Date of Award
Summer 8-2012
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Program
Urban and Regional Planning
Major Professor
Dr. Pam Jenkins
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to understand how Trial Court Judges in state and city courts make decisions in domestic violence cases. The researcher examined the relationship between legal (e.g., evidence) and extra-legal factors (e.g., preconceived biases and behaviors related to judicial decision-making) using a qualitative research design. A case study of multiple locations in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes was used whereby a purposive sample of 17 current civil, municipal, and criminal court judges were interviewed. Judicial decision-making strategies were studied via face-to-face interviews, courtroom observations, and content analysis of courtroom communications (e.g., speech, written text, interviews, images, etc.). The researcher discusses future applications of the study as well as the application of findings to assist in exploring judicial decision-making processes. This qualitative research may be beneficial to policy planners, practitioners, and sociologists in gaining insight into the complexity of the judges’ decision-making processes.
Recommended Citation
Koublitskaia, Ioulia, "The Relationship between Legal and Extra-legal Factors: How Judges Come to Make their Decisions in Domestic Violence Cases" (2012). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1541.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1541
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.