Introduction
The problem of domestic and elderly abuse remains one of the most urgent in the modern world. This is explained by the globally increased cruelty. Fear is one of the main factors which allows people to commit domestic crimes. There are several types of domestic violence and elderly abuse, physical, financial and sexual abuse, neglect and self-neglect, psychological abuse (even though many people do not consider it as violence), as well as abandonment (Dunn, 2008). Domestic violence is mostly directed at women and children. However, there are cases when men are abused in the family. Many people hearing about domestic abuse imagine physical or sexual abuse, nevertheless, it is not so. The cases of abuse increase every minute. One of the main problems which exist in the modern society is that not all cases of domestic violence or elderly abuse are reported. Official statistics are shocking, however, there are many reasons to believe that unreported cases of abuse may even dominate. The main purpose of this paper is to conduct a thorough research directed at searching for appropriate information on domestic violence and elderly abuse and making assumptions about policy creation and predicted outcomes.
Statistics to Domestic Violence and Elderly Abuse in Los Angeles
Having considered the statistics of the problem, we can predict the spread of the future policy in the society and its importance. According to US Census (2010) information, 37,349,363 people live in California. Among them 4,269,495 are elderly people above 65. Looking at particular information about the level of crime in the state, one can state that Los Angeles has approximately the same activities of crimes rate. According to the information provided by the National Center on Elder Abuse Study (2004) 67% of elderly women are subjected to crimes in comparison with 32% of elderly men. Considering the information about the types of abuse, the following statistical data may be presented, 20% of domestic violence and elderly abuse involves caregiver neglect, 15% of cases are focused on one of the following types of abuse, verbal, emotional, or psychological. Financial exploitation covers about 15% of violence and abuse and 12% represent the cases of sexual and physical abuse. Most of the reported domestic crimes are directed at elderly people as they do not have enough assistance and power to fight with the offenders. National Center on Elder Abuse Study (2004) states that among other types of domestic abuse, the following percentage correlation may be seen: “33% are adult children, 22% were other family members; 16% were strangers, and 11% were spouses/intimate partners” (p. 38). Thus, it is obvious that community-oriented policing directed at domestic violence and elderly abuse is necessary for society.
Facts about Domestic Violence and Elderly Abuse
It should be mentioned that each person can report about any of types of these crimes to Los Angeles Police Department. Having checked the LAPD’s website, it becomes obvious that the cases devoted to the problem under discussion are numerous. Many women do not report to police after the case of abuse, however, they go to health care establishments and express their problems there. Many women also need psychological help. The hospitals should be able to provide such assistance and encourage women to report about such cases to the police (Rhodes, Frankel, Levinthal, Prenoveau, Bailey, & Levinson, 2007). One more interesting fact about domestic violence is devoted to state-created danger doctrine which confuses the police officers. This doctrine presupposes that officers should consider their behavior properly as a failure to act accordingly in case domestic violence abuse report may cause many problems for officers, victims, and even criminals (Shtelmakher, 2010). Thus, much attention should be paid to community-oriented policing.
Resources for Domestic Violence And Elderly Abuse Policy Creation
It should be mentioned that Los Angeles possesses the resources aimed at combating with domestic violence and elderly abuse. The District Attorney’s Victim-Witness Assistance Program is implemented with the purpose to help victims get their compensation (Domestic Violence Victim Assistance, 2011). The information gathered with this program may be used for delivering financial support of the future policy. Moreover, state laws directed at elimination and prevention of domestic violence and elderly abuse may be used for strategic basis of policy development. It is important to cover the laws used by the whole society.
Los Angeles Police department has implemented a grant for Proposal for the Specialized Domestic Abuse Responses Team. Los Angeles Police Department has created this grand with the purpose to consider the ideas community non-profit organizations are going to going to implement for combating domestic violence (Lieboff, 2004). Having researched some specific information about the resources the community-oriented policing is going to use for policy creation, many organizations and communities have been discussed. Having a purpose to combat domestic abuse and elderly crime, some organizations offer the following sources of assistance.
Family violence reduction by means of neighborhood watch has become an effective tool in the way of combating with domestic burglary, and the same concept may be used for domestic violence prevention as well (Lungren, n.d.). Moreover, public opinion in the relation to domestic violence and elderly abuse may become an effective resource for forecasting the policy actions and a way of understanding what exactly should be done.
Public Opinions to Develop Local Policy
Public of the whole world tries to fight with domestic violence and elderly abuse. However, it seems that the USA has much more regulations, laws and legal document related to the problem. However, it does not mean that the rate of violence is low in the American community. Having visited the website of Los Angeles Police Department, it became obvious for me that many people live in danger of being abused and even more of them experience physical, sexual, financial or psychological abuse. Everything is connected with human awareness of the problem and their vision of the criminal. Domestic violence and elderly abuse have always been a problem as in case of the incident many people have to evidence against people they love. When pain is relieved, people reconsider their actions and do not go to police believing that the problem is going to disappear. However, it is not true and the violent acts become frequenter and the beating becomes more severe. The rate of children abuse is that great that US government has created a special department aimed at finding the causes of abuse and punishing criminals. Therefore, it may be concluded that having negative opinion in relation to domestic violence and elderly crime, people continue abuse their relatives. The creation of the “Report a crime” service may be helpful for those who see the cases of domestic violence but do not know where to go. Reporting about a crime, public helps police combat crimes in Los Angeles.
History Information
The Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 is a document aimed at helping police combat with crimes devoted to domestic violence and elderly abuse. This document is considered to be the initiator of many specific actions and laws directed at helping those who appear under abuse. This governmental document may be used as the basis for Los Angeles domestic violence and elderly abuse policy. The history of Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 creation begins in 1970’s when the problem of violence began to be considered as a serious one. Legislation has changed significantly since that time. The Family Violence Prevention Services Act of 1984 was the first document which guaranteed protection for those who suffered from abuse at home. A more developed document was adopted in 1994 and was called Violence Against Women Act. Much attention and federal funding were directed at state and local programs. The federal government wanted to deliver the responsibilities connected with domestic violence and elderly abuse on state powers as it is easier to follow this process on the local level. More changes may be seen in 2000 act where special officers were responsible for committing crimes and had to hold investigation. One of the main peculiarities of 2006 act is that it “emphasizes collaboration among law enforcement, health and housing professionals, and women, men, and youth alliances, and encourages community initiatives to address these issues” (Laney, 2010, p.3). Thus, it may be concluded that contemporary laws are based on the legal acts adopted many years ago. Even though many changes occur, domestic violence is still considered similarly with the only difference that each year more and more attention is paid to elderly population which is unable to protect themselves.
All Stakeholders and Their Opinions and How Politics May Impact Its Implementation
The stakeholders of the future community-oriented policy are to be people from different agencies and which possess various powers and responsibilities. Crime and Violence Prevention Center in Los Angeles is created with the purpose to help victims of crimes report about abuse. Being both powerful and political structure this agency plays an important role in fighting with domestic violence and elderly abuse. Looking at the list of stakeholders, it is important to state the role of each one. Thus, politicians play vital role in policy creation. The initiatives they cover, the laws they develop and the acts they adopt have a direct impact on the level of domestic violence as working in accordance with legal documents, police officers perform their duties precisely as politicians encourage them to do. The role of politicians in fighting with domestic violence and elderly abuse is significant as they create the rules according to which public order is organized. Political structures should collaborate with the powerful structures to adopt effective legal acts which can be applied in practice.
Judges also have a direct impact on the level of domestic violence and elderly abuse, as while a criminal is in the court, judges are to make a fair decision and punish a person in accordance with the actions he/she has done. The role of prosecutors is also significant as often family members refuse from making evidence after they reported about a criminal offense. Thus, prosecutors should search for other ways for proving offender guilt and his/her punishment. Defense attorneys are aimed at doing all possible to protect a client and make the punishment less severe. The role of correctional officers and administrators in particular as well, as according to the latest changes in the correctional agencies in California state, these officers are aimed not at punishing, but at criminal rehabilitation which is considered to be a more effective means of human correction. Law enforcement officers play their vital role in the relation to policies and laws implementation. It should be stated that each of these stakeholders of domestic violence and elderly abuse play vital role in the life of the whole society. These people lead abuse processes from the very idea initiation up to the correctional actions. The correlation of these agents, their collaboration and appropriate co-existence may lead to successful outcome. However, in practice, everything is not that great. Creating laws and implementing a number of initiatives, political structures think about their citizens, but they are not aware of the processes power structures should implement to follow those laws. Sometimes many misunderstandings lead to failure of law implementation.
Policy Recommendations
The policy should define domestic violence and elderly abuse from different angles to make sure that people understand what these notions mean and how they can be related to their life. The policy should define different types of abuse, like sexual, financial, physical, psychological, etc. Much attention should be paid to financial and psychological abuse as many elderly people are not aware of these issues to be abused and do not even try to turn for help. The main idea of the community-oriented policy should be the enumeration of the ways which help to combat with domestic violence and elderly abuse which may be considered by the public. This policy should be directed at the community and supported by police department of Los Angeles. People in the communities should follow the situation and collaborate with police. The preference for this policy should be the following communities, rural and remote ones, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, elderly and disabled people, homeless people, women and children (Bartels, 2010). Even though men may also suffer from domestic violence, their rate is too small. The policy should cover the topics related to safely at home, safety at car, rape prevention information, walking in danger and weapon issues. Properly considered information and implemented tips for behavior in any of these situations should be considered in detail in the community-oriented policy titled Domestic Violence and Elderly Abuse.
Rationale for These Recommendations
Many people are subjected to domestic violence or elderly abuse even without being aware that they have the right to turn to police. The awareness of the definitions and the types of abuse may be helpful for people. The rate of domestic violence in relation to elderly people has increased. The inability of elderly people to turn for help makes those less protected. The recommendations to community-oriented policing Domestic Violence and Elderly crime should inform people about danger, warn them about unpredicted situations and help cope with those. Human unawareness about their rights and ignorance of the problems of neighbors always lead to dramatic outcome. The absence of such policy in Los Angeles is one of the main reasons for such policy creation. Having a department aimed at helping victims of domestic crime, Los Angeles has not developed a particular policy which should function on the territory of the city. The necessity for policy creation is explained by the increase of the abuse cases and public report about domestic violence in their neighborhood.
Their Impact on Contemporary Criminal Justices Issues and Globalization
The community-oriented policy aimed at preventing domestic violence and elderly abuse impact criminal justice agencies in Los Angeles. The development and adoption of the discussed policy are going to have a direct impact on policy as this department is responsible for reacting to the criminal reports, catching criminals, and making sure that the community is properly protected. The implementation of the policy with the statement of the police rights and obligations may help community lead more protected life. The impact on justice is not going to be too high as the general principles of judging criminals and court procedures are going to be conveyed. Corrections agencies should be implemented due to the more stress on criminals rehabilitation. It should be stated that in most cases jails make inmates more violent and cruel. Rehabilitation direction of the corrections agencies is exactly what should be implemented on the relation to discussed criminals.
Dwelling upon the impact of community-oriented policy directed at domestic violence and elderly abuse on globalization, it should be stated that the increased generalization of the society has not avoided this problem. One should remember that modern world is too connected and the processes which occur in one country are sure to influence the situation in another one. Thus, if the discussed policy is going to be successful, if the adopted rules are going to be followed, the world community would like to adopt the same guidelines to combat domestic violence and elderly abuse in their community.
Conclusion
In conclusion it should be stated that the problem of domestic violence and elderly abuse remains sharp. One of the main problems of the abuse spread is public unawareness. Considering sexual and physical abuse as the only types of domestic violence, many people continue suffer from financial and psychological abuse. Moreover, dealing with relatives, many victims do not want them to be imprisoned, so they refuse for testify against them. The implementation of the rehabilitation in the correction agencies instead of imprisonment may help our policy become effective in the problem of fighting with domestic violence and elderly abuse. Having considered the statistical information about the level of crimes, having searched for particular facts and resources necessary for understanding the problem we managed to enumerate the stakeholders of the future community oriented policy devoted to domestic violence and elderly abuse, considered the recommendations and rationale for the future policy along with the impact on the criminal justice agencies and globalization.
Reference List
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Domestic Violence Victim Assistance. (2011). LAPD. Web.
Dunn, W. N. (2008). Public policy analysis: an introduction. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Laney, G. P. (2010). Violence against Women Act: History and Federal Funding: RL30871. Congressional Research Service: Report, 1-20.
Lieboff, R. A. (2004). Request for proposals: SDART. Los Angeles Police Dapartment. Web.
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