@article{ref1,
title="Domestic violence case processing: a matter of local legal culture",
journal="Contemporary justice review",
year="2014",
author="Currul-Dykeman, Kathleen",
volume="17",
number="2",
pages="250-272",
abstract="As one enters a courthouse, its culture is communicated to its listening visitors. The manner in which the security guards speak; the length of time victims are kept waiting; the amount of bail a defendant is assessed; communicate messages to those who are paying attention. Domestic violence cases have long suffered from lenient treatment and dismissals in our criminal courts. This paper examines a unique explanation for this problem: the court's local legal culture. The elements of two courts' local legal culture that most profoundly impacted their processing of domestic violence cases are examined. Over a six month period, 23 in depth interviews were conducted with court workgroup members in two courts, one with a specialized domestic violence session and one without. Court room observations were used to supplement these interviews. The results were insightful and telling about how a court's culture can, at times, be more influential on case processing than the law itself.<p />",
language="en",
issn="1028-2580",
doi="10.1080/10282580.2014.915144",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10282580.2014.915144"
}