The book examines how the police, prosecutorial staff, and courts, by their operational definitions of the crime, standard operating procedures, and technology have determined their response to domestic violence. The impacts of recent innovations in the criminal justice response are explored. Several chapters discuss how the victims' attitudes and actions interact with agency action. Several chapters review the societal context within which the criminal justice system operates. An analysis of the historical context shows how the criminal justice system's view of its role in handling domestic violence and similar crimes have affected performance. Some authors pose the question of whether limitations are imposed by the nature of society's reaction to and acceptance of violence. Several chapters examine how the interaction between an agency's standard operating procedures and the adoption of new technology has shaped and altered reactions to incidents of abuse. Some chapters address the effects of new legal and operational definitions of domestic violence, major police innovations, changes in how prosecutors dispose of their domestic violence caseloads, and the increased sophistication shown in the sentencing of offenders. Many chapters emphasize how victims in domestic violence cases may affect and be affected by the lack of response by the criminal justice system. Such impact may occur in the form of helping to determine an officer's decision to arrest or the new wave of lawsuits against recalcitrant agencies. Other chapters show that, despite this impact, the responsiveness of the criminal justice system as a system may be constrained by society's failure to treat all crimes of violence seriously, especially when the victim finds herself persecuted or prosecuted for taking direct action in self-defense. Chapter references, tables, and a subject index