Doctoral Dissertation Research: Policing Citizenship in the United States: Violence and Differential Access to Public Space

This doctoral dissertation research project examines how gender dynamics guide the state's public response to violence that occurs within the private space of the home. The spatial distinction of public and private space is critical to the conceptualization of intimate partner violence as well as to policing practices as a matter of public security and citizen protections. The project's objective is to study the connections between public space and citizenship, the state and its role in addressing the security needs of its citizens as well as the experiences of victims in this process. Three key questions guide this research: 1) How do gendered dynamics affect policing strategies regarding intimate partner violence? 2) How does the gendering of this policing affect the experience and practice of citizenship in relation to public space and security? 3) How does the gendering of policing strategies affect women's experience as citizens in particular places and times? While critical scholarship on terrorism and violence have recently been addressing the spatiality of policing, absent from this literature is an understanding of the gendered dimensions of policing at a more local scale. With a specific focus on the policing of intimate partner violence, this research will address this gap by providing new insights into the gendered and spatial dynamics of policing strategies that affect women's access to public space and citizenship rights. Further, this project will contribute to scholarly debates on policing and governance, private space and policing, and policing and exclusion. Lastly, this research advances understandings of how political processes affect women's position as citizens within the state by examining the current relationship between the state and victims, policing practices within the US and the impact of these processes on the lived experiences of victims. This research will be conducted via a qualitative study in central Pennsylvania.

In addition to academic dissemination via geographic and feminist-based scholarly journals, results from this research will be disseminated in formats accessible to non-academic communities as they address socially-relevant community policing strategies. Project results will be presented in public symposia and results will be made available in reports to local and state community organizations as well as the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence in such a way that they will be able to make on an impact on policy-making and policing practice regarding intimate partner violence. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this project will provide support to enable a promising student to establish an independent research career while providing timely research to address the issue of intimate partner violence.