Customer Reviews

Next Time She'll Be Dead: Battering and How to Stop It

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If you watched the Simpson trial and wondered, "Why didn't Nicole just leave?"; if you ever thought that women who stayed in abusive relationships must somehow ... well, like it, or deserve it, or be weird; if you're a woman who ever thought "It could never happen to _me_", then you should read this book.

And if you've never wondered or thought about battering at all, or if you're a man, or if you're a woman, then you should read this book.

An eye-opening, sickening, and incredibly revealing look at battered women and abusive men and society's response to them both.

Battering and how to stop it is an excellent source for anyone who desires to better understand the psychological trauma of the victim and the difficult situations that arise in trying to leave. The reader will understand the victim more thoroughly in some critically analyzed situations. Including The Steinberg Murder Case. This book is well-researched and thoroughly explained. Some sources: The American Journal of Psychiatry, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, New York Times, Washington Post, National Center on Women and Family Law, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.

This book is an excellent view of the domestic violence disease that plagues this country. As a police officer I respectfully do not share all of her views but she has brought to light many of the problems associated with domestic abuse. Her references are impecable yet not all officers are out to ignore the plight. Some of her views are not only invalid(maybe they should be valid)in some states but she even recommends law enforcement to violate the constitution and rules of civil and criminal procedure. I was given this book by a fellow officer with the for warning " you will love this book but it will get you mad." It definitely did that. I feel that it is great reading and should be read by all in society especially those in law enforcement but I wish to debate a few issues with Ms. Jones. We all seek an end to violence and this book is one view as to how we may start going about it NOW. Buy it, read it, recommend it!

In the course of this book, one learns the value placed on shelters as well as on battered women--which unfortunately is about nil. With violence increasing in society generally and domestic violence cases being reported more often, this book is a necessary supplement to those in criminology, domestic violence fields (e.g., counselor, social worker, etc.), and the sociology fields. Ann Jones writes prolifically in this book, and she should be commended for bringing out the sad reality of domestic violence and the supposed assistance they are really supposed to receive.

This book should be required reading in all High Schools! I was OUTRAGED after reading this book, the response of the police, courts and prison system are unbelieveable! The case histories are amazing.

Ann Jones is passionate about her views on domestic violence. If there is any issue that needs passionate advocates it's this one. I found this book very informative, full of case examples and important information on how our justice system doesn't currently work very well to protect battered women or prosecute violent men. Concerned Americans need the information provided in this book so that we can work together to make the changes necessary in our society to put a stop to this horrendous epidemic. However, a word of caution to potential readers; this book contains so many horror stories, it is difficult to cope with. This can cause perfectly logical people to feel overwhelmed, and even be overtaken by denial, simply because it can be to much for the heart to bear. Well researched and well written, a great resource for anyone working in the law enforcement, medical, or human services fields. -Sharice Lee, Author: The Survivor's Guide-

First, let me say that this book does something very important: it tells the stories of a great many women who were victims of horrible violence and whose repeated attempts to get help from the police and courts were met with ignorance, denial, and even derision. Many of these women died because police, judges, and juries "blamed the victim." Jones is passionate about exposing the institutionalized sexism that destroys women's lives, and she does a good job.

However, this book is written from a perspective which I cannot agree with -- a black and white worldview in which violence is the exclusive domain of men and patriarchy is the sole cause of domestic violence.

I believe that patriarchy is still strong, and does much to contribute to the problem of battering. However, if we stop here (as Jones does) we fail to explain why only a minority of men are violent. Psychological explanations are necessary in order to account for the difference between violent and non-violent men, and Jones ignores or in some cases even derides psychology, sticking to socio-political explanations.

"Blaming the victim" is a real problem, and Jones has plenty of real-life examples where the victim was blamed and lost her life because of it. However, the idea of "blaming the victim" can turn into a blunt weapon in the wrong hands, used to suppress alternative ideas the way McCarthyism suppressed dissent by calling people communists. Jones, unfortunately, does just this. For example, she makes the very good point that many people ask "why didn't she leave" even if the victim did, in fact, leave (or try to). However, many women stay with their abusers for months or years. And, according to Jones, if you ask why they stay, you are "blaming the victim".

In perhaps the most misguided example of this tendency, Jones refers to the literature on co-dependency as "victim-blaming at its most pernicious." It's ironic that one Amazon reviewer attacked Codependent No More for (supposedly) encouraging people to leave their spouses, whereas Jones seems to think that the book encourages battered women to stay and get beaten some more. In fact the idea of co-dependency encourages people to grow into self-responsibility, which might involve staying or leaving depending on circumstances. But to Jones, the very idea of self-responsibility, applied to a battered woman, is tantamount to "blaming the victim".

Jones has a point. There are plenty of examples in her book of women to did everything they could to take responsibility, leave, get help, only to be turned away by police and eventually murdered by their husband or boyfriend. However, Jones throws the baby out with the bathwater, concluding that because some men will go to any lengths to possess and control a woman, the idea of co-dependency is just another excuse to blame women for their own problems.

Finally, Jones insists on casting the problem as one of "male violence", reinforcing the oppositional gender split in this culture which I believe contributes to the very patriarchy which Jones purports to critique. Jones says that "the assailant in almost all heterosexual and homosexual violence is a man". However, some studies (which Jones doesn't mention) suggest that domestic violence is more common among lesbians than heterosexuals or gay men. If Jones believes these studies are inaccurate, she should critique them, not ignore them.

Ultimately, Jones does a great job of presenting the patriarchal aspect of domestic violence. The problem is that she not only stops there, but unjustly condemns other important perspectives on this grave social issue.