Amy Bishop and Domestic Violence
In 1986 domestic violence was still a new idea. How could domestic violence be an idea? But that is what it was, an idea, only then finding its way into specific laws in the states. Amy Bishop was 21 and her brother 18. They were both living at home with their father and mother and going to area universities. If the term domestic violence were used, it wouldn't apply to sister against brother. That would still be a family dispute.
The press has reported that Ms. Bishop had a fight with her father that day. We don't know whether this is true or not, but certainly it's not unusual for parents and adult children to have disagreements , yell at each other, and even make threats that don't make a lot of sense. And there was also a gun in the home. That's not unusual either. Many people have guns. Amy was cleaning the gun, a somewhat odd thing for a college student to be doing, but perhaps she was a hunter. She pulled the trigger and shot her brother. She ran to get away from the scene.
We know that at least her mother supported her and charges were dropped. As a parent now of an only child that might be natural as well. There is nothing you can do to bring back a child so certainly protect your other child.
We also know now that Ms. Bishop had a temper and perhaps the police knew it then.
All this adds up to domestic violence: anger in the home, guns, and sometimes family members taking the side of the perpetrator rather than the victim.
So why wasn't Amy Bishop arrested and charged? Domestic violence as an enforced crime has a relatively short history. Karl Weick, the author of Sensemaking (1995), has pointed out that our understanding of words and problems evolves over time. As we speak to each other, we begin to develop common meanings. In the 21st century domestic violence connotes physical violence in the home and even in the workplace. Domestic abuse connotes psychological, physical abuse, a fear for one's safety. Battered wife implies physical force used by a husband against a wife that may lead to emotional problems. Child abuse connotes physical aggression by a stronger adult against a defenseless child. The words elder abuse brings forth the idea of adult children taking advantage both physically, financially, and emotionally their elder parents. As we begin to define the words, we begin to form an opinion of what domestic violence. Our opinions help define the need for laws, and laws help develop our opinions of what is harmful and wrong. Thus, Weick would say that domestic violence is socially enacted. Family violence comes closest to the words to describe what occurred in the Bishop home, but we still don't have words for violence between adult children or between an adult parent and adult child. Still violence between adult children (but not between juveniles) now comes under state domestic violence laws.
The situation in the Bishop home occurred just as awareness of domestic violence between husbands and wives was beginning to be recognized. For the most part, common law, rather than statutes, governed whether an assault, homicide, or battery would result in an arrest. And practice was to only arrest if an officer witnessed an incident that could be classified as a felony. Well-publicized events and reports in the 1980s began to change police practices. In particular, a suit won by a woman against the Torrington, Connecticut Police Department for failure to protect her from violence from her husband (Thurman v. City of Torrington,1984) was publicized in the law enforcement community. Connecticut's own domestic violence act went into effect shortly thereafter in 1985.
A 1984 report by the US Attorney General's office called for domestic violence to be "criminalized." A well publicized report on the police in Minneapolis to assess the value of arrest policies as a deterrent to domestic violence also had an impact on the law enforcement community. The resulting publicity, including a news story in the New York Times," virtually changed overnight" enforcement practices from one in which a majority of cases were screened out as non-law enforcement incidents or family trouble calls to one in which arrests were made.
These events and their interpretation led states to pass domestic violence/abuse violence legislation for a variety of reasons: fear of liability; political demands of the women's movement or local citizens, and, a belief in the value of mandatory arrest. Today the very terms used to define the crime –domestic violence, family violence, domestic abuse–, the relationships covered by law, and the role of arrests differ from state to state, and the types of crimes specifically covered. Just looking at New England shows the variety in statutes. Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut mandate arrest with probable cause in cases of domestic violence (along with New York, New Jersey, Missouri, South Dakota, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Alaska). In states such as New Hampshire officers have "presumptive arrest powers" and often Attorneys General, Commissioners of Public Safety or individual police departments have a protocol for arrest. In between are such states such as Massachusetts that leave domestic violence arrests to the officer's discretion with arrest "preferred." The decision to arrest is based upon whether the officer believes there is probable cause that a crime has occurred. The Massachusetts law calls for a warrantless arrest when court orders such as temporary or permanent restraining or no contact orders are violated. The array of crimes covered range from the very detailed list in Rhode Island to the broader categories in Massachusetts and Vermont. Whereas Connecticut's law is clearly related to protection of the family, Vermont's law makes no mention of family relationships in its categorization of those protected.
These laws and the guidelines to handle domestic situations are now inclusive of workplaces or any other place in which one or two people with a relationship cause the other harm. Massachusetts just updated their guidelines in 2009. Fleeing the scene as Ms. Bishop did would add to the likelihood of arrest. And if a gun is involved, that can trigger gun license revocation. Certainly, in 2010 Amy Bishop would have been arrested. Whether she would have been tried for some sort of domestic violence will be forever unresolved.
In 1986 domestic violence was still a new idea. How could domestic violence be an idea? But that is what it was, an idea, only then finding its way into specific laws in the states. Amy Bishop was 21 and her brother 18. They were both living at home with their father and mother and going to area universities. If the term domestic violence were used, it wouldn't apply to sister against brother. That would still be a family dispute.
The press has reported that Ms. Bishop had a fight with her father that day. We don't know whether this is true or not, but certainly it's not unusual for parents and adult children to have disagreements , yell at each other, and even make threats that don't make a lot of sense. And there was also a gun in the home. That's not unusual either. Many people have guns. Amy was cleaning the gun, a somewhat odd thing for a college student to be doing, but perhaps she was a hunter. She pulled the trigger and shot her brother. She ran to get away from the scene.
We know that at least her mother supported her and charges were dropped. As a parent now of an only child that might be natural as well. There is nothing you can do to bring back a child so certainly protect your other child.
We also know now that Ms. Bishop had a temper and perhaps the police knew it then.
All this adds up to domestic violence: anger in the home, guns, and sometimes family members taking the side of the perpetrator rather than the victim.
So why wasn't Amy Bishop arrested and charged? Domestic violence as an enforced crime has a relatively short history. Karl Weick, the author of Sensemaking (1995), has pointed out that our understanding of words and problems evolves over time. As we speak to each other, we begin to develop common meanings. In the 21st century domestic violence connotes physical violence in the home and even in the workplace. Domestic abuse connotes psychological, physical abuse, a fear for one's safety. Battered wife implies physical force used by a husband against a wife that may lead to emotional problems. Child abuse connotes physical aggression by a stronger adult against a defenseless child. The words elder abuse brings forth the idea of adult children taking advantage both physically, financially, and emotionally their elder parents. As we begin to define the words, we begin to form an opinion of what domestic violence. Our opinions help define the need for laws, and laws help develop our opinions of what is harmful and wrong. Thus, Weick would say that domestic violence is socially enacted. Family violence comes closest to the words to describe what occurred in the Bishop home, but we still don't have words for violence between adult children or between an adult parent and adult child. Still violence between adult children (but not between juveniles) now comes under state domestic violence laws.
The situation in the Bishop home occurred just as awareness of domestic violence between husbands and wives was beginning to be recognized. For the most part, common law, rather than statutes, governed whether an assault, homicide, or battery would result in an arrest. And practice was to only arrest if an officer witnessed an incident that could be classified as a felony. Well-publicized events and reports in the 1980s began to change police practices. In particular, a suit won by a woman against the Torrington, Connecticut Police Department for failure to protect her from violence from her husband (Thurman v. City of Torrington,1984) was publicized in the law enforcement community. Connecticut's own domestic violence act went into effect shortly thereafter in 1985.
A 1984 report by the US Attorney General's office called for domestic violence to be "criminalized." A well publicized report on the police in Minneapolis to assess the value of arrest policies as a deterrent to domestic violence also had an impact on the law enforcement community. The resulting publicity, including a news story in the New York Times," virtually changed overnight" enforcement practices from one in which a majority of cases were screened out as non-law enforcement incidents or family trouble calls to one in which arrests were made.
These events and their interpretation led states to pass domestic violence/abuse violence legislation for a variety of reasons: fear of liability; political demands of the women's movement or local citizens, and, a belief in the value of mandatory arrest. Today the very terms used to define the crime –domestic violence, family violence, domestic abuse–, the relationships covered by law, and the role of arrests differ from state to state, and the types of crimes specifically covered. Just looking at New England shows the variety in statutes. Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut mandate arrest with probable cause in cases of domestic violence (along with New York, New Jersey, Missouri, South Dakota, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Alaska). In states such as New Hampshire officers have "presumptive arrest powers" and often Attorneys General, Commissioners of Public Safety or individual police departments have a protocol for arrest. In between are such states such as Massachusetts that leave domestic violence arrests to the officer's discretion with arrest "preferred." The decision to arrest is based upon whether the officer believes there is probable cause that a crime has occurred. The Massachusetts law calls for a warrantless arrest when court orders such as temporary or permanent restraining or no contact orders are violated. The array of crimes covered range from the very detailed list in Rhode Island to the broader categories in Massachusetts and Vermont. Whereas Connecticut's law is clearly related to protection of the family, Vermont's law makes no mention of family relationships in its categorization of those protected.
These laws and the guidelines to handle domestic situations are now inclusive of workplaces or any other place in which one or two people with a relationship cause the other harm. Massachusetts just updated their guidelines in 2009. Fleeing the scene as Ms. Bishop did would add to the likelihood of arrest. And if a gun is involved, that can trigger gun license revocation. Certainly, in 2010 Amy Bishop would have been arrested. Whether she would have been tried for some sort of domestic violence will be forever unresolved.
