Summary

This volume details the experiences of Vietnamese immigrant women who have experienced intimate violence in the United States. It focuses on the diversity of their responses to abuse and their various encounters with the criminal justice system and victim service agencies. Also revealed are the effects of traditional culture, acculturation, and economic adaptation on the participation of these women as witnesses in the criminal justice process. It points to the roles of gender, economic power, legal status, and the organizational structure of the criminal justice system in shaping the experiences of women charged with domestic violence. The limitations of the criminal justice are exposed when it fails to provide abused women with long term protection, forces women to choose between personal safety and family life, and allows domestic violence laws to reinforce male domination.

This work is among the few that highlights the need for more research into how the United States criminal justice system's policies affect abused Vietnamese immigrant women's safety and family lives. It incorporates interviews from women living in various communities in the United States. Professionals, victim advocates, social scientists, and students in criminal justice, justice studies, women's studies, and social work programs will all benefit from this insightful book.