"This edited volume highlights Latina girls' and women's perceptions of and experiences within the US juvenile, criminal, and immigration enforcement systems"--

Domestic violence against women is an oppressive condition that extends across race, class, and gender. This work examines intimate partner violence against women in Memphis, Tennessee, focusing on Mexican immigrant and Mexican American female survivors of domestic violence. Author M. Helena Vanderlei Collins interviewed ten Mexican immigrant women and seven Mexican American women to investigate factors that influence helpseeking behavior. Collins focused on the perceptions of Mexican immigrant and Mexican American women regarding the social services available to them and explored how their help-seeking behavior is affected by their degree of acculturation and the incidence of intimate partner violence. Collins employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to answer seven key research questions. The quantitative instruments included ARSMA-II, the Inventory of Abusive Behavior, and a customized demographic questionnaire. The qualitative data was drawn from the semi-structured interviews with the domestic violence survivors. Collins concluded her study by describing the challenges women of Hispanic origin face when seeking help from social service providers and by offering recommendations on how to improve the quality of services these women receive.

Despite changes to laws and attitudes, rape continues at epidemic levels worldwide. As gatekeepers to the criminal justice system, law enforcement officers are important to the processing of rape cases and their interactions with victims can potentially affect the victim’s reaction to and recovery from rape. In order to better understand rape and the processing of cases through the criminal justice and legal systems, Rape, Victims and Investigations explores the unique perceptions and experiences of detectives who respond to rape victims and investigate rape cases. The detective’s investigation is the foundation of the prosecution’s case; the book considers factors that contribute to the challenging nature of rape investigations, such as lack of evidence or a clear, credible victim statement. Detectives’ perceptions of victims’ revictimization by the criminal justice and legal systems are also explored. The book also looks at specific causes of police stress and burnout related to working rape cases, financial struggles faced by departments, and ways to meet these challenges. By integrating previous research within the context of rich interview data, Rape, Victims and Investigations provides deep insight for readers and will contribute to the continued improvement of treatment of victims by the criminal justice system. The book will be essential reading for academics, students, law enforcement officers, those who provide services to sexual assault victims and victims themselves.