Indigenous Courts, Culture and Partner Violence

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Elena Marchetti

   Pages 1-12

3. Partner Violence—Global, Legal and Indigenous Perspectives

   • Elena Marchetti

   Pages 13-30

4. Indigenous and Domestic and Family Violence Specialist Courts

   • Elena Marchetti

   Pages 31-52

5. Indigenous Sentencing Courts in Two Australian States

   • Elena Marchetti

   Pages 53-76

6. The Role of Elders and Community Representatives and How It Impacts on Perceptions of Justice

   • Elena Marchetti

   Pages 77-99

7. Couples Who Stayed Together

   • Elena Marchetti

   Pages 101-124

8. Couples Who Separated

   • Elena Marchetti

   Pages 125-148

9. De-colonising ‘What Works’

   • Elena Marchetti

   Pages 149-169

10. Back Matter

    Pages 171-214

    PDF

This book examines the use and impact of Australian Indigenous sentencing courts in response to Indigenous partner violence.  In operation in Australia since 1999, these courts were first established by a magistrate in South Australia who sought to improve court communication and understanding, and trust in the criminal justice system for Indigenous people. Indigenous Courts, Culture and Partner Violence is the first book to consider how the transformation of a sentencing process into one that better reflects Indigenous cultural values can improve outcomes for both victims and offenders of Indigenous partner violence.  It asks which aspects of the sentencing process are most important in influencing a change in attitude and behaviour of Indigenous offenders who repeatedly engage in abusive behaviour towards their partner, and what types of justice process better meets the relationship, rehabilitative and safety needs of Indigenous partnerviolence offenders and their victims?

Marchetti examines the adaptation of a formal sentencing process to make it more culturally meaningful when responding to Indigenous partner violence, and gauges victim and offender views about how the court process has affected their lives and relationships, and elicits their views of violence within their communities. This innovative work will be of great interest to academics, researchers, policy makers, police, lawyers, family violence service providers and students.

• Indigenous courts
• Australia
• Criminal Justice
• Intersectional Race
• Race
• Indigenous
• Partner Violence
• Sentencing
• Victim
• Offender
• ethnicity, class, gender and crime
• violence and crime
• juries and criminal trials
• gender, sexuality and law

• Griffith Law School, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia

  Elena Marchetti

Elena Marchetti is Professor of Law at Griffith University, Australia. She is recognized nationally and internationally as one of the leading scholars in the area of inter-sectional race and gender studies, and has been awarded two prestigious Research Fellowships by the Australian Research Council. She has authored and co-authored numerous articles and book chapters in the areas of indigenous sentencing courts, family and domestic violence.

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