Challenges in Incorporating Domestic
Violence Legal Issues Throughout Law
School Curricula
Law school professors confront various challenges
when they incorporate domestic violence legal issues into
law school curricula. Some of the challenges arise from the
sensitivity of the subject matter, while other challenges
simply stem from attempting to integrate non-traditional
material into traditional legal education. Professors and
law school administrators may choose to adopt different
approaches depending on the institution and the types of
courses in which domestic violence legal issues are being
raised.
Integrating Domestic Violence Legal Issues into Core
Curriculum Courses
To prepare students to competently practice law,
domestic violence legal issues must be incorporated into
core curriculum courses. Law school professors who are
unfamiliar with these issues may be reluctant to raise them
in the classroom, or they may mischaracterize domestic
violence. Domestic violence law professors report that they
are frequently called upon to teach the portions of core
curriculum courses addressing domestic violence. While
guest speakers provide a temporary solution, all law school
professors should participate in continuing legal education
programs about domestic violence law or study the
emerging field on their own. Then they will be able to
teach comprehensive core curriculum courses without
relying on a few individuals.
The pervasiveness of family violence in the United
States suggests that some law school professors or students
may have difficulty with the subject matter because of the
history of violence within their own families. In addition,
because some law students may be abused by their current
partners or spouses, it is critical for professors to address
domestic violence issues in a sensitive manner. Updated
and comprehensive referral lists for services should be
provided to students whenever domestic violence legal
issues are raised.
Some students may react in a hostile way or express
stereotypes about victims or perpetrators when domestic
violence legal issues are raised. This stems from the fact
that law students may have preconceived notions about
domestic violence law which have been shaped by their
own family experiences or relationships with intimate
partners and by cultural images of men and women. Some
law students may also be hostile to domestic violence
issues because they perceive these issues as feminist issues
that should not be included in a law school curriculum.
The impact of domestic violence on legal practice,
however, ensures that it is not only suitable -- but critical --
to integrate the issue into legal education.
Despite these challenges, law school professors
have a responsibility to integrate domestic violence legal
issues into core curriculum courses in a professional
manner. Professors may need to begin teaching domestic
violence legal issues by helping students to overcome their
stereotypes of victims or perpetrators. Local experts,
including domestic violence survivors, advocates,
counselors, or members of the criminal justice system, can
assist professors in presenting the dynamics of domestic
violence. Students should be taught that domestic violence
is a criminal matter, rather than a private family concern,
and that it is relevant to the area of law covered by the
particular course. Expanding legal education to include
domestic violence issues will assist victims to obtain
qualified representation in a range of legal fields.
Seminar Courses May Raise Additional Issues
Law school professors teaching upper-level seminars on domestic violence law
confront additional issues. Professors report that students with extensive domestic
violence legal backgrounds tend to attend the seminars, and it is often a challenge
to attract a broader range of students.(112)
Professors can overcome this "preaching to the choir" problem in a variety of
ways, including collaboration with community organizations or student groups.
If professors help raise awareness of domestic violence issues within specific
law school communities, these events may increase the diversity of students
applying for domestic violence seminars, while expanding the breadth of issues
covered by the seminars. Domestic violence law courses may be more likely to
appeal to students from various cultural, ethnic, religious, or racial communities,
for example, if the seminars examine the impact of domestic violence on victims
from varied communities.
Professors may also encounter resistance from their
colleagues, who belittle the importance of domestic
violence law or object when resources are allocated to
domestic violence programs. Students and professors
should recognize that members of their own institution may
need to be educated on domestic violence issues. Experts
across the country conduct educational programs with
professionals working with victims in the health, law
enforcement, judicial and legal professions, among others.
These workshops may need to be conducted with law
school faculty members, to update them on current
perspectives on domestic violence and its effects on their
legal practice. Additionally, domestic violence professors
may choose to assist other professors in integrating
domestic violence issues into upper-level seminars.
Challenges Raised By Teaching Domestic Violence Clinical
Programs
Clinical programs assist law students to integrate theory with the reality
of legal practice, raising some unique issues. Clinical professors report that
representing victims or perpetrators may take an emotional toll on students,
as well as on faculty members and supervisors.(113)
Initially, students may have difficulty asking clients questions about their
intimate relationships, or listening to the graphic details of physical or sexual
violence endured by clients. Professors may need to build time into the class
for students to process their emotional reactions to the abuse, and allow students
to provide each other with support. Clinical programs integrating an interdisciplinary
approach, such as the George Washington University Law School's clinic which
includes a clinical psychologist as a co-teacher, may be better equipped to
handle these issues as they arise.
Clinical professors report that it is critical to reshape
law student misconceptions about victims or perpetrators of
domestic violence. Students who view battered women as
passive or helpless may be unwilling to believe that clients
who are angry with their batterers are victims of abuse.
Students in criminal defense clinics may believe that
defendants who are very polite could not possibly have
abused their partners or children. Clinical professors can
remind students that victims and perpetrators have a variety
of different personalities and backgrounds, and that the
determinative legal issue is whether an act or pattern of
abuse occurred.
Clinical professors may also struggle to teach law
students not to impose their own values on clients. Law
students, and lawyers in general, may tell clients what to
do, rather than adopting a client-centered approach to
lawyering. In domestic violence cases in particular,
because of the perpetrator's potential lethality and the
emotional volatility of family violence issues, students may
want to tell clients how to "fix" the situation. Clinical
professors must train law students to present clients with
their full array of legal and non-legal options, and allow
victims to make their own choices. Law students may fail
to understand their clients' economic, religious, or safety
concerns, which may force some clients to return to
abusers. When clients decide to return to their abusers or
forgo legal relief, students must explore these decisions
with clients, without judging clients or assuming that they
are making the wrong decisions. Students may need to
address their own disappointment or fear when this occurs,
in the classroom or in meetings with supervisors, but
outside of the attorney-client relationship.
Clinical professors also face conflicts when some
students fail to provide adequate representation to clients.
Supervising attorneys may feel that students have not
investigated cases thoroughly or prepared adequately for
court hearings. Alternately, professors may believe that
students have fulfilled the technical requirements of
representing clients, but have not met their clients' needs
for emotional support during legal proceedings -- or have
persuaded clients to pursue potentially dangerous choices.
Clinical professors can address these shortcomings in class
discussions or individual meetings. In the unusual event
that a student fails to improve his or her performance even
after such discussions, a professor may need to become
more directly involved in a case if a victim's safety or legal
rights are at stake.
Law School Professors or Administrators Face Additional
Institutional Challenges
Professors or administrators intending to establish
domestic violence seminars or clinical programs may
encounter some institutional resistance initially.
Colleagues or administrators may marginalize clinical
programs, alternative teaching methods, or "family law"
issues, and may be reluctant to accept domestic violence
law as crucial to legal education. As individuals in varied
professions across the country begin to respond effectively
to domestic violence, however, law schools will be obliged
to train future lawyers on this issue or fail to meet national
standards. Domestic violence professors can play a critical
role in educating their own institutions of the need to
address these issues.
Incorporating domestic violence issues into the law
school curriculum should not require professors to seek
external funding for these courses. Such courses benefit
law students and law schools because students with better
lawyering and substantive skills become more competent
attorneys. In addition, domestic violence law courses have
become a critical part of legal education because of the
impact of domestic violence issues on most legal fields.
Law schools committed to preparing students to practice
law have a responsibility to integrate domestic violence law
into the general curriculum. This process includes
incorporating domestic violence legal issues into pre-existing core courses, as well as establishing upper-level
domestic violence seminars and clinical programs.
Professors report that a number of domestic
violence clinics were established initially with external
funding, and were funded subsequently by the institution.
While law schools should support the integration of
domestic violence legal issues into the law school
curriculum, interested professors may be able to create
domestic violence programs by seeking outside sources to
partially fund clinics during their first year of existence.
Fundraising for clinics should be conducted in conjunction
with local domestic violence programs to avoid
competition over limited resources.
Clinical professors have been successful in
obtaining funding for domestic violence clinics from a
variety of sources. Some programs providing direct
services to victims were established in part with funding
from the federal sources. Clinics have successfully
obtained funding under the Violence Against Women Act
[VAWA]. The Victims of Crime Act [VOCA] may also
support clinical programs providing emergency legal
assistance to victims. Other clinics have been created with
grants from the United States Department of Education.
Interdisciplinary programs may be able to request resources
from alternative federal agencies; at least one clinic
received partial funding from the federal Center for Disease
Control and Prevention. Prospective applicants should be
aware that federal funds may have particular conditions for
disbursement which are outlined in the respective federal
regulations.
Domestic violence clinics have also attained
funding from parallel state agencies, including state
Departments of Health, Public Safety, or Education. Some
programs have been created with resources from state
legislatures, specifically allocated to fund crime prevention
or domestic violence intervention programs. Clinical
professors should be certain to coordinate fundraising
efforts with local domestic violence shelters and programs.
Traditionally, several domestic violence clinical programs received funding
from the Legal Services Corporation. With the massive cuts in funding for the
Legal Services Corporation, such programs have been forced to terminate their
services or find other means of support.(114)
Clinical programs may choose to seek support from private foundations. Generally,
clinical programs with diverse funding are most likely to survive.
Law school programs have sought innovative ways to fund legal services for
victims of domestic violence. Programs have been established with assistance
from law school alumni or regional branches of the National Lawyer's Guild.
Private donors may be interested in supporting a domestic violence clinic, sometimes
for personal reasons. Moreover, at least one clinical program is considering
the possibility of litigating income-generating domestic violence tort cases
in order to secure funding for its clinical program.(115)
Professors or administrators may also seek funds from local law firms, or organize
community fundraising events, to obtain the necessary resources.
Ultimately, however, it is the responsibility of law
schools to incorporate domestic violence legal issues into
the curricula, including funding these programs. The
substantive and lawyering skills taught in domestic
violence programs enhance legal education by preparing
students to practice law competently. In addition, funding
from within law schools ensures that domestic violence
clinical programs will not have to compete for resources
with local emergency services for victims, such as domestic
violence shelters.
ENDNOTES:
Institutional support for law school programs
addressing domestic violence does more than give
continued life to particular courses and clinics; it also sends
a message to the community that law schools have a
commitment to creating, through their educational
programs, resources which can help eradicate the suffering
created by abuse in the home. By incorporating much
needed information about domestic violence law and
practice into their curricula, law schools can truly be said to
be educating to end domestic violence.
Back to Table of Contents