Is It Possible To Address Intimate Partner Violence Without Police Involvement? - Page 2

Behind Bars + Behind On Healing

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The judicial system and the prison system are not kind to people of color. However, those are most likely going to be the very systems they’re sent through after the police have been involved in an IPV case. And after spending time in prison, enduring the horrors there, and being spit back out into society, IPV aggressors are in a worse state than when they went in. And, says Brooks, there is an increased chance that they take these frustrations out on their partner when they return home.

But the consequences of going to prison over IPV are even more complex. Being behind bars can and most likely will worsen the circumstances that were fueling the IPV in the first place – circumstances such as poverty and lack of opportunity. Brooks shares an old adage from within her community: “IPV is about power and control.” And that feeling of a lack of control is due to many, many factors, including constant stressors of poverty, trauma of being a IPV survivor in childhood, a lack of resources, a lack of educational opportunities, and the list could fill a book…

When an IPV aggressor is sent to jail not only are these contributing factors not addressed – they are deepened. The employment world is not particularly welcoming to people who’ve done prison time, and especially to IPV aggressors. The financial situation at home could have become dire while one of the earners was locked up, creating more poverty and more stress at home. The entire cycle of involving the police and sending the aggressor through the legal system can wind up squeezing the figurative necks of the family that was already suffocating emotionally and financially.

The Guide for Community Response Without Police Guide suggests other ways that a community can hold an aggressor accountable that doesn’t involve prison time. It includes resources and steps towards healing, and towards getting at the root of why the IPV occurs.