Keith Guzik Arresting Abuse Criminal Law Books sku-54363168

Arresting Abuse: Mandatory Legal Interventions, Power, and Intimate Abusers is a hardcover by Keith Guzik, listed under Criminal Law Books. It examines mandatory arrest and no-drop prosecution policies in intimate abuse cases. Supporters say the policies protect victims and give them legal protections afforded to other victims of violent crime.

Critics argue that the policies take decisions away from women and worsen the effects of criminal justice interventions in poor and minority communities. Guzik draws on observations of a police department and criminal court operating under mandatory policies and interviews with 30 people arrested and prosecuted for domestic violence.

He finds that formal legal supervision can expand while offenders resist change, view their violence as justified and develop ways to preserve their sense of self. The book considers how state tactics, social inequality and individual agency shape those outcomes. It argues for approaches that pair victim empowerment with offender responsibility without worsening social inequality.

SKU sku-54363168.