LAW 522 - Special Topics in Criminal Law Seminar

This seminar will examine the history, prevalence, and characteristics of domestic violence between intimate partners. Drawing from scholarship and cases in feminist theory, social science research, and law practice, we will focus primarily on domestic violence as a crime and on the criminal law’s role in preventing and punishing it. We will study various types of domestic abuse as well as the effect of factors such as age; sexual orientation; race and ethnicity; culture; and mental illness on the incidence and severity of intimate partner violence. We will emphasize evidence-based solutions to the problem and attempt to achieve consensus as to how solutions might be achieved.