Citation

Petropoulos NN, Fotou E, Ranjan S, Chatzifotiou S, Dimadi E. Policing (Oxford) 2016; 10(4): 416-431.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/police/paw034

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The primary goal of this article is to develop a profile of domestic violence offenders in Greece. It will begin by exploring domestic violence data from a sample of 19 police directorates across Greece, focusing further on the data of one of the police directorates (Kavala). Next, it will explore and identify the characteristics of domestic violence perpetrators (n = 13) under the Penal Mediation Program of Via-Stop (Via-Stop (in Greek: BIA ΣTOΠ) is an NGO which was founded in 2008 and is based in the city of Kavala in Northern Greece). As police in Greece are the first responders in domestic violence cases, understanding the general characteristics of offenders provides the necessary background knowledge to make their intervention effective. Further, to successfully implement a treatment programme that is aimed at preventing harm, it is essential to comprehend the motives and personality characteristics of the offender. The profile of the offender emerging from national and local (Kavala) police and Via-Stop offender data is as follows: offenders were typically male, were aged predominantly 30-45 years, had middle/higher socio-economic status, and had a prior history of abuse that was unreported to authorities. Offenders initially blamed the victim for the disintegration of the family, as well as their predicament, refusing to accept responsibility for their actions. However, in due course of the treatment, most of them indicated that the programme was crucial in the improvement of the communication with ex-partners and minimization of conflict, as they brought forward issues for debate to the therapist, rather than confront their (ex) partner directly. Most importantly, their placement in the Penal Mediation Program had largely prevented re-offending.

Language: en