A Systematic Literature Review of the Use of Computational Text Analysis Methods in Intimate Partner Violence Research

Purpose: Computational text mining methods are proposed as a useful methodological innovation in Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) research. Text mining can offer researchers access to existing or new datasets, sourced from social media or from IPV-related organisations, that would be too large to analyse manually. This article aims to give an overview of current work applying text mining methodologies in the study of IPV, as a starting point for researchers wanting to use such methods in their own work. Methods This article reports the results of a systematic review of academic research using computational text mining to research IPV. A review protocol was developed according to PRISMA guidelines, and a literature search of 8 databases was conducted, identifying 22 unique studies that were included in the review. Results: The included studies cover a wide range of methodologies and outcomes. Supervised and unsupervised approaches are represented, including rule-based classification (n = 3), traditional Machine Learning (n = 8), Deep Learning (n = 6) and topic modelling (n = 4) methods. Datasets are mostly sourced from social media (n = 15), with other data being sourced from police forces (n = 3), health or social care providers (n = 3), or litigation texts (n = 1). Evaluation methods mostly used a held-out, labelled test set, or k-fold Cross Validation, with Accuracy and F1 metrics reported. Only a few studies commented on the ethics of computational IPV research. Conclusions: Text mining methodologies offer promising data collection and analysis techniques for IPV research. Future work in this space must consider ethical implications of computational approaches

Reconstructing domestic violence as "terrorism against women" : disrupting dominant discourse

This thesis examines the different ways in which violence is constructed within legal discourse. Two specific types of violence are compared - domestic violence and terrorism. While on the face of it, these appear to be very different types of violence, in the second section of my thesis, I argue that there are significant parallels between the two. In particular, in Chapter 2.2 I argue that serious domestic violence is often committed with a particular ideological motive, that of masculinist ideology. Ideological motive is the first element of the legal definition of terrorism. In making this argument, I draw upon definitions of domestic violence that point to the elements of power and control inherent in some domestic violence, which is committed predominantly by men against women. I also argue that this type of violence is a manifestation of masculinist ideology in a broader sense, which permeates Australian society. In Chapter 2.3, I also argue for the reconceptualisation of domestic violence as a crime committed against women as a 'section of the public'. This accords with the second aspect of the legal definition of terrorism, as a crime committed with the intention of coercing a government, or intimidating the public, or a section of the public. This reconceptualisation contrasts with the usual conceptualisation of domestic violence as a crime committed in the private sphere, a feature of domestic violence which has been the subject of significant feminist critique. Having reconstructed domestic violence as fitting within the two key parameters of the legal definition of terrorism, in Section 3 I go on to consider some of the various ways in which the law differentially treats terrorism and domestic violence. In Chapters 3.1 and 3.2, I consider the treatment of preparatory forms of violence, and prevention of violence. In Chapter 3.1, I examine the regulation of incitement to violence, through the national system for classification of publications and films, and also through the regulation of hate speech in Australian and various overseas jurisdictions. Chapter 3.2 contains an examination of the civil regimes for the control and prevention of violence, specifically terrorism control orders and domestic violence protection orders. Chapters 3.3 and 3.4 consist of an examination of the treatment of more serious forms of violence. In Chapter 3.3 I compare sentencing decisions in Australian terrorism cases with sentences for male-perpetrated homicides against intimate partners, exploring the ways in which the concepts of 'ideology' and 'public' interact with the various considerations to be taken account of upon sentence. In Chapter 3.4, I examine cases in which female victims of domestic violence respond with lethal violence against their abusers, and how they are constructed in legal discourse, in comparison with law enforcement agents who respond to terrorism and other types of violence that threaten the safety of police or the community. I argue that the construction of domestic violence as a 'private' crime devoid of ideological aspects affects the ways in which female perpetrators of defensive homicide are treated in the legal system. Throughout each of these chapters, I consider how the differential constructions of domestic violence and terrorism serve to reflect and reinforce existing power relationships within society. In particular, the continued trivialisation of domestic violence serves masculinist interests in ways that I explore in each chapter. Finally, in Chapter 4, I draw upon some of the themes from these various chapters and discuss possibilities for legal reform and further ways in which reconceptualising domestic violence as an ideological/public crime may influence the way it is dealt with in the legal system

Full Issue 10.3

Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Co.The original of this document is in the Stevens Family Papers, #1210, at the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, New York 14853

Politics is (almost) personal: writing in the war on terror

This dissertation contributes to an ongoing debate about the use of the personal and politics in post-9/11 fiction. Using the "Gray-Rothberg exchange" (Morley, 720) as a premise for its investigation, this research establishes that three narratives from post-9/11-War on Terror fiction, Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007), Sunjeev Sahota's Ours are the Streets (2011) and Chris Morris' comedy film Four Lions (2010) have reworked the inevitability of "the personal", "emotional entanglements" of the narrative protagonist to make political critiques. These writers reverse literary focus and pay narrative attention to the personal account of a politically dehumanized figure. Discussing narrative form in Chapter 1, personal political awakening in Chapter 2 and an empathic discursive context to political discussions in Chapter 3, this work determines that the inevitability of the personal in literature can be used for constructive political treatment, but that that treatment remains in the realm of discourse as it engages with the media representations of terrorist rather than the political specifics of the ongoing global campaigns

The Socialization Of Terrorism In Canada

The academic and institutional battlefield is littered with the best intentions of those attempting to bring a universally recognized definition to the term ‘terrorism’.  The concept of ‘where you sit is where you stand’ certainly applies to such endeavors.  In addition to considering how best to integrate such fundamental questions as who, what, where, why and how in a definition of the term, attempts have been confounded and complicated by where definitional efforts have been centered within a particular community. Do you adopt a social science or quasi-scientific approach?  From a jurisprudence and law enforcement perspective? Terrorist financing? Intent and motivation? Psychological drivers and personal profiles of individual terrorists? Organizational structures?  Cultural and anthropological approaches? Rationality and mental health? Historical considerations? Critical study interpretations?  All this has made for terrorism being a contested concept over the decades. As observed by Schmid and Jongman, and as we shall explore, “The nature of terrorism is not inherent in the violent act itself. One and the same act can be terrorist or not, depending on the intention and circumstances.”  But how terrorism is defined by whatever community is not a trivial issue. Definitions carry political and policy consequences that govern the counterterrorism space and how threats and risks are articulated going forward.  How the threat environment endures is often just as much an outcome of how a state elects to respond to the threat, as it is the agenda of terrorist entities.  And terrorism charges cannot be prosecuted if there is not at least some notion of how motivations, intentions and acts are defined in statutes. Received: 01-05-2024 Revised: 01-14-202

Smoke and Mirrors: U.K. Newspaper Representations of Intimate Partner Domestic Violence

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced pdf of an article accepted for publication in Violence Against Women following peer review. The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in Violence Against Women, Vol 23 (1): 114-139, first published April 2016 by SAGE Publishing, and is available on line at doi: 10.1177/1077801216634468. All rights reserved.News media are in a position to project certain perspectives on domestic violence while marginalizing others, which has implications for public understanding and policy development. This study applies discourse analysis to articles on domestic violence in two U.K. national daily newspapers published in 2001-2002 and 2011-2012 to evaluate evidence of change over a 10-year time span. The research examines how discourses of domestic violence are constructed through newspaper representations of victims, predominantly women, and perpetrators, predominantly men. Although one of the newspapers adopts a respectful position toward women, the textual and visual techniques adopted by the other reveal a tendency for blaming the victim and sexualizing violence related to perceptions of “deserving” or “undeserving” women victims.Peer reviewe

Redefining terrorism: can State Actors commit and be responsible for acts of terrorism?

This dissertation seeks to give a more extensive definition of terrorism through a more innovative interpretation and use of the existing international legal systems, while not jeopardizing its foundations in the process. The dissertation also undertakes a proper evaluation of the elements of terrorism. The research study tests the hypothesis that states can commit terrorism. The aim of the dissertation is to demonstrate the need to redefine terrorism comprehensively in the international sphere and establish whether state actors can commit acts of terrorism. The study adopts a discourse analysis to investigate the research questions and puzzle out the exclusion of ‘state terrorism' from the discussion of terrorism in the mainstream literature while focusing on representative politics. In the instant case, the consequences of recognizing terror acts by non-state actors and not by the State or its agents. From the analysis and preceding discussions, this study affirms that excluding states or their agents as potential perpetrators of terrorism is a deliberate representation without a proper legal backup and that most definitions fail to appreciate the objective test in defining terrorism